Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Cease Babbling 


Northwestern University is "struggling" with a diversity problem. Yup, by golly there was an incident. Here is the 411...

Top administrators at Northwestern University convened a panel discussion earlier this month to address a recent incident of racial harassment on campus.

Do tell.


A student named Tonantzin Carmona was walking home when several intoxicated female students jeeringly said to her, “What, no hablas ingles?” Since then, members of the university community have organized several events aimed at making the campus more tolerant and culturally sensitive. University President Morton Schapiro was present at this most recent panel on February 12th.

OMG!! Wait.....This is racial harassment?  What am I missing? Is it the "jeeringly" component?


The event was introduced by John Marquez, an assistant professor of African American and Latino Studies. He began by dedicating his comments “to those indigenous peoples who were displaced or obliterated to build Evanston and Northwestern.”

“I hope their ghosts haunt us,” he said.

Panel convened. Isn't it a tad presumptuous to assume "indigenous peoples" a). lived here and b). were somehow displaced?  They have a African American and Latino Studies curriculum?  What does one do with such a degree? 

But the atmosphere at the conference became tense, as some students demanded that the university initiate wide-ranging diversity policies, such as making a “cultural competency” class a requirement for graduation. Administrators appeared reluctant to take that step.

“cultural competency”  Ahhhh, this is what you do with a  African American and Latino Studies degree...teach these courses.

Schapiro argued it was virtually impossible to implement a cultural competency class due to Northwestern’s many different schools and faculty-governed curriculum.

Lemme take a stab at translating this. We can't implement a “cultural competency” class on diversity due to the diverse make up of our schools and faculty.

Another controversy arose when Provost Daniel Linzer responded to a complaint that Northwestern needed a “chief diversity officer” to be responsible for diversity-related matters on campus.

Linzer said that such a person had already been hired, but that the job had been titled “assistant provost for faculty development,” because with a chief diversity officer, diversity would be seen as “somebody else’s job.”

Well, a Chief Diversity Officer would need an assistant and a staff and a....  Those African American and Latino Studies folks gotta work some wheres.


Northwestern’s most recent method of encouraging diversity was the creation of the University Diversity Council, which grew out of the Faculty Diversity Committee.

Linzer announced that the new council would have five task forces, with students working on each one: Faculty, Academic, Campus Life, Pipeline (which will deal with further diversifying the student body) and Lifetime Connections (which will deal with alumni relations.)

Let the pandering begin. Pull your chairs in a circle and sing kumbaya. 

Linzer also touted other initiatives as proof of the university’s commitment to diversity, including Northwestern’s own Center on the Science of Diversity.

OMG all this and they already have a Center on the Science of Diversity!  All hale diversity!!


After the three and half hour-long conference, many still seemed skeptical of Northwestern’s efforts to promote diversity.

“No, the university is not doing enough, and there are still key things that could be getting done,” said Tyris Jones, a senior.

 I predict in five years Tyris will be an assistant to the Chief of Diversity....or a Community Organizer.
 
Let us review:  A couple of drunks make a comment and the Almighty Politically Correct machine is activated. Pandering ensues. Hugs. More bureaucracy. Repeat.

Stupid is as stupid does.  Northwestern should just close down.  It is clear the school is not capable of existing as an institution of higher learning. Just stop. Cease babbling. You are stuck on stupid.