Antifa Issues Warning on GOP Bill
Campus Reform reports that various radical organizations are attacking the “Unmasking Antifa Act, “which would provide enhanced penalties for certain crimes committed while in disguise. The act was introduced into the House of Representatives on June 8 by the GOP. After the bill was covered by mainstream publications in early July, “Antifa USA,” an activist group based out of Arizona, tweeted an image of what appears to be an Antifa member surrounded by an arsenal of military-style weapons.
“I don't think the #Fascists & their collaborators comprehend the gravity of the situation, our resources, nor dedication to #Antifascism,” the organization tweeted.
Wisconsin High Court Rules for McAdams
John McAdams, the conservative professor with tenure that Marquette University has been trying to fire for almost 4 years, has won a favorable ruling in the Wisconsin Supreme Court. The Court ruled on Friday that Marquette "breached its contract with Dr. McAdams when it suspended him for engaging in activity protected by...guarantee of academic freedom.” McAdams had written a blog post criticizing another Marquette instructor, Cheryl Abbate, for not allowing class discussion of the Catholic position on gay marriage because she said the issue had been settled, and discussion of it might offend gays in the class. Marquette, at least nominally, is a Catholic, Jesuit institution.
The Court ordered Marquette to “immediately reinstate” the academic with “tenure, compensation, and benefits." According to the decision, the court ruled that the university violated its contract with McAdams, which included an academic freedom clause. “This ruling rightly demonstrates that when a university promises academic freedom, it is required to deliver,” Robert Shibley, the executive director of FIRE, said in a statement.
U. of Washington Pays up over Free Speech Lawsuit
The University of Washington will pay $127,000 in legal fees to lawyers for the university’s College Republicans to settle a free-speech lawsuit filed by the group, The Seattle Times reports. The College Republicans chapter sued after the university tried to charge a $17,000 security fee for the group to hold a campus rally in February with the conservative group Patriot Prayer. A federal district court judge blocked the fee.
U. of Michigan Responds to Speech First’s Suit
The University of Michigan is pushing back against a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the school’s “Bias Response Team” and policies that allegedly chill campus speech. In a court filing on Friday, the University said the lawsuit, filed last month by the watchdog group Speech First, presented a “false caricature” of school’s conduct code and how it is implemented. The lawsuit claimed the University of Michigan disciplinary code uses vague and broad definitions of “bullying” and “harassment,” effectively barring speech that other students might find “intimidating,” “demeaning,” “bothersome” or “hurtful.” “Under this regime, the most sensitive student on campus effectively dictates the terms under which others may speak,” the lawsuit said.
Portraits Taken Down at Harvard School—Too Male and White
A teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School will take down portraits of prestigious white male doctors and scatter them throughout the grounds in a new diversity move. Of the 31 various doctors and department heads that have their paintings hung in the Louis Bornstein Family Amphitheater at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, all are men, 30 are white, and one is Chinese. They’ve been described as “pioneers of medicine,” and getting a portrait hung there is something great to aspire to, according to the white male doctor who most recently had his image installed, Dr. Ron Walls, founding chair of the Department of Emergency Medicine.
But apparently having a cluster of white male doctors’ portraits — great as they may be — sends a message to employees and students that “white men are in charge,” Dr. Jeroan Allison, a professor at the University of Massachusetts Medical School who researches health disparities, told the Boston Globe, which first reported the news. A hospital official told the Globe removing the portraits will create a “sense of belonging” for women.
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