On the Campus

Columbus Banned at Brown

By Marc Comtois | April 8, 2009 |

They editorialized, they polled and now they’ve been seconded by the faculty: Brown University will no longer celebrate Columbus Day. Why? From an earlier editorial at the Brown Daily Herald: Anyone who has studied history, especially at a mostly liberal institution like Brown, knows that Christopher Columbus did not “discover” the Americas. Not only are…

A Necessary Correction, Some Might Say

By Justin Katz | February 8, 2009 |

Until I reached the end, I wasn’t going to bother commenting on Bob Kerr’s column, today. It’s all emoting, no solutions. Or rather, in the typical fashion of typical liberals, Kerr’s solution is an implied government gimme. But the daughter of the woman who receives most of Kerr’s attention makes a complaint — a set…

“A Fussy and Difficult Student”

By Justin Katz | December 14, 2008 |

There’s a familiar face on the front page of the Providence Journal today: From the beginning, the relationship between William Felkner and the Rhode Island College School of Social Work has sounded like the screech of chalk on a blackboard. … Felkner has filed a lawsuit against Rhode Island College that revives arguments from conservatives…

Academic Theatrics as Indication of the Future

By Justin Katz | October 24, 2008 |

This is shocking: DeHayes would not provide the exact contents of the messages, which he said were found on a computer in the Memorial Union, the student life building, and at Swan Hall. In an interview yesterday, he would say only that they were a “characterization” of Obama. DeHayes said a student brought the messages…

Conservatives at RISD?

By Marc Comtois | October 9, 2008 |

Apparently, conservatives can be found everywhere, even at RISD (via Ian). Zach Brown, founder and president of RISD Conservatives and a sophomore illustration major, said, “I became politically involved once I came to college because I was constantly being fed liberal propaganda.” Brown, who considers Ronald Reagan his personal hero, described Rhode Island School of…

Four Reasons to Stick to Coursework

By Justin Katz | February 9, 2008 |

Sadly, it seems unlikely that Brown philosophy professor Felicia Nimue Ackerman’s attitude is the majority one on American (at least New England) campuses. Here are four reasons that she didn’t “devote a portion of class time” on a particular week “to teach about climate change”: Reason 1: Climate change is not what students signed up…

William Felkner: Ideological Corruption on Campus

By Engaged Citizen | January 19, 2008 |

Robert Shibley, vice president of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), slammed Brown and URI for their blatant attempts to squelch First Amendment rights in Friday’s Providence Journal: Brown University was home to one of the most mysterious cases that the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) has ever seen — mysterious…

Thanking Hillary, Tongue in Cheek

By Justin Katz | December 3, 2007 |

The campaign of Hillary Clinton — herself a College Republican — is coming to town today, and the College Republican Federation of Rhode Island will be at the corner of Post Rd. and Airport Rd. in Warwick at 3:30 to express their gratitude for her vote for the war in 2002 and “for pledging to…

Everybody’s Out to Get Them Young

By Justin Katz | November 22, 2007 |

We’re rightly wary when credit card companies target college kids. (I’m still smarting from the puncture that I received in the bull’s-eye.) So why is the New York Times treating it as some kind of a rights story that pharmaceutical companies are no longer targeting young women with discounted birth control? The change is due…

RI College Republicans’ Brown Streak

By Justin Katz | November 16, 2007 |

Not to pick on the Ivy model of Rhode Island’s College Republican collection, but this line from Sean Quigley, second vice chairman of the College Republican Federation of Rhode Island, treasurer of the Brown College Republicans, and Brown Daily Herald columnist, is too precious to let pass: “I don’t mean to sound elitist, but we…