#claremont campuses | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

religion-is-a-mental-illness · 7 months

Text

By: Jonathan Haidt and Greg Lukianoff

Published: Dec 22, 2023

[This is post #2 of a pair of posts. The first post was about the causes of campus antisemitism. It links over to this post so that readers can see Chapter 3 for themselves.]

A note from Jon Haidt and Greg Lukianoff

When we published The Coddling of the American Mind, in 2018, things were bad on campus. We chronicled the intimidation, self-silencing, and dishonesty that had become ubiquitous among students and professors as cancel culture spread in the years after 2014. We tried to be optimistic in the conclusion of the book, citing four “green shoots” suggesting that things might turn around soon.

Boy were we wrong! As Greg and Rikki Schlott show in their new book The Canceling of the American Mind, many universities doubled down on their commitment to speech policing, hypersensitivity, and widespread punishment of jokes, curiosity, or anything else that offended anyone in a way related to identity. Now, in the fall of 2023, we can see the bitter fruit of these policies: hypocrisy, loss of public trust, and overt antisemitism.

Chapter 3 of The Coddling is the main chapter that lays out the intellectual history behind this mess, calling attention to the “oppressor/victim” mindset.1 It’s a cognitive distortion (binary thinking) which divides everyone into two categories and then justifies “resistance” by members of victim groups, who are “punching up” against members of oppressor groups. The punching is sometimes not metaphorical.

We thought it would be useful to make a copy of the chapter available for everyone who is struggling to make sense of what is now happening on college campuses… and beyond. Jon abridged the text of the chapter. Places where text has been cut are indicated by [...]. To learn more about The Coddling of the American Mind, visit TheCoddling.com

— Jon and Greg

Chapter 3 of The Coddling of the American Mind [abridged]

The Untruth of Us Versus Them: Life Is a Battle Between Good People and Evil People

There is the moral dualism that sees good and evil as instincts within us between which we must choose. But there is also what I will call pathological dualism that sees humanity itself as radically... divided into the unimpeachably good and the irredeemably bad. You are either one or the other. — RABBI LORD JONATHAN SACKS, from Not in God’s Name: Confronting religious violence

A protest is always a claim that injustice is being done. When a group forms to protest together, they jointly construct a narrative about what is wrong, who is to blame, and what must be done to make things right. Reality is always more complicated than the narrative, however, and as a result, people are demonized or lionized— often unfairly. One such case happened in October 2015 at Claremont McKenna College, near Los Angeles.

A student named Olivia, whose parents emigrated from Mexico to California before she was born, wrote an essay in a student publication about her feelings of marginalization and exclusion. Olivia noticed that Latinos were better represented on the blue-collar staff at CMC (including janitors and gardeners) than among its administrative and professional staff, and she found this realization painful. She wrote that she felt like she had been admitted to fill a racial quota. She suggested that there is a standard or typical person at CMC, and she is not it: “Our campus climate and institutional culture are primarily grounded in western, white, cisheteronormative upper to upper-middle class values.” (“Cisheteronormative” describes a society in which people assume that other people are not transgender and not gay, unless there is information to the contrary.)

In response to this essay, which Olivia sent in an email to “CMC Staff,” Mary Spellman, the dean of students at CMC, sent her a private email two days later. Here is the entire email:

Olivia, Thank you for writing and sharing this article with me. We have a lot to do as a college and community. Would you be willing to talk with me sometime about these issues? They are important to me and the [dean of students] staff and we are working on how we can better serve students, especially those who don’t fit our CMC mold. I would love to talk with you more. Best, Dean Spellman

What do you think about Dean Spellman’s email? Cruel or kind? Most readers can probably see that she was showing concern and reaching out with an offer to listen and help. But Olivia was offended by the dean’s use of the word “mold.” She seemed to interpret it in the least generous way possible: that Spellman was implying that Olivia (and other students of color) do not fit the mold and therefore do not belong at CMC. This was clearly not Spellman’s intent; Olivia herself had asserted that at CMC, there is a prototype or pattern of identities that she does not match, and, as Spellman later explained, she used the word “mold” to express her empathy with Olivia, because it’s a word that other CMC students use in conversations with her to describe their sense of not fitting in.

Any student who was already feeling like an outsider might well feel a flash of negativity upon reading the word “mold.” But what should one do with that flash? There is a principle in philosophy and rhetoric called the principle of charity, which says that one should interpret other people’s statements in their best, most reasonable form, not in the worst or most offensive way possible. Had Olivia been taught to judge people primarily on their intentions, she could have used the principle of charity in this situation, as Karith Foster did in the situation described in the previous chapter. If a student in Olivia’s position was in the habit of questioning her initial reactions, looking for evidence, and giving people the benefit of the doubt, that student might get past her initial flash of emotion and avail herself of an invitation from a dean who wanted to know what she could do to address the student’s concerns.

That is not what happened. Instead, Olivia posted Spellman’s email on her Facebook page (about two weeks after receiving it) with the comment, “I just don’t fit that wonderful CMC mold! Feel free to share.” Her friends did share the email, and the campus erupted in protest.6 There were marches, demonstrations, demands given to the president for mandatory diversity training, and demands that Spellman resign. Two students went on a hunger strike, vowing that they would not eat until Spellman was gone. In one scene, which you can watch on YouTube, students formed a circle and spent over an hour airing their grievances—through bullhorns—against Spellman and other administrators who were there in the circle to listen.8 Spellman apologized for her email being “poorly worded” and told the crowd that her “intention was to affirm the feelings and experiences expressed in the article and to provide support.” But the students did not accept her apology. At one point a woman berated the dean (to cheers from the students) for “falling asleep” during the proceedings, which the woman interpreted as an act of disrespect. But it is clear from the video of the confrontation that Spellman was not falling asleep; she was trying to hold back her tears.

The university did not fire Spellman, but neither did its leaders publicly express any support for her. Faced with the escalating anger of students—amplified by social media and then by national news coverage— Spellman resigned.

As this was happening, another conflict over an email was unfolding at Yale. Erika Christakis, a lecturer at the Yale Child Study Center and associate master of Silliman College (one of Yale’s residential colleges), wrote an email questioning whether it was appropriate for Yale administrators to give guidance to students about appropriate and inappropriate Halloween costumes, as the college dean’s office had done. Christakis praised their “spirit of avoiding hurt and offense,” but she worried that “the growing tendency to cultivate vulnerability in students carries unacknowledged costs.” She expressed concern about the institutional “exercise of implied control over college students,” and invited the community to reflect on whether, as adults, they could set norms for themselves and handle disagreements interpersonally. “Talk to each other,” she wrote. “Free speech and the ability to tolerate offense are the hallmarks of a free and open society.”

The email sparked an angry response from some students, who interpreted it as an indication that Christakis was in favor of racist costumes. A few days later, a group of roughly 150 students appeared in the courtyard outside Christakis’s home (within Silliman College), writing statements in chalk, including “We know where you live.” Erika’s husband, Nicholas Christakis, was the master of Silliman (a title that has since been changed to “head of college”). When he came out to the courtyard, students demanded that he apologize for—and renounce—his wife’s email. Nicholas listened, engaged in dialogue with them, and apologized several times for causing them pain, but he refused to renounce his wife’s email or the ideas it espoused. Students accused him and Erika of being “racist” and “offensive,” “stripping people of their humanity,” “creating an unsafe space,” and enabling “violence.” They swore at him, criticized him for “not listening” and for not remembering students’ names. They told him not to smile, lean down, or gesticulate. And they told him they wanted him to lose his job. Eventually, in a scene that went viral, one student screamed at him: “Who the fuck hired you? You should step down! It is not about creating an intellectual space! It is not! It’s about creating a home here.... You should not sleep at night! You are disgusting!”

The next day, the president of the university sent out an email acknowledging students’ pain and committing to “take actions that will make us better.” He did not mention any support for the Christakises until weeks after the courtyard incident, by which time attitudes against the couple were entrenched. Amid ongoing demands that they be fired, Erika resigned from her teaching position, Nicholas took a sabbatical from teaching for the rest of the year, and at the end of the school year, the pair resigned from their positions in the residential college. Erika later revealed that many professors were very supportive privately, but were unwilling to defend or support the Christakises publicly because they thought it was “too risky” and they feared retribution.

Why did students react so strongly to the emails from Dean Spellman and Erika Christakis, both of which were clearly intended to be helpful to students? Why did students interpret the emails as offenses so grave that they justified calls for the authors to be fired? It’s as though some of the students had their own mental prototype, a schema with two boxes to fill: victim and oppressor. Everyone is placed into one box or the other.

Groups and Tribes

There’s a famous series of experiments in social psychology called the minimal group paradigm, pioneered by Polish psychologist Henri Tajfel, who served in the French Army during World War II and became a prisoner of war in Germany. Profoundly affected by his experiences as a Jew during that period in Europe, including having his entire family in Poland murdered by the Nazis, Tajfel wanted to know the conditions under which people would discriminate against members of an outgroup. So in the 1960s he conducted a series of experiments, each of which began by dividing people into two groups based on trivial and arbitrary criteria, such as flipping a coin. For example, in one study, each person first estimated the number of dots on a page. Irrespective of their estimations, half were told that they had overestimated the number of dots, and put into a group of “overestimators.” The other half were sent to the “underestimators” group. Next, subjects were asked to distribute points or money to all the other subjects, who were identified only by their group membership. Tajfel found that no matter how trivial or “minimal” he made the distinctions between the groups, people tended to distribute whatever was offered in favor of their in-group members. [...]

The bottom line is that the human mind is prepared for tribalism. Human evolution is not just the story of individuals competing with other individuals within each group; it’s also the story of groups competing with other groups––sometimes violently. We are all descended from people who belonged to groups that were consistently better at winning that competition. Tribalism is our evolutionary endowment for banding together to prepare for intergroup conflict. When the “tribe switch” is activated, we bind ourselves more tightly to the group, we embrace and defend the group’s moral matrix, and we stop thinking for ourselves. Independent thought becomes heresy, heresy leads to ostracism, and ostracism could be a death sentence. In tribal mode, we seem to go blind to arguments and information that challenges our team’s narrative. Merging with the group in this way is deeply pleasurable—as you can see from the pseudo-tribal antics that precede and accompany college football games.

But being prepared for tribalism doesn’t mean we have to live in tribal ways. The human mind contains many evolved cognitive “tools”; we don’t use all of them all the time. We draw on our toolbox as needed. Local conditions can turn the tribalism up, down, or off. Any kind of intergroup conflict (real or perceived) immediately turns tribalism up, making people highly attentive to signs that reveal which team a person is on. Traitors are punished, and fraternizing with the enemy is, too. Conditions of peace and prosperity, in contrast, generally turn down the tribalism. People don’t need to track group membership as vigilantly; they don’t feel pressured to conform to group expectations as closely. When a community succeeds in turning down everyone’s tribal circuits, there is more room for individuals to construct lives of their own choosing; there is more freedom for a creative mixing of people and ideas.

But people don’t have to live in tribal ways. The human mind contains many evolved cognitive “tools;” we don’t use them all, all the time. We draw on our toolbox as needed. Local conditions can turn the tribalism up, down, or off. Any kind of intergroup conflict (real or perceived) turns up tribalism immediately, and makes people highly attentive to signs that reveal which team a person is on. Traitors are punished; fraternizing with the enemy is too. Conditions of peace and prosperity, in contrast, generally turn down the tribalism. People don’t need to track group membership as vigilantly; they don’t feel pressured to conform to group expectations as closely. When a community succeeds in turning down everyone’s tribal circuits, there is more room for individuals to construct lives of their own choosing; there is more freedom for creative mixing of people and ideas.

So what happens to a community such as a college (or, increasingly, a high school) when distinctions between groups are not trivial and arbitrary; and when they are emphasized rather than downplayed? What happens when you train students to see others—and themselves—as members of distinct groups defined by race, gender, and other socially significant factors, and you tell them that those groups are eternally engaged in a zero-sum conflict over status and resources?

Two Kinds of Identity Politics

“Identity politics” is a contentious term, but its basic meaning is simple. Jonathan Rauch, a scholar at The Brookings Institution, defines it as “political mobilization organized around group characteristics such as race, gender, and sexuality, as opposed to party, ideology, or pecuniary interest.” He notes that “in America, this sort of mobilization is not new, unusual, un-American, illegitimate, nefarious, or particularly left wing.” Politics is all about groups forming coalitions to achieve their goals. If cattle ranchers, wine enthusiasts, or libertarians banding together to promote their interests is normal politics, then women, African Americans, or gay people banding together is normal politics, too.

But how identity is mobilized makes an enormous difference––for the country, for the group’s odds of success, and for the welfare of the people who join the movement. Identity can be mobilized in ways that emphasize an overarching common humanity while making the case that some fellow human beings are denied dignity and rights because they belong to a particular group, or it can be mobilized in ways that amplify our ancient tribalism and bind people together in shared hatred of a group that serves as the unifying common enemy.

Common-Humanity Identity Politics

The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., epitomized what we’ll call common-humanity identity politics. He was trying to fix a gaping wound—centuries of racism that had been codified into law in southern states and into customs, habits, and institutions across the country. It wasn’t enough to be patient and wait for things to change gradually. The civil rights movement was a political movement led by African Americans and joined by others, who engaged in nonviolent protests and civil disobedience, boycotts, and sophisticated public relations strategies to apply political pressure on intransigent lawmakers while working to change minds and hearts in the country at large.

Part of Dr. King’s genius was that he appealed to the shared morals and identities of Americans using the unifying languages of religion and patriotism. He repeatedly used the metaphor of family, referring to people of all races and religions as “brothers” and “sisters.” He spoke often of the need for love and forgiveness, hearkening back to the words of Jesus and echoing ancient wisdom from many cultures: “Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into a friend” and “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.” …

King’s most famous speech drew on the language and iconography of what sociologists call the American civil religion. Some Americans use quasi-religious language, frameworks, and narratives to speak about the country’s founding documents and founding fathers, and King did, too. “When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence,” he proclaimed on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, “they were signing a promissory note.” King turned the full moral force of the American civil religion toward the goals of the civil rights movement. […]

King’s approach made it clear that his victory would not destroy America; it would repair and reunite it. This inclusive, common-humanity approach was also explicit in the words of Pauli Murray, an Episcopal priest and civil rights activist who, in 1965, at the age of fifty-five, earned a degree from Yale Law School, and today, a residential college at Yale is named after her. In 1945, she wrote:

I intend to destroy segregation by positive and embracing methods. . . . When my brothers try to draw a circle to exclude me, I shall draw a larger circle to include them. Where they speak out for the privileges of a puny group, I shall shout for the rights of all mankind.

Common-Enemy Identity Politics

The common-humanity form of identity politics can still be found on many college campuses, but in recent years we’ve seen the rapid rise of a very different form that is based on an effort to unite and mobilize multiple groups to fight against a common enemy. It activates a powerful social-psychological mechanism embodied in an old Bedouin proverb: “I, against my brothers. I and my brothers against my cousins. I and my brothers and my cousins against the world.” Identifying a common enemy is an effective way to enlarge and motivate your tribe. […]

There has never been a more dramatic demonstration of the horrors of common-enemy identity politics than Adolf Hitler’s use of Jews to unify and expand his Third Reich. And it is among the most shocking aspects of our current age that some Americans (and Europeans), mostly young white men, have openly embraced neo-Nazi ideas and symbols. They and other white nationalist groups rally around a shared hatred of not just Jews, but also of blacks, feminists, and “SJWs” (social justice warriors). These right-wing extremist groups seem not to have played significant roles in campus politics before 2016, but by 2017 many of them had developed methods of trolling and online harassment that are having an influence on campus events, as we’ll discuss further in chapter 6.

As for the identity politics originating from left-leaning on-campus sources, here’s a recent example that drew a great deal of attention. In December 2017, a Latino student at Texas State University wrote an opinion essay in his school’s student-run, independent newspaper under the headline YOUR DNA IS AN ABOMINATION. The essay began like this:

When I think of all the white people I have ever encountered—whether they’ve been professors, peers, lovers, friends, police officers, et cetera—there is perhaps only a dozen I would consider “decent.”

The student then argued that “whiteness” is “a construct used to perpetuate a system of racist power,” and asserted that “through a constant ideological struggle in which we aim to deconstruct ‘whiteness’ and everything attached to it, we will win.” The essay ended with this:

Ontologically speaking, white death will mean liberation for all. . . . Until then, remember this: I hate you because you shouldn’t exist. You are both the dominant apparatus on the planet and the void in which all other cultures, upon meeting you, die.

Right-wing sites interpreted the essay as a call for actual genocide against white people. The author seems rather to have been calling for cultural genocide––the end of white dominance and the culture of whiteness in the United States. […] In calling for the dismantling of power structures, the author was using a set of terms and concepts that are common in some academic departments; the main line of argumentation fell squarely within the large family of Marxist approaches to social and political analysis. It’s a set of approaches in which things are analyzed primarily in terms of power. Groups struggle for power. Within this paradigm, when power is perceived to be held by one group over others, there is a moral polarity: the group seen as powerful is bad, while the groups seen as oppressed are good. [...]

Writing during the nineteenth-century Industrial Revolution, Karl Marx focused on conflict between economic classes, such as the proletariat (the working class) and the capitalists (those who own the means of production). But a Marxist approach can be used to interpret any struggle between groups. One of the most important Marxist thinkers for understanding developments on campus today is Herbert Marcuse, a German philosopher and sociologist who fled the Nazis and became a professor at several American universities. His writings were influential in the 1960s and 1970s as the American left was transitioning away from its prior focus on workers versus capital to become the “New Left,” which focused on civil rights, women’s rights, and other social movements promoting equality and justice. These movements often had a left-right dimension to them––progressives wanted progress and conservatives wanted to conserve the existing order, Marcuse analyzed the conflict between the left and the right in Marxist terms.

In a 1965 essay titled “Repressive Tolerance,” Marcuse argued that tolerance and free speech confer benefits on society only under special conditions that almost never exist: absolute equality. He believed that when power differentials between groups exist, tolerance only empowers the already powerful, and makes it easier for them to dominate institutions like education, the media, and most channels of communication. Such indiscriminate tolerance is “repressive,” he argued; it blocks the political agenda and suppresses the voices of the less powerful.

If indiscriminate tolerance is unfair, then what is needed is a form of tolerance that discriminates. A truly “liberating tolerance,” claimed Marcuse, is one that favors the weak and restrains the strong. Who are the weak and the strong? For Marcuse, writing in 1965, the weak was the political left and the strong was the political right. Even though the Democrats controlled Washington at that time, Marcuse associated the right with the business community, the military, and other vested interests that he saw as wielding power, hoarding wealth, and working to block social change. The left referred to students, intellectuals, and minorities of all kinds. For Marcuse, there was no moral equivalence between the two sides. In his view, the right pushed for war; the left stood for peace; the right was the party of “hate,” the left was the party of “humanity.”

Someone who accepts this framing—that the right is powerful (and therefore oppressive) while the left is weak (and therefore oppressed)—might be receptive to the argument that indiscriminate tolerance is bad. In its place, liberating tolerance, Marcuse explained, “would mean intolerance against movements from the Right, and toleration of movements from the Left.”

Marcuse recognized that what he was advocating seemed to violate both the spirit of democracy and the liberal tradition of nondiscrimination, but he argued that when the majority of a society is being repressed, it is justifiable to use “repression and indoctrination” to allow the “subversive majority” to achieve the power that it deserves. In a chilling passage that foreshadows events on some campuses today, Marcuse argued that true democracy might require denying basic rights to people who advocate for conservative causes or policies he viewed as aggressive or discriminatory, and that true freedom of thought might require professors to indoctrinate their students:

[T]he ways should not be blocked [by] which a subversive majority could develop, and if they are blocked by organized repression and indoctrination, their reopening may require apparently undemocratic means. They would include the withdrawal of toleration of speech and assembly from groups and movements which promote aggressive policies, armament, chauvinism, discrimination on the grounds of race and religion, or which oppose the extension of public services, social security, medical care, etc. Moreover, the restoration of freedom of thought may necessitate new and rigid restrictions on teachings and practices in the educational institutions which, by their very methods and concepts, serve to enclose the mind within the established universe of discourse and behavior.

The end goal of a Marcusean revolution is not equality but a reversal of power. Marcuse offered this vision in 1965:

It should be evident by now that the exercise of civil rights by those who don’t have them presupposes the withdrawal of civil rights from those who prevent their exercise, and that liberation of the Damned of the Earth presupposes suppression not only of their old but also of their new masters.2

How did a Marcusian vision of the world get transmitted to that student in Texas? Marcuse was known as the “father” of the New Left; his ideas were taken up by the generation of students in the 1960s and 1970s who are the older professors of today, so a Marcusian view is still available everywhere. But why does this vision continue to flourish fifty years after the publication of “Repressive Tolerance” in a country that has made enormous progress on extending civil rights to groups that did not have them in 1965, and in an educational system that cannot be said to be controlled by the right? Even if Marcuse’s arguments made sense to many people in 1965, can his ideas be justified on campus today?

Modern Marcuseanism

In the decades after “Repressive Tolerance” was published, a variety of theories and approaches flourished on campus in humanities and social science departments that offered ways of analyzing society through the lens of power relationships among groups. (Examples include deconstructionism, poststructuralism, postmodernism, and critical theory.) One such theory deserves special mention, because its ideas and terminology are widely found in the discourse of today’s campus activists. The approach known as intersectionality was advanced by Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw, a law professor at UCLA (and now at Columbia, where she directs the Center on Intersectionality and Social Policy Studies). In a 1989 essay, Crenshaw noted that a black woman’s experience in America is not captured by the summation of the black experience and the female experience. She made her point vividly by analyzing a legal case in which black women were victims of discrimination at General Motors even when the company could show that it hired plenty of black people (in factory jobs dominated by men) and plenty of women (in clerical jobs dominated by white people). So even though GM was found not to have discriminated against black people or women, it ended up hiring hardly any black women. Crenshaw’s important insight was that you can’t just look at a few big “main effects” of discrimination; you have to look at interactions, or “intersections.” […]

Intersectionality is a theory based on several insights that we believe are valid and useful: power matters, members of groups sometimes act cruelly or unjustly to preserve their power, and people who are members of multiple identity groups can face various forms of disadvantage in ways that are often invisible to those who are not. The point of using the terminology of “intersectionalism,” as Crenshaw said in her 2016 TED Talk, is that “where there’s no name for a problem, you can’t see a problem, and when you can’t see a problem, you pretty much can’t solve it.”

Our purpose here is not to critique the theory itself; it is, rather, to explore the effects that certain interpretations of intersectionality may now be having on college campuses. The human mind is prepared for tribalism, and intersectionality has the potential to turn tribalism way up.

These interpretations of intersectionality teach people to see bipolar dimensions of privilege and oppression as ubiquitous in social interactions. It’s not just about employment or other opportunities, and it’s not just about race and gender. Figure 3.1 shows the sort of diagram that is sometimes used to teach intersectionality. We modeled ours on a figure by Kathryn Pauly Morgan, a professor of philosophy at the University of Toronto. (For simplicity, we show only seven of her fourteen intersecting axes.) In an essay describing her approach, Morgan explains that the center point represents a particular individual living at the “intersection” of many dimensions of power and privilege; the person might be high or low on any of the axes. She defines her terms like this: “Privilege involves the power to dominate in systematic ways. . . . Oppression involves the lived, systematic experience of being dominated by virtue of one’s position on various particular axes.”

Morgan draws on the writings of French Philosopher Michel Foucault to argue that each of us occupies a point “on each of these axes (at a minimum) and that this point is simultaneously a locus of our agency, power, disempowerment, oppression, and resistance. The [endpoints] represent maximum privilege or extreme oppression with respect to a particular axis.” She analyzes how two of those axes, race and gender, interact to structure schools in ways that privilege the ideas and perspectives of white males. Girls and women, she claims, are effectively a “colonized population.” They make up a majority of all students but are forced to live and learn within ideas and institutions structured by white men.

Figure 3.1. Seven intersecting axes of privilege and oppression. Each person’s lived experience is shaped by his or her position on these (and many other) dimensions. We created this figure as a simpler version of a figure found in Morgan (1996).

Morgan is certainly right that it was mostly white males who set up the educational system and founded nearly all the universities in the United States. Most of those schools once excluded women and people of color. But does that mean that women and people of color should think of themselves as “colonized populations” today? Would doing so empower them, or would it encourage an external locus of control? Would it make them more or less likely to engage with their teachers and readings, work hard, and benefit from their time in school? More generally, what will happen to the thinking of students who are trained to see everything in terms of intersecting bipolar axes where one end of each axis is marked “privilege” and the other is “oppression”? Since “privilege” is defined as the “power to dominate” and cause “oppression,” these axes are inherently moral dimensions. The people on top are bad, and the people down below are good. This sort of teaching seems likely to encode the Untruth of Us Versus Them directly into students’ cognitive schemas: Life is a battle between good people and evil people. Furthermore, there is no escaping the conclusion as to who the evil people are. The main axes of oppression usually point to one intersectional address: straight white males.3

[...]

In short, as a result of our long evolution for tribal competition, the human mind readily does binary, us-versus-them thinking. If we want to create welcoming, inclusive communities, we should be doing everything we can to turn down the tribalism and turn up the sense of common humanity. Instead, some theoretical approaches used in universities today may be hyper-activating our ancient tribal tendencies, even if that was not the intention of the professor. Of course, some individuals truly are racist, sexist, and homophobic, and some institutions are too, even when the people who run them mean well, if they end up being less welcoming to members of some groups. We favor teaching students to recognize a variety of kinds of bigotry and bias as an essential step toward reducing them. Intersectionality can be taught skillfully, as Crenshaw does in her TED Talk. It can be used to promote compassion and reveal injustices not previously seen. Yet somehow, many college students today seem to be adopting a different version of intersectional thinking and are embracing the Untruth of Us Versus Them.

1 - We did not use the term “oppressor/victim mindset” in the chapter. We discussed the cognitive psychology of schemas “with two boxes to fill: victim and oppressor.” In retrospect, it seems more intuitive to put the “oppressor” first, and to separate the two words with a slash rather than a dash, so that the term shows, typographically, the dominance of the oppressor over the victim.

2 - Note how Marcuse provides a justification for Ibram Kendi’s claim that “The only remedy to past discrimination is present discrimination. The only remedy to present discrimination is future discrimination.” Marcuse offers a group-based justification for committing any kind of injustice against individuals, even violence, if that individual is in a group that is said to be powerful.

3 - Note how easy it is for students who had been applying the oppressor/victim mindset to white people or “whiteness“ prior to October 7 to just swap in Jews or “Zionists” after October 7.

#Jonathan Haidt #Greg Lukianoff #The Coddling of the American Mind #victimhood #victimhood culture #oppressor vs oppressed #oppression #oppressed #intersectionality #oppressor victim mindset #tribalism #identity politics #religion is a mental illness

2 notes · View notes

arcticdementor · 9 months

Text

The discourse about antisemitism on US college campuses has arrived at an unlikely place. As Jewish students speak out about a rise in antisemitic sentiment amid Israel’s bombardment of Gaza, Republicans have placed the blame on diversity, equity, and inclusion, or DEI, programs. According to conservative lawmakers, who have now held several hearings on antisemitism, these initiatives — meant to create welcoming learning environments for students from marginalized communities — are one reason some Jewish students feel fearful and unprotected on campus.

…

The peculiar connection being drawn between DEI and antisemitism is concerning, Jewish studies and DEI experts told Vox — although some agreed that DEI could do more to address the needs of Jewish students. “There’s been a very strong simmering war of attrition against DEI for some time in universities. And somehow these two things started to merge together to the point where we got these congressional hearings,” said Rabbi Shaul Magid, who teaches Jewish studies at Harvard University and Dartmouth College. “It seemed to me that the issue [at the December 5 hearing] was antisemitism and also not antisemitism. It seemed like it was about DEI and [Rep.] Elise Stefanik’s interest in attacking it, rather than the rise of antisemitism on campus.”

…

Many Republicans want every institution stripped of DEI, in a fashion that would risk squandering the opportunity to thoughtfully reexamine it. “DEI has its problems,” said Eddie S. Glaude Jr., the McDonnell Distinguished University Professor of African American Studies at Princeton University. He cites the need for institutions to return to the value of diversity itself instead of focusing on checking off a diversity compliance list. “They’ve made a caricature of DEI in this context, and DEI is not the issue here.” But addressing antisemitism should require more attention to diversity, equity, and inclusion — not less. “There’s no question that DEI programs have not included Jewish community concerns. It’s been evident for a long time and needs to be addressed,” said Stacy Burdett, an independent antisemitism expert who works with the Cohen Institute for Leadership and Public Service at the University of Maine and testified at a recent hearing on antisemitism. “But dismantling a system that protects marginalized minorities has nothing to do with the interest or fears of Jews who want to just live without harassment and antisemitism.”

…

Much like the conservative arguments against affirmative action and critical race theory, Republicans have argued that DEI amounts to “reverse discrimination” against white people. Conservative think tanks such as the Claremont Instituteand the Manhattan Institute and conservative culture warriors such as Chris Rufoargue that DEI should be abolished because it is “radical” and only makes students “see racism where none exists.” As a result, these groups see aspirational “colorblind” policies, which have been proven to hurt diversity, and an imagined meritocracy, which has never existed in America, as the way forward.

…

Now right-wing lawmakers and pundits say DEI should be abolished because it breeds antisemitism on campuses by refusing to see Jewish students as an “oppressed group.” The turn has brought new life to a movement that lumps together “critical race theory, cultural Marxism, identity politics, and multiculturalism” as threats to “the Enlightenment ideal of knowledge.”

(@mitigatedchaos)

#fabiola cineas #vox.com #antisemitism #dei #republicans pounce

1 note · View note

maantecharian · 2 years

Text

Kerala University Distance Admission

Kerala University Introduction

The University of Kerala is one of the country's first sixteen universities. It was founded in 1937 and was previously known as the University of Travancore. The university currently has 16 faculties and 41 educational departments. Kerala University was founded with only eleven campuses. Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Alappuzha, and Pathanamthitta are just a few of the districts in the state with scattered campuses. Kerala University currently governs nearly 42 departments, 16 faculties, and 9 schools. Furthermore, the university has divided its complaint cell in order to better assist students and employees in resolving internal and external issues. More than 7,000 students from around the world are now enrolled in distance learning programs at Kerala University, which offers a wide range of undergraduate and postgraduate degrees. Kerala University distance admission is conducted for a variety of specializations in areas such as marketing, financial management, human resources, systems, international business management, media management, and many more.

Kerala University's Distance Education School Quick facts

The management courses B.Com, BBA, MBA, and the computer science courses BCA and B.Sc in Computer Sciences have been the most popular at the School of Distance Education, University of Kerala.

The University of Kerala's School of Distance Education has been re-accredited by NAAC with an 'A' grade and is recognized by the UGC's Distance Education Bureau.

The University of Kerala has a functioning alumni association, the Institute of Distance Education Alumni Association (IDEAA), which serves as a great way to network with people in the industry and provides opportunities to other distance learners.

Most courses at the University of Kerala's School of Distance Education are offered based on their performance in the qualifying examination.

For its research activities, the school collaborates with a number of other foreign universities, including Claremont University, the University of Connecticut, Christ Church University, and prominent research centers in Kerala, including RRI, RGCB, RCC, and CTCRI.

The faculty at the University of Kerala's School of Distance Education is highly qualified, with the majority having completed doctoral studies at reputable institutions.

Kerala University Admission Process

Applications for the 2018-19 academic year of Kerala University Distance Education are now being accepted. The university provides undergraduate and graduates programs in a variety of disciplines. For more information, go to the Kerala University Distance Education website, www.IDEKU.net.

Admissions to Kerala University Distance Education for the current academic year are now open. The Institute of Distance Education offers a wide range of undergraduate and postgraduate degree programs. Working professionals and students can take courses online. There isn't one.

Courses in literature, commerce, science, humanities, library studies, and information technology are available through Kerala University Distance Education. Except for a few language courses, the majority of the online courses at the University of Kerala are in English. Because of the University of Kerala's regular admissions process for distance learners, any student can enroll without difficulty.

If a student has a complaint, he or she can contact the university's complaint cell. When submitting an admissions application, consider the following factors:

Before students can be accepted, they must first complete the online registration process. On its official website, the institution offers online registration for distance learning.

Applications received after the deadline will be rejected.

You must then enter your application number and password to gain access to the portal and complete the application process.

The application procedure can then be printed for future use.

You should also send your fees online and keep the receipt.

Your application form, fee receipt, and supporting documents should then be received by the Director of the DDE office at the University of Kerala. Original qualifying certificates, a copy of your secondary school diploma, a passport-size photo, and a TC are required.

To qualify for a price reduction, applicants from the reserved categories (SC/ST/OEC) must print the E-Grantz online application.

Kerala University Offer Course Lists

Kerala University offers 51 distance learning programs in total, including MBA programs. Kerala University provides a diverse range of courses to its undergraduate students. A BSc., BCA, BA, BBA, and so on.

BSc: Students can specialize in either computer science or math. Applicants with a background in computer science, mathematics, or a related subject must take pre-degree exams. Applicants with a diploma in computer science or mathematics are also encouraged to apply.

BCA: Candidates with an intermediate degree may apply if their degree is recognized. Applicants who were evaluated on merit are eligible for the course.

B.Com. : Candidates with a background in commerce only need to pass the 12th grade or its equivalent at a state institution with a merit-based grade. Applicants from backgrounds other than commerce must have completed the 12th grade with a cumulative GPA of at least 45%.

BA: Candidates for admission to the BA English program must have passed the state-mandated higher secondary (10+2) examination or an exam of comparable standing.

BBA: Kerala University provided a distance learning option for candidates seeking a bachelor's degree in a business-related field. To be eligible for the program, a student must have a 12th-grade diploma from an accredited educational board with a minimum grade of 45-50%.

In addition to undergraduate degrees, Kerala University offers postgraduate degrees such as the MA, MSC, MBA, and postgraduate diploma programs. Kerala University Distance MBA is one of the most famous courses of the university. The PG Entrance Test 2022 will follow the schedule below for MA, M.Sc., M.Com, MLISc, MSW, M.Ed, MCJ, M.Tech, and LLM programs at the University's Teaching Departments.

M.COM: Candidates with a BA, BBA, or any other UG degree with enough marks are eligible for the M.Com program. The Master of Commerce (MCom) curriculum covers all aspects of financial management. Candidates who successfully complete this distance learning course from Kerala University may apply for any positions in the financial sector that are relevant to their background

MBA: Kerala University Distance MBA (Master of Business Administration) is the course that gets the most admission in a year. This three-year postgraduate program's main focus is business management research. A bachelor's degree is required to apply for the program.

MA: Political science, sociology, history, English, economics, Hindi, and Malayalam are among the specialties available. Candidates must have a minimum GPA of 45% on a meridian scale.

Kerala University Eligibility Criteria

For admission to any UG stream, candidates must pass the 10+2 examination from a recognized Board.

Candidates for admission to the BSC in Computer Science and Mathematics must have completed 10+2 from a recognized Board. Mathematics must be one of the electives.

Candidates with a three-year diploma in engineering subjects approved by the Director of Technical Education of the Government of Kerala are eligible for the above course.

Candidates seeking admission to Postgraduate courses must have a graduation degree and a minimum of 45% in the related subject required for a master's degree.

Students interested in pursuing an M.Sc. in Computer Science and Mathematics must have a B.Sc. (Vocational) degree in Mathematics or Statistics. Mathematics should be one of the graduation subjects.

Kerala University Review And Ranking

If you are looking for a reputable and well-known university with a solid historical foundation and academic excellence. Then, the University of Kerala is one of the best universities for Distance MBA Courses. Kerala University Distance Learning was founded in 1937 as the University of Travancore. It is the sixteenth university in India and one of the oldest in South India. Kerala University is NAAC-accredited and ranked 47th in India by NIRF in 2018. This university provides 51 distance-learning courses, including an MBA, to undergraduate and postgraduate students.

The primary goals of this university are to provide high-quality education to underdeveloped segments of society while also providing advanced technical programs to all students. This institute provides specializations in a variety of subjects such as marketing, finance management, human resources, systems, international business management, and media management, among others.

Kerala University Placement

Every student at the University of Kerala is placed on campus so that they can easily adjust to the dynamic environment of the industry in the future. The university's placement cell is critical in instilling employable skills in students and assisting students in obtaining placement in large corporations.

The university helps students advance their careers by providing them with soft skills as well as field experience. Any university's placement cell is in charge of inviting companies to the college campus for interviews in order to secure campus placements.

Conclusion

As one of the oldest universities, the Kerala University Distance Learning facilities and campus are well established. Before applying for admission, students should investigate every aspect of the university.

After considering a variety of factors, it is possible to conclude that a Kerala university is an excellent choice for a distance degree or certificate program. The university distinguishes itself from competing institutions that offer comparable curriculum courses to students by offering a diverse range of courses at reasonable prices, as well as effective LMS support and job placement options. This blog contains every detail about the university, its facilities, its courses, and its fees and eligibility. After reading the entire blog, you can proceed to enroll in the university. Students from all over the world can enroll and benefit from campus placements and other services.

#Kerala University Distance Admission

0 notes

justtronic · 2 years

Text

Scripps college dorsey hall

Seventh St.) Farm-Agroecology Frank Dining Hall Frary Dining Hall Gibson Hall Grounds Building Hahn Hall Haldeman Pool Harwood Court Kenyon House K.H. Building/Parking Structure Crookshank Hall Draper Center for Community Partnerships Duplicating Center (401 Harvard Ave.) Edmunds Hall Faculty Oﬃces (156 W. Claremont Boulevard Turn right onto Foothill Boulevard Turn left onto Dartmouth AvenueĪlexander Hall for Administration Andrew Science Hall Athearn Field/Parking Structure Baldwin House Baseball Field Bixby Plaza Blanchard Park Brackett Observatory Bridges Auditorium Bridges Hall of Music Carnegie Hall Clark I Clark V Cook House Cottages Cowart I.T. Turn left onto Arrow Highway Turn right onto Bucknell Avenue Turn left onto Watson Drive SANTA FE ST.Įxit Baseline Road Go west on Baseline Road Turn left onto Monte Vista Avenue Turn right onto N. Each academic institution has its own campus, its own students and faculty and its own distinctive mission.ĭirections From the 210 Freeway at Towne AvenueĮxit Towne Avenue Go south on Towne Avenue Turn left onto Foothill Boulevard Turn right onto Dartmouth AvenueĮxit Indian Hill Boulevard Go north on Indian Hill Boulevard Turn right onto First Street Turn left onto College Avenueġ3 13 29 98 15 23 11 14 21 7 8 26 28 30 17 30 20 22 18 e two graduate institutions include Claremont Graduate University and Keck Graduate Institute. e undergraduate colleges include Pomona College, Scripps College, Claremont McKenna College, Harvey Mudd College and Pitzer College. e Claremont Colleges, a consortium of five undergraduate liberal arts colleges, two graduate institutions and Claremont University Consortium, which provides shared institutional support services, is reminiscent of the Oxford-Cambridge model. With 7,700 students and 3,600 faculty and staﬀ, located on more than 560 acres of land, the consortium generates an endless variety of intellectual, cultural and social activities. Undergraduate students may choose from more than 2,000 courses oﬀered each year across the colleges. e eight independent institutions on adjoining campuses oﬀer rigorous curricula, small classes, distinguished professors and personalized instruction in a vibrant residential college community that provides intensive interaction between students and faculty. (Claremont School of Theology) Building, ﬁeld or place location (CMC, 13 Collins Dining Hall) Parking lot or structure Zipcar location Listings are alphabetical.

#Scripps college dorsey hall

1 note · View note

usatodayopinion · 7 years

Photo

(Photo: Elijah Nouvelage, Getty Images)

Threatening free speech

Campus protesters are right that President Trump's America-first nationalism is a grave threat to many Americans. But unfettered First Amendment rights are the answer to the threat, not its cause. Our view. Opposing view.

#free speech #college campuses #student protests #First Amendement #U.S. Constitution #ann coulter #berkeley #claremont colleges #President Trump #alt right #anti-immigrant #bigotry #hate speech

13 notes · View notes

admissionsmadness · 3 years

Text

Elite Universities Do Not Care About (Community College) Transfers

Transfer students are often initially overlooked or are ill-equipped to navigate the first-time freshman admissions system. Some of UT-Austin’s top graduates every year begin their studies at community college. Transfer admission allows universities to enroll first-generation and low-income students who might want to save money at community college.

Many have family obligations requiring them to stay close to home following graduation. Transfers often come from nontraditional backgrounds, including mid-career professionals, military veterans, and parents.

They’re my favorite students to work with because they have at least a year or two of post-high school experience. Compared to high school seniors, they often have more precise goals about what they want from their education.

There are far fewer resources available for prospective transfer applicants than first-time freshmen, especially at four-year universities where there aren’t designated offices to help students transition away from their campus.

Information for honors programs and research opportunities are geared toward first-time freshmen. An intrepid prospective transfer is often left guessing whether they’re eligible for a particular program. Identifying prerequisites adds an additional challenge to whether a student might be eligible for enrolling in upper-division courses in their major because degree plans are suited for students already on campus. Incomplete information on their sites complicates applying to universities such as Michigan Ann-Arbor, making it difficult to write the “Why Michigan?” essay.

Erecting barriers for transfer students decreases diversity on college campuses because it deters nontraditional students from applying. Prospective transfers applying for the University of Washington’s Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science and Engineering receive a surprise requirement weeks after completing their application. They have only two weeks to submit a separate application to the program on an almost identical topic required on the Coalition Application.

UNC Asheville admits 94 percent of their applicants, yet they take an opposite approach to clear and transparent admissions requirements. They’ve mindlessly adopted holistic review procedures so that they can learn about “your successes, challenges, interests and goals—everything that makes you who you are.”

Students are more than their grades. Few would debate that point. But admissions requirements aren’t the appropriate place to communicate an institution’s commitment to embracing the student as a whole.

At many highly selective universities, transfers regardless of socioeconomic status or ethnicity are an underrepresented cohort. The Jack Kent Cooke Foundation published a comprehensive report on transfer student success called Persistence. They determined that transfers represent 11 percent of the undergraduate population at top public universities and only 3 percent at private schools. “35 public selective institutions enroll four times as many transfer students as the 140 private selective institutions.”

For example, Princeton, Harvard, Dartmouth, and Stanford admit around 1 percent of their transfer applicants compared with more than five times the admissions rate for first-time freshmen. MIT, Yale, Amherst, and Claremont McKenna accept fewer than two dozen transfers each year. Williams, America’s top liberal arts college, admitted 11 transfers, whereas Cal Tech accepted only three transfer applicants in 2019.

These disparities between freshman and transfer admissions rates represent a deliberate institutional preference for privileged students over historically marginalized populations. Given the scarcity of spaces and lack of information at elite universities, it’s surprising that any prospective transfers apply at all. A lack of viable transfer pathways puts added stress on getting things right the first time as a high school applicant.

By contrast, Cornell, Brown, Pennsylvania, Columbia, and U Chicago admit transfers at similar rates to first-time freshmen.

Still, transfers to elite universities are twice as likely to come from another four-year university than a community college. Their preferences reflect society’s bias toward four-year degrees while shunning local colleges. The Persistence report found that community college transfers are slightly more likely to complete their degree relative to first-time freshman or transfers from four-year universities. Given the higher success rates of community college students, it’s peculiar that transfer admissions at elite universities prefer students originating at four-year universities.

Closing the door to transfer students, especially from community colleges, sacrifices opportunities for enrolling a more diverse and capable student body. Transferring into Michigan’s Engineering program requires a very specific math course sequence that includes linear algebra and differential equations. These two courses go above and beyond any other public university that usually just require engineering physics and a few calculus semesters.

One of my clients took these beyond-calculus courses at their community college under the impression that they met the prerequisites. However, the credits didn’t transfer because they’re classes that are ordinarily only offered at four-year universities. Michigan’s transfer equivalency system didn’t recognize them. Despite being a first-generation black student with a community college 4.0 GPA—the kind that Michigan purports to value highly—they were denied without further consideration (after wasting time with their required five essays and the application fee). He considered emailing and then decided he is better off enrolling at a university that would treat him better.

Any elite university that claims to value diversity and college access yet admits significantly fewer transfers relative to first-time freshmen is hypocritical. A sincere commitment to diversity and college access would decrease barriers for beginning at a community college and accept first-time freshmen and transfers at similar rates. They need to maintain some balance between incoming transfers from two-year colleges and four-year universities.

The Persistence study about community college transfers concludes that the most effective way to increase college access and bring diversity to campus is to enroll more community college students:

“Because lower-income students are three times more likely to begin their postsecondary pursuits at a community college than higher-income students, strengthening transfer pathways to selective institutions has the potential to increase bachelor’s completion rates for our nation’s brightest students. It also can assist selective higher education institutions increase the diversification of their student bodies along lines of socioeconomic status, first-generation status, or age.”

If elite universities sincerely committed themselves to increasing access and diversity, they would admit and enroll more transfer students, especially those from community colleges.

0 notes

heykav · 4 years

Text

The 5Cs as

[ad_1]

About

The 5Cs Asis an image macro meme based on a map of the Claremont Colleges (5Cs), a group of liberal arts colleges in Claremont, California. In the meme, each of the campuses (Pomona College, Scripps College, Claremont McKenna College, Harvey Mudd College and Pitzer Colleges) has different labels referring to a school stereotype. It is one of the most popular and enduring memes in…

View On WordPress

0 notes

thecodingminds · 4 years

Text

Kick-Start Your Career Today with The Coding Minds Academy

The Idea begins with the concept of spreading Computer Science fundamentals among the children, they are exposed to different languages at an early age , similarly coding is computer language through which they will develop the logical, creative skills, they can develop an app, gaming engine in future. It’s a Creativity , or Creation of something unique!! I Devika Maini started off thinking about this idea when in my University in California my Under grad Students in CS branch are still not much exposed to the basic concepts of Java , Python Computer Programming language. After doing short survey I realize that ,many students learn the coding languages by themselves through YouTube . This click on my head , I talked to Fairmont Private School in Orange County, California about introducing the coding concepts to the young kids in the school as a subject or as After school program. they believe in my idea ,approach and my motivate behind it. So with this believe today CodingMinds academy is teaching coding to students in their 4 campuses in Orange County ,California.

CodingMinds academy work with Cities Community Centers as well to spread the knowledge massively. Our Online Scratch Programming, Online Minecraft MakeCode Programming, Game Designing and Development is running in City of Brea, Rancho Cucamonga, Claremont, Anaheim, Buena Park, Diamond Bar. “Coding is important like any other sports these days” - Coding helps children to be able to visualize abstract concepts, lets them apply math to real-world situations, and makes math fun and creative. As they learn to code and give direction they learn that there is no one way to do something and that even if their way didn’t work. They can improve upon what they have already done without worrying about failing. Coding is a basic literacy in the digital age, and it is important for kids to understand and be able to work with and understand the technology around them CodingMinds encourage their students around the world to participate in the COMPETITION organized every year in California,USA . The coding minds Academy is a massive python coding classes online learning platform. It's a great place to start developing a wealth of coding-related knowledge and skills like Unity 3D,online minecraft classes with JavaScript,Python Programming with Minecraft,Game Development with Roblox Studio and more at Book Free Trail

#online minecraft classes #online roblox coding classes #Python Coding Classes Online #scratch coding classes online #scratch programming lessons #online roblox game development #Coding teacher course

0 notes

californiaprelawland · 4 years

Text

Tuition Of California Colleges To Stay The Same Despite Online Instruction

By Grace Fan, Pomona College, Class of 2023

July 8, 2020

The Golden state has always been known for its exemplary educational institutions, boasting some of the best colleges and universities in the country and worldwide. Hundreds of thousands of students are enrolled within the ten University of California campuses, and more even are enrolled in the California State University System. There are also countless private universities and liberal arts colleges as well. As COVID-19 reaches new heights in number of cases,Californian colleges have begun releasing their plans for the fall. The Cal States(California State Universities)were one of the first campuses to announce their fall 2020 plans, releasing a statement in early May. Their decision to offer the overwhelming majority of classes online for all 23 campuses was made by the chancellor of the schools, Tim White.i Contrastingly, the University of California system president Janet Napolitano decided to let individual UC campuses make their own plans.ii

Most UC schools have announced plans to offer classes online in the fall, some science labs and discussion seminars being the exception, though the degree of precaution varies between schools. University of California Berkeley, arguably the school with the most relaxed policies regarding fall plans, is going to house 6,500 out of their 30,000 undergraduate students and pursue the hybrid plan (having some online classes and some in-person classes). Their approach to the coming semester may be considered less intense than the rest of the UC’s due to its location and infrastructure. Northern California seems to be doing a lot better than Southern California, in terms of the number of COVID-19 cases. And though University of California Davis is further up north, Berkeley does seem to have greater resources and infrastructure to offer hybrid courses and guarantee the health of its students.

California is also home to a plethora of liberal arts schools as well,notably the Claremont Colleges. The Claremont Colleges are a neighboring group of 5 colleges and 2 graduate schools. Students can take classes at any of the colleges and can enjoy many of each college’s resources. Though the colleges have many similar characteristics, each is its own institution and has its own administration, registrar, faculty, and president. Claremont Mckenna and Harvey Mudd colleges have both released their fall plans, later to be confirmed in July. Due to the smaller nature of the school,the administration is planning for 33% of classes to be held online, while another 33% will be hybrid, and the remaining 33% primarily in-person but also accessible online.iii

However, contrasting to Claremont Mckenna, Harvey Mudd college has claimed that 70% of their classes will be held online. Moreover, Mudd has taken extra precautions by restricting its students from taking classes from other colleges. iv The other colleges-Pomona, Pitzer, and Scripps have yet to release their decision. What about bigger private universities? USC announcedJuly1st that it would be reversing its earlier decision to hold hybrid classes, and instead will be moving towards mainly online classes as well, around 80%-90%. v The New USC decision reflects the growing number of cases in the SoCal area and mirrors UCLA’s decision, which makes sense considering they are just across the hill from each other. And even though one would think that private institutions like USC would have more resources to handle the virus, it seems that COVID-19 does not discriminate against schools. Yet despite all these schools committing to another remote-online platform for the coming school semester/quarter, most colleges have decided to freeze, or in some cases even hike up, their tuition.

The major complaint about the tuition that students have to pay for online school is obvious-why do they have to pay the college the same amount of money for instruction that pales in comparison to the in-person experience. In this age of growing, unpayable student debt, as well as inflation and general increase in university tuition, parents of students and independents are already having a very hard time keeping up with the ridiculous financial burden that comes with a higher education. And that’s not even addressing the decreased value that a college degree holds. In fact, in an editorial written in 2008, it seems that “For decades, the typical college graduate's wage rose well above inflation. But no longer. In the economic expansion that began in 2001 and now appears to be ending, the inflation-adjusted wages of the majority of U.S. workers didn't grow, even among those who went to college.” vi And in the year 2020, it seems that this phenomenon is still very much an accurate depiction of the job market for college graduates.So, in addition to having to pay instrumentally more for a “requirement” for a higher(ish) paying job, students must also pay for an education conducted through Zoom. The problem of increasing tuition for students has been happening for years now.

Students have sued their university for increasing tuition after signing tuition agreements. vii Especially considering that colleges sent students back amidst the Coronavirus outbreak in March, students are upset that they paid the same tuition for online classes for the remaining of spring semester. viii Now that fall online seems to be the reality for California students, many are thinking about taking a gap year or semester. In the wake of Governor Newsom’s new regulations-shutting down bars, indoor restaurants,other “non-essential” businesses and imposing stricter regulations, it would make sense that colleges have begun reassessing their approaches towards the upcoming school year. Considering that many colleges have never had to deal with having to organize their school year because of a global pandemic-there is really no pre-existing structure in which they can base their decisions on. Only time will tell how the virus fares in the coming months, and all students can do is wait.

________________________________________________________________

i Michael Burke, “University of California CampusesPlan to Offer Most Classes Online This Fall | EdSource,”accessed July 2, 2020, https://edsource.org/2020/university-of-california-campuses-plan-to-offer-most-classes-online-this-fall/633991.

ii Burke.

iii Sienna Smith and Anushe Engineer, “CMC Unveils Campus Reopening Plan, Final Decision to Come Later in July | TheStudent Life,”accessed July 2, 2020, https://tsl.news/cmc-unveils-campus-reopening-plan-final-decision-to-come-later-in-july/.

iv Lauren West, Liam Chalk, andAnushe Engineer, “Harvey Mudd Plans a Hybrid Return to Campus,”The Student Life, July 1, 2020, https://tsl.news/harvey-mudd-plans-a-hybrid-return-to-campus/.

v Tomás Mier et al., “USC Reverses Robust Fall Reopening Plans, Asks Students to Stay Home for Online Classes,”San Diego Union-Tribune, July 2, 2020, https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/california/story/2020-07-02/usc-reverses-reopening-plan-will-rely-on-online-classes.

vi Greg Ip, “The Declining Value Of Your College Degree,”Wall Street Journal, July 18, 2008, sec. Personal Journal, https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB121623686919059307.

vii Asher Hawkins, “Can You Sue Your School Over A Tuition Increase?,”Forbes, accessed July 4, 2020, https://www.forbes.com/2010/04/19/tuition-lawsuit-college-personal-finance-sue-school.html.

viii Greta Anderson, “Students Sue Universities for Tuition and Fee Refunds,”accessed July 4, 2020, https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2020/04/20/students-sue-universities-tuition-and-fee-refunds

0 notes

asfeedin · 4 years

Text

TripAdvisor Cuts 25% Of Workforce Amid Pandemic

TripAdvisor’s Massachusetts headquarters.

AP Photo/Steven Senne

Topline: As the coronavirus pandemic keeps Americans confined to their homes, nearly every industry has been negatively impacted by the disease, and businesses losing out on cash flow have started laying off workers.

Here’s who’s axed staff so far:

Airlines & Transportation

Air Canada will lay off 5,100 members of its cabin crew, about half of its current roster, as its planned flights for April have been cut by nearly 80%.

Air New Zealand will let 3,500 workers go, equaling about one-third of its workforce.

Avis Car Rental Boston’s Logan International Airport reportedly laid off an undisclosed number of workers.

Enterprise Holdings, the parent company of car renters Enterprise, National and Alamo laid off 743 workers in North Carolina.

Flight Centre, Australia’s largest travel agent, is laying off and putting on leave a third of its 20,000 employees.

Helloworld Travel, an Australian travel agent, let 275 employees go.

Car rental company Hertz plans to lay off 10,000 workers from its North American business.

Norwegian Air said that it would temporarily lay off up to 50% of its workforce, meaning 7,300 workers, and suspend 4,000 flights due to the pandemic.

Scandinavian Airlines said Sunday it will temporarily lay off 10,000 employees, equal to 90% of their staff.

Stena Line, a European ferry operator, announced that 950 jobs would be cut in Sweden due to a sharp decline in travel bookings.

Canadian airline and travel company Transat AT let go of 3,600 workers, or about 70% of its workforce.

TripAdvisor eliminated 600 roles in the U.S. and Canada, and 300 more in other countries, as part of a 25% workforce reduction; an undisclosed number were furloughed.

ZipCar, a car rental company, laid off 20% of its 500 workers.

Airports

Arts, Culture & Entertainment

Film studio 20th Century Fox dismissed 120 Los Angeles-based employees.

The Houston-based Alley Theatre laid off 75% of its staff and implemented pay cuts for those remaining.

Caesars Entertainment Corp. has also begun pandemic-prompted layoffs.

Christie Lights, an Orlando, Florida, stage lighting company, laid off 100 employees.

Toronto-based movie theater chain Cineplex Inc. laid off thousands of part-time workers after being forced to shut its 165 locations across Canada and the U.S.

The Circuit of the Americas, an Austin, Texas-based concert, automobile racing, conference and entertainment complex, said it was laying off an undisclosed number of workers after being indefinitely closed due to coronavirus.

Montreal-based circus producer Cirque du Soleil will lay off 4,679 people—95% of its staff.

Talent agency Endeavor laid off 250 workers, with the first wave focusing on those who cannot do their jobs from home, such as restaurant workers.

The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, IATSE, estimated that 120,000 jobs for film workers, including technicians, artisans and other crew positions have been eliminated.

Lifestyle branding agency Karla Otto laid off approximately 28 New York City employees and several others in its Los Angeles office.

Public relations firm Krupp Group laid off an undisclosed number of New York and Los Angeles employees.

About 300 workers across the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, the Norman Rockwell Museum and the Hancock Shaker Village will be out of jobs by mid-April.

New Jersey’s McCarter Theater said an undisclosed number of full-time and seasonal workers across every department will be laid off from May 15.

Production company Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios let 7% of its workforce go, resulting in about 50 positions being eliminated.

New York City’s Metropolitan Museum of Art laid off 81 employees.

The Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, California, let go of all 97 part-time staffers.

About 85 freelancers in Manhattan’s Museum of Modern Art have been cut.

Mystic Seaport Museum in Connecticut laid off approximately 200 workers.

Hollywood talent agency Paradigm laid off around 100 employees and reduced payroll for the remaining 500.

New York-based agency PR Consulting let 32 employees go.

The Science Museum of Minnesota temporarily laid off 400 employees.

Boutique fashion and hospitality agency Sequel let an undisclosed number of workers go.

SkyCity Entertainment laid off or furloughed at least 1,100 workers.

At least 50 employees of music and culture festival South By Southwest were let go after this year’s event was canceled, the Washington Post reported.

Creative agency Spring reduced staff in Los Angeles and London.

TeamSanJose, which oversees events at multiple California theaters and convention centers, temporarily let go of approximately 1,300 workers.

New York City’s Whitney Museum laid off 76 workers.

Improvisational theater and school Upright Citizens Brigade laid off dozens of workers.

ViacomCBS let an undisclosed number of contract workers go.

Education

Finance

Government

Healthcare

Hotels

Carmel Valley Ranch in California laid off 600 workers.

The Carlyle and Plaza Hotels laid off hundreds of workers.

Claremont Hotel Properties in California’s Oakland and Berkeley areas has let go of 514 people.

Eden Roc Hotels, in Miami, Florida, laid off 257 employees from its housekeeping, spa and banquet workforces.

The Four Seasons hotel in Vail, Colorado dismissed about 240 staffers.

Colorado’s largest hotel, the Gaylord Rockies Resort & Convention Center, laid off 800 workers.

Great Wolf Lodge is laying off around 440 employees from its Colorado Springs location.

Kimpton Hotel Aventi in Manhattan, owned by the InterContinental Hotels Group, reportedly laid off 40 employees, while the Ian Schrager-owned Public temporarily laid off an undisclosed number of workers.

Las Alcobas Resort & Spa in California’s Napa go of approximately 140 employees.

Marriott International, the world’s largest hotel company, said tens of thousands of hotel workers will be furloughed, and will lay off a number of those workers.

McMenamins, the Northwest’s largest hotel chain and brewpub, let 3,000 employees go.

MGM Resorts said it would furlough workers and begin layoffs on Monday, but immediately let some staffers go from undisclosed parts of its business.

Over five dozen workers were laid off from West Virginia’s Oglebay Resort and Conference Center.

SoftBank-backed Oyo Hotels laid off 3,000 of its China employees earlier in the month, equaling 30% of its workforce there, part of a global layoff of 5,000.

The Palace Hotel in San Francisco has temporarily eliminated 774 positions.

Pebblebrook Hotel Trust, which owns 54 hotels, laid off half of its 8,000 workers and may need to cut an additional 2,000.

Australia-based Redcape Hotel Group will cut most of its 800-person staff.

In San Francisco, California, the RIU Plaza Fisherman’s Wharf dismissed nearly 210 workers.

Sage Hospitality Group let go of 465 workers across three properties in Denver, Colorado.

Scandic, the largest hotel operator in Europe’s Nordic countries, also said it would give termination notices to 2,000 Swedish employees.

Sydell Hotels dismissed around 180 workers.

Workers at President Trump’s hotels—160 in Washington, D.C., 51 in New York City and an unknown number at his Las Vegas, Nevada location—were laid off.

The Warwick Rittenhouse Square Hotel in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania laid off 53 workers.

The Westin Boston Waterfront cut 435 workers.

Ventana Big Sur, also in California, let go of around 260 workers.

Industry

North Dakota-based water management and well logistics company MBI Energy Services laid off over 200 workers.

Manufacturing & Logistics

Lightweight metals manufacturer Arconic laid off 100 workers from its Lafayette, Indiana plant.

Power substation and transformer manufacturer Delta Sky let go of an undisclosed number of employees.

General Electric laid off about 10% of its jet engine workforce, around 2,500 workers.

Union leaders at a General Motors plant in Ontario, Canada have recommended a two week layoff due to concerns over the virus.

Metal plating finisher Marsh Plating Corp. in Michigan temporarily laid off 97 workers.

Mitchell Plastics of Charlestown, Indiana, has temporarily laid off 36o workers.

The Port of Los Angeles let go of 145 drivers after ships from China stopped arriving.

Michigan-based woodworker Schafer Woodworks Inc. temporarily laid off 25 employees.

Tilden Mining Co., located in Michigan, temporarily laid off over 680 workers after idling operations April 26.

Minnesota-based cabinetmaker Wayzata Home Products had to lay off its entire 141 person staff.

Real Estate

Restaurants & Dining

“All restaurant staff” were reportedly let go at Aqimero, located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania’s Ritz-Carlton hotel.

Bon Appetit Management Company, a retail dining employer for college campuses, laid off 140 workers from the University of Pennsylvania.

Oregon-based Burgerville laid off 162 workers.

Cameron Mitchell Restaurants furloughed 4,500 workers, with 90 at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania’s Ocean Prime restaurant reportedly laid off.

Compass Coffee, a Washington, D.C. Starbucks competitor, laid off 150 of its 189 employees—equaling 80 percent of its staff.

Danny Meyer’s Union Square Hospitality Group laid off 2,000 workers, which is 80% of its workforce.

Austin, Texas-based Dyn365 is laying off 95 office workers.

Earl’s Restaurants, Inc. in Boston laid off around 360 workers from two locations.

Eatwell DC, a District of Columbia-based restaurant group, let go of 160 employees.

Founders Brewing Co., a Grand Rapids, Michigan beer maker, let 163 workers go.

Six Friendly’s restaurants in Connecticut temporarily laid off about 120 workers.

HMSHost, a Seattle, Washington, global restaurant-services provider said it would lay off 200 people and an area corporate shuttle service would lay off 75, HuffPost reported.

Austin, Texas-based JuiceLand let go of of approximately 225 workers.

Landry’s Inc., the parent company of Del Frisco’s and Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. (along with the Golden Nugget casinos) had to temporarily lay off 40,000 workers.

Levy’s Premium Foodservice, which provides services to Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California, has let go of 613 workers.

Detroit, Michigan-based Punch Bowl Social laid off 97 workers.

Shake Shack let 20% of its New York City-based corporate staff go.

Trump National Doral restaurant BLT Prime in Miami, Florida, laid off 98 workers.

California-based Vesta Food Service has let 310 workers go.

Retail

Tech boutique B8ta reportedly laid off half of its corporate staff.

Massachusetts-based marijuana dispensary Cultivate laid off an unknown number of workers.

Destination XL, based in Massachusetts, cut 245 brick-and-mortar store jobs.

Shoe retailer DSW put up to 80% of its workers on a temporary unpaid leave of absence, according to a statement from a spokesperson to Forbes.

Australian department store chain Myer Holdings has temporarily laid off 10,000 of its workers.

Stationery and crafts store Paper Source let go of 88 workers across Massachusetts.

U.K.-based retailer Primark laid off 347 workers from locations around Massachusetts.

Cosmetics retailer Sephora let go of some part-time and seasonal workers in its U.S. business; Canadian corporate employees are working reduced hours.

Laura Ashley, the British homewares and bedding maker, filed for administration (the U.K.’s version of bankruptcy) after rescue talks were impeded by the coronavirus outbreak.

New York City bookseller McNally Jackson, which operates four locations, temporarily laid off its employees, but intends to hire them back “as soon as we can,” according to the company’s Instagram account.

Mountain Equipment Co-op, a Canadian outdoor recreation retailer, will let go of 1,300 employees by March 29.

Simon Property Group, America’s largest mall owner, laid off an undisclosed number of employees while furloughing an additional 30% of its workforce.

Inclusive bra maker ThirdLove laid off 30 to 35% of its staff.

Mattress upstart Tuft & Needle let go of an undisclosed number of retail store workers.

Sportswear maker Under Armour laid off around 600 warehouse workers in the Baltimore, Maryland area.

Silicon Valley & Technology

Vehicle sharing platform Bird laid off 30% of its workforce, which came to 406 employees out of its workforce of over 1,300.

Employee equity management startup Carta laid of 161 employees, or about 16% of its workforce.

Fitness platform ClassPass let go of 22% of its employees, while furloughing an additional 31%.

New York City real estate startup Compass laid off 15% of its workforce.

Cryptocurrency incubator ConsenSys laid off 91 employees, about 14% of its workforce.

Cloud software startup D2iQ (formerly known as Mesosphere) reportedly laid off 34 employees.

Boston-based AI company DataRobot let go of an undisclosed number of staffers.

Smart office startup Envoy laid off or furloughed 30% of its 195 workers.

Event management service Eventbrite laid off half its workforce as events worldwide are canceled.

Fashion startup Everlane laid off and furloughed 200 employees from its retail and backend departments.

Boston-based corporate catering startup ezCater laid off over 400 of its 900 employees.

Minneapolis-based food delivery service Foodsby laid off an undisclosed number of workers.

In Silicon Alley, four startups—online mattress retailer Eight Sleep, technical recruiter Triplebyte, hospitality startup The Guild, and luxury sleeper-bus service Cabin—laid off about 75 people between them.

Car rental startup GetAround let go of around 100 workers due to the impact of the coronavirus.

Discount services and experiences platform Groupon will lay off or furlough around 2,800 employees.

Iris Nova, a drink startup backed by Coca-Cola, let go of 50% of its staff.

Trucking unicorn KeepTruckin let go of one-fifth of its employees.

Office space leasing company Knotel cut half of its 400 employees.

Komodo Health reportedly laid off 9% of its workforce.

Cannabis startup Leafly dismissed 91 workers, following a round of layoffs from two months prior.

Boston-based travel startup Lola laid off 34 employees, reportedly among the first full-time tech casualties of the coronavirus crisis.

Mixed reality company Magic Leap reportedly laid off 1,000 employees.

Interior design and e-commerce platform Modsy let go of an undisclosed number of employees.

Homebuying startup Opendoor let 600 employees go, equaling about 35% of its workforce.

Overtime, the Kevin Durant-backed sports media company, parted ways with 20% of its employees.

HR tech company PerkSpot let 10 employees go.

IT infrastructure company Pivot3 laid off an undisclosed number of workers.

High end clothing rental service Rent The Runway laid off all retail employees across the country.

Remote work and travel company Remote Year laid off about 50 employees.

Oil, gas and alternative energy marketplace RigUp let go of 25% of its workforce.

Petsitting platform Rover laid off 41% of its workers.

Sales enablement company ShowPad laid off 52 employees.

Apartment rental startup Sonder laid off or furloughed 400 employees, equaling roughly 30% of its workforce.

Chicago parking startup SpotHero laid off an undisclosed number of employees.

Artificial intelligence writing platform Textio laid off 30 workers.

Tasking platform Thumbtack let go of 25o employees.

Travel manager TripActions laid off 300 workers—about 25% of its staff—mostly across customer support, recruiting and sales.

Photo editing app makers VSCO let 45 employees go.

Wonderschool, backed by Andreeson-Horowitz, let go of 75% of its staff.

Yelp laid off or furloughed more than 2,000 workers—a 17% staff reduction.

Online hiring marketplace ZipRecruiter laid off or indefinitely furloughed 400 of its approximately 1,200 full-time employees.

AirBnb-backed business travel company Zeus Living cut 30% of its staff.

Sports & Fitness

The NBA’s Utah Jazz laid off an undisclosed “small percentage” of its workforce.

Maryland-based yoga chain CorePower Yoga let go of 193 workers across five studios.

Golden Gate Parks racetrack in California laid off around 140 workers.

The WWE, owned by billionaire Vince McMahon, cut at least 15 wrestling stars from its lineup.

After canceling its comeback season in March, the XFL, also owned by Vince McMahon, suspended operations and laid off all of its employees.

Utilities

Satellite TV provider Dish is laying off an undisclosed number of its 16,000 employees.

Elsewhere

Boston’s Tea Party Ships & Museum, along with Old Town Trolley Cars, laid off an undisclosed number of employees.

Central Ohio’s YMCA cut 85% of its workforce, consisting of over 1,400 part-time workers and 320 full-time workers.

The Fitler Club, a dining, accommodations and co-working space in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, dismissed nearly 240 workers.

The Greater Philadelphia YMCA laid off 4,000 workers after its childcare and gym revenue dropped.

In California, Lucky Chances Casino let go of nearly 490 workers, while California Grand Casino cut 190 positions.

The National Rifle Association reportedly laid off 60 employees following the cancellation of its annual meeting.

The Oneida Nation Native American tribe laid off or furloughed nearly 2,000 workers after revenue dropped at its casino.

The mayor of Tombstone, Arizona, who runs a historic stagecoach tour business of the town, had to let go of 175 workers.

Women’s co-working company The Wing laid off almost all of its space teams and half of its HQ staff.

What to watch for: If any U.S. airlines end up laying off workers. Delta Airlines said it would cut flights and freeze hiring. American Airlines is also cutting flights, and delaying trainings for new flight attendants and pilots. United Airlines said it might have to reduce its staff this fall if economic recovery proves to be slow.

What we don’t know: Exactly how many restaurant workers have been laid off due to the pandemic. New York City, a dining mecca, has about 27,000 eating and drinking establishments that were staffed by over 300,000 people. Restaurants are able to fulfill delivery and takeout orders, but can do so using skeleton crews.

Big number: 50%. That’s how many U.S. companies are considering layoffs, according to a survey released by Challenger, Gray & Christmas, the country’s oldest outplacement firm. And the Federal Reserve of St. Louis estimated that 47 million jobs could be lost due to the coronavirus crisis. The numbers come on the heels of the 26 million American workers who filed for unemployment since the crisis began, according to data released Thursday, an all-time high.

Key background: There are now over 979,000 reported coronavirus cases in the U.S. and more than 55,000 deaths, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. Worldwide cases now amount to over 3 million infected and 209,000 dead. Meanwhile, President Trump signed a coronavirus relief bill into law that provides free testing and paid sick leave, along with a $2 trillion stimulus package and a subsequent $484 billion relief bill. At least 42 states have enacted stay-at-home orders that affect 316 million people or more. Cancelations of concerts, sports leagues, festivals, religious gatherings and other large events have impacted millions of people. President Trump enacted a 30 day travel ban from Europe that sent airlines and travelers scrambling to adjust, before declaring a national state of emergency. Some states, like Georgia, South Carolina, and North Dakota are beginning to ease restrictions, but most health experts agree that social distancing and business shutdowns continue to be necessary to reduce the virus’ spread. But the uncertainty over how and when the entire country—and its citizens—can resume normal life is a specter hanging over businesses, as they decide whether to cut workers.