Category Archive

Way back in the spring of 2009 I wrote about the case of Julea Ward, a counseling graduate student who was expelled from Eastern Michigan University for refusing to counsel gay clients according to the ethical mandates of her profession. It’s an interesting case, and one that’s become something of a cause celebre on the right — you can read all the background here, and read a bit more about my take on the ethical issues involved here.

A federal judge ruled in EMU’s favor in July 2010, and the case is slowly wending its way through the appellate process. On Friday, the ACLU filed an amicus brief on EMU’s behalf — it’s a good introduction to the case, and a solid analysis of the issues at stake.

Yep, that’s the word they used. “Purge.”

In a post on the Young Americans for Freedom blog, it was announced today that the group has “voted to purge Rep. Ron Paul” from its National Advisory Board because of his “delusional and disturbing alliance with the fringe Anti-War movement.”

YAF was founded by William F. Buckley in 1960 as a conservative counterweight to the liberal student activist organizations of its day.

Update | Ron Paul won the CPAC presidential straw poll today. His political director had this to say about the purge: “I hadn’t heard of YAF doing anything in years, I thought they were defunct.”

I thought this was an Egypt joke when I saw it on Twitter two minutes ago, but according to this link it’s true — José Ramón de la Torre, the president of the University of Puerto Rico has just resigned.

More soon.

Update | Confirmation of the resignation, but no new details, from Primera Hora.

Second Update | Eduardo Ibarra, former President of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Puerto Rico — and a UPR Rio Piedras alumni, is calling for the police presence at UPR to be replaced by “a group of graduates who have credibility and trust among students and entire university community.” This alumni group would “act as moderators in guiding and directing the institution to students without restrain their freedom of expression.”

Well, I’ve heard of other countries where the students take a stand,
They’ve even helped to overthrow the leaders of the land.
Now, I wouldn’t go so far as to say we’re also learning how…
But when I’ve got something to say, sir, I’m gonna say it now.

–Phil Ochs, 1966

Virginia’s House of Delegates this week passed a bill that would block all undocumented immigrants from attending the state’s public colleges and universities. To my knowledge, only one state — South Carolina — currently imposes such a ban.

Virginia’s bill, House Bill 1465, was one of about a dozen bills recently passed by the Republican-controlled Virginia House that would impose new restrictions or penalties on undocumented immigrants.

HB 1465 passed by a vote of 74-25 in the House of Delegates, which has a 59-39 Republican majority. It now goes to the Virginia state Senate, which is controlled by Democrats by a slim 22-18 margin.