Black Students Shutdown FBI Director's Keynote Speech

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The Clinton university scandal

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Kudos to George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley for asking why the media aren’t asking about the $16.5 million paid to Bill Clinton by Laureate International Universities.

For all the hundreds of stories on Trump University, nothing’s been written about the huge payments over 2010-2014 to the potential future First Gentleman to serve as “honorary chancellor” of the vast for-profit education firm.

Nor about the $55 million that Hillary Clinton’s State Department sent the way of groups run by Laureate founder Douglas Becker — who happens to be a major donor to Clinton campaigns and the Clinton Foundation.

One Laureate component, mostly-online Walden University, even faced its own class-action lawsuit. In that, as Turley notes, “Students alleged that they were repeatedly delayed and given added costs as they tried to secure degrees, leaving them deeply in debt.”

Perhaps it was all on the up-and-up — though “honorary” jobs rarely pay $4 million a year, and Bill did quit just before Hillary began her latest presidential run.

But you’d expect a genuinely nonpartisan press to at least ask about it.

http://nypost.com/2016/06/12/the-clinton-university-scandal/

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Hillary’s emails reveal lucrative ties to for-profit colleges

Student loan debt continues to be one of the largest economic issues plaguing the U.S., with the total amount topping $1.3 trillion. Hillary Clinton’s higher education policy touts debt-free degrees for underprivileged students. But is she being genuine in her efforts to address the issue?

http://www.rawstory.com/2016/03/hillarys-emails-reveal-lucrative-ties-to-for-profit-colleges/

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Conyers Calls 6th Circuit Decision Overturning Proposition 2 a Key Step Toward Restoring Equity in Michigan Higher Education

Conyers Calls 6th Circuit Decision Overturning Proposition 2 a Key Step Toward Restoring Equity in Michigan Higher Education (Washington) – House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member John Conyers, Jr. (D-Mich.) called today’s Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals decision to overturn Michigan’s ban on affirmative action a victory for equal opportunity in higher education.  The court ruled Proposition 2 violated the equal protection clause of the 14th amendment.   The 2006 law required Michigan’s public university system to abandon its affirmative action programs despite a series of Supreme Court decisions in 2003 that had upheld the policy’s constitutionality.  “As an opponent of Proposition 2, I am heartened by today’s decision from the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals,” said Conyers.  “After losing in court, forces from outside our state attempted to gain a victory through the referendum process, like they did in several other states.  This ruling stops their momentum and gives us the opportunity to restore an admissions process, approved by the same courts, that will give all students an equal opportunity to attend our state universities, while still recognizing the unique hurdles overcome by those from racial or ethnic minority groups.” “This victory should be considered a key step toward restoring equity in Michigan higher education.”

Group Seeks Labor E-Mails by Michigan Professors

March 30, 2011

Narayan Mahon for The New York Times

William Cronon, a history professor at the University of Wisconsin in Madison.

The group, the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, declined to explain why it was making the Freedom of Information Act request for material from professors at the University of Michigan, Michigan State and Wayne State University. But several professors who received the records request, which was first reported by Talking Points Memo on Tuesday, said it appeared to be an attempt to intimidate or embarrass professors who are sympathetic to organized labor.

This records request, which was filed Friday, comes several days after the Republican Party of Wisconsin made a records request to a prominent University of Wisconsinhistory professor, William Cronon, who had severely criticized the state’s Republican governor, Scott Walker, over his push for legislation to weaken public-sector unions.

The Mackinac Center, which describes itself as a nonpartisan research and educational institution and receives money from numerous conservative foundations, asked the three universities’ labor studies faculty members for any e-mails mentioning “Scott Walker,” “Madison,” “Wisconsin” or “Rachel Maddow,” the liberal talk show host on MSNBC.

Greg Scholtz, the director of academic freedom for the American Association of University Professors, said: “We think all this will have a chilling effect on academic freedom. We’ve never seen FOIA requests used like this before.”

Roland Zullo, a labor studies professor at the University of Michigan, said he found the center’s request “puzzling.” “It seems an odd request for an institution that claims to be nonpartisan,” he said.

Michael D. Jahr, the Mackinac Center’s vice president for communications, declined to discuss the records request. Ken Braun, managing editor of the center’s political newsletter, declined to give the reason for it. He said the newsletter, Michigan Capital Confidential, had made the request and often makes such public records requests.

“As a general policy, we don’t discuss our FOIAs until we write about them,” Mr. Braun said. He said the records request could have been much broader but was limited to a handful of topics at just the labor studies departments, instead of also including history and political science departments.

Mr. Braun said the center’s request was in no way coordinated with the Wisconsin Republican Party’s FOIA request to Professor Cronon.

After one recent records request, the center reported that taxpayers were paying the salary of an elementary school teacher even though she was released from her teaching duties to work 100 percent on union issues.

Marick Masters, the director of labor studies at Wayne State, said he had nothing to hide. “This looks like an attempt to embarrass us,” he said. “I haven’t engaged in any partisan activities here. I think they’re probably interested in seeing the extent to which labor studies centers in the state have helped orchestrate the protests in Madison.”

Professor Cronon, who describes himself as a political independent, said he was angry about what he called an attempt at harassment. He said that he had never engaged in any nonscholarly political work on university computers or time, which is prohibited, but that he was still concerned about the release of any e-mails. The Republican Party requested e-mails mentioning several politically related words, including Mr. Walker and several legislators.

“There is an academic freedom issue here,” Mr. Cronon said.

Mark Jefferson, the executive director of the Republican Party of Wisconsin, declined to explain why the records request was made. He criticized Professor Cronon for questioning the party’s motives. “I find this troubling,” he said. “Like anyone else filing a public records request, I don’t have to give a reason.”