The Campus Conservative

  ("Court Gavel - Judge's Gavel - Courtroom", by wp paarz via Flickr) In 2016, student senators amended student government’s constitution to greatly expand the executive branch’s powers. At the time, the senators said that the change was to bring the student forum in line with The United States’ government and other student government models. To do this, they endowed the student body president with the power to veto any senate action he disliked. Likewise, they gave the senate commensurate powers to override the president’s veto provided it has a three-fourth’s majority. Yet, blindly copying for the sake of copying, reformers kept the SGA president in charge of running the senate’s business meetings. This means the very officer who can kill all of its business decisions also runs its meetings. I mean, talk about an injury to the senate’s independence. The presidential veto was a mistake. It makes an authoritarian out of the SGA president and places an unnecessary barr...

  ("Fork roads" by Osmar Miranda via Flickr)  On March 29, UT-Tyler Provost Amir Mirmiran took a question from student government about how the administration would protect respect for cultural diversity in the classroom. Mirmiran replied, “We need to make sure that from admission all the way to retention and everything else, we have policies and processes in place that would ensure a diverse student body.”  Admissions policies that “ensure” a diverse student body? Wow, really? How would they do that? In my mind, the only way to do this is through race-conscious admissions. How else will the university “ensure” that the student body is acceptably racially diverse except by intentionally considering race in each applicant? Currently, UT-Tyler has a merit-based admission standard that allows anyone with a GED (or equivalent) and a 2.75 GPA to attend. But could Provost Mirmiran really be suggesting a change from merit-based admission standards to racially-conscious ones inst...

("exam" by Karl Baron via Flickr ) As UT-Tyler takes on consideration for socioeconomic status, the interest in race and in racial groups increases as it also comes under pressure to support a diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) culture. Thankfully, DEI (or JEDI) is no longer a part of the university’s strategic plan. However, popular acceptance of DEI leads to considerations for identity groups, including racial ones and also to looking at others through their skin color, rather through their character and individual characteristics.  Along with this concern, comes an interest in “doing something” for presumably oppressed groups. Affirmative action is just such a thing. It’s the policy that gives Blacks preferential treatment, usually in college admissions, when selecting who can receive admission to a prestigious school. Harvard does it. Yale does it. It is a popular way for universities—as well as employers or other entities—to claim that they are “doing something” for ...

("No" by Felipe Skroski via Flickr) On March 29, UT-Tyler President Kirk Calhoun and Provost Amir Mirmiran answered questions from the student government in which they seemed to indicate that they would consider race in their decision-making about university policy.  Calhoun said he wanted UT-Tyler to intentionally reach out “to students of color” and Mirmiran said that the university would reach diversity by purposefully hiring “a diverse faculty.”  Both of these university officials said—or at least appeared to say (if “diversity” is a reference word to race and racial composition, which it appeared to be in the conversation)—that they would factor considerations of race into the decision-making.  As a state school, UT-Tyler should in no way consider either student applicants or prospective employees on the basis of their race. This language from UT-Tyler’s president and provost is troubling and gives the startling concern that the university will adopt an oppressive m...