Dr. Ibram X. KendiSUNY College at Oneonta professor Ibram X. Kendi discusses and proposes ideas and programs to further diversify higher education and make it more relevant to all of its students.OpinionA De-Politicized Classroom: Possible or Impossible?The ban on ethnic studies in Arizona has spawned a nationwide debate. The argument over ethnic studies has not been this mainstream since students first demanded and protested for race-based courses and departments four decades ago. In the late 1960s and 1970s, AALANA (African-American, Latino/a, Asian, and Native American) students, teachers and professors clamored to convince […]May 18, 2010OpinionCurtailing Free Speech Due to Safety Concerns: Ploy or RealityI am a lover of ideas. Old interesting ideas applied to new conditions, new fascinating ideas applied to old or new dynamics — I love them all. Most ideas form ideologies, which are usually located in this day and age along the ideological line that extends from the far left to the far right. Even […]April 26, 2010OpinionCrude Sexist Phrase From Cornell Professor Proves IntolerableA disturbing, appalling, and revealing incident that occurred at Cornell University two months ago is finally receiving the spotlight and shame it so utterly deserves. Professor Grant Farred, a professor of English and Africana Studies from South Africa, invited two of his advisees, both African-American female graduate students, to a conference in early February on […]April 15, 2010OpinionMis-Prioritization of Diversity Leading to CutsMore than 200 students, faculty and staff gathered at the University of Maine’s Fogler Library to publicize their opposition to the cuts. Dr. Ray Pelletier, chairman of the department of modern languages and classics, said the anticipated cuts that may curtail his department were not well thought out. “I don’t think they understand the harm […]April 8, 2010OpinionWilliam & Mary: Larger Financial Steps Needed to Atone for SlaveryThe College of William & Mary recently announced the formation of a panel to study how the college’s history is tangled with African-American history. This announcement follows a resolution the college adopted last spring, acknowledging it owned slaves and exploited slave labor from 1693 until the Civil War and discriminated against African-Americans during the Jim […]April 4, 2010Faculty & StaffSTEM Careers and 21st Century Academic RacismThis week, I came across a study that found that a significant number of women and AALANAs (African-Americans, Latinos, Asians, and Native Americans) were discouraged from pursuing their STEM careers. In “Facts of Science Education XIV,” the research firm Campos surveyed 1,226 women and AALANA members of the American Chemical Society—particularly chemists and chemical engineers […]March 25, 2010OpinionNew Proposed Education Law Better, But Glaring Problem RemainsA general consensus in the education community is rare, but it appears that the vast majority of educators are rallying around the idea of trashing the No Child Left Behind law. I am one of the many educators who are thrilled about the prospects of trashing the trash, but my excitement tempered when I […]March 17, 2010OpinionRepulsive Fallout from the Destruction of the UC Black Student BodyI am interested to see what comes out of the wave of odious incidents that hit University of California campuses last month. African-American students at UC San Diego were offended when they learned about an off-campus “Compton Cookout” party” and later that a noose and KKK-style hood were placed on campus. UC Davis students […]March 8, 2010OpinionRepulsive Fallout from the Destruction of the UC Black Student BodyI am interested to see what comes out of the wave of odious incidents that hit University of California campuses last month. African-American students at UC San Diego were offended when they learned about an off-campus “Compton Cookout” party” and later that a noose and KKK-style hood were placed on campus. UC Davis students […]March 7, 2010OpinionFrom Minority to AALANA, What’s in a Name?About three years ago, I stopped referring to people of African, Latino, Asian, and Native American descent as minorities. I dropped the word “minority” from my spoken vocabulary for some of the same reasons many African-Americans buried Negro in the 1960s and instead started calling themselves Black or Afro-American. (Ironically, more than 50,000 people wrote […]March 1, 2010Previous PagePage 5 of 6Next Page