5 craziest college campus stories of 2018
In the final installment of Campus Reform’s 2018 Year In Review, we reviewed each of the previous categories, including most outrageous protest, most anti-conservative statements, most egregious arrests, and most politically biased courses, in order to determine the overall five craziest campus stories of 2018.
Of the dozens of stories included in these lists, here are the 5 craziest this year.
[RELATED: 5 most viewed Campus Reform videos of 2018]
1. EXCLUSIVE: Rider Univ refuses to bring Chick-Fil-A to campus, despite students’ demands
In November, the administration at Rider University surveyed students to determine which restaurant to bring to campus next year. Out of the options, a majority of student voters chose Chick-fil-A.
However, despite the survey results, the college administration declined to allow the fast-food chain on campus claiming that the university’s “values” of “inclusion” did not align with those of Chick-fil-A’s.
2. University announces “White Awake” safe space for white students
The University of Maryland at College Park offered a diversity support group in September called “White Awake” to help white students who “sometimes feel uncomfortable and confused before, during, or after interactions with racial and ethnic minorities.”
After Campus Reform reported on the counseling group, the University of Maryland at College Park renamed the group, “Anti-Racism and Ally Building Group.” The description of the group was also changed and now reads, “Do you want to improve your ability to relate to and connect with people different from yourself? Do you want to become a better ally? Members will support and share feedback with each other as they learn more about themselves and how they can fit into a diverse world.”
[RELATED: 5 times colleges canceled classes, events for political reasons in 2018]
3. UT makes student reflect on ‘masculinity’ as punishment
In the spring, Campus Reform reported that the University of Texas-Austin forced a student to write a response paper about a movie on toxic masculinity after a Title IX investigation found him guilty of harassing another student. The student claims the university’s determination against him was “questionable” and alleged the university was discriminating against him in an act of “anti-male bias.”
In a letter obtained by Campus Reform, UT president, Gregory Fenves, wrote to the student that, “nothing you allege, even if true, would change the ultimate outcome of this matter.”
4. SDSU offers course on removing Trump from office
San Diego State University offered a one-credit course last spring on removing President Trump from office. The criminal justice course, “Trump: Impeachment, Removal, or Conviction?,” will focus on “grounds for impeachment, removal, or indictment,” of Trump, such as “conflict of interests, foreign emoluments, climate change, racism, religious bias, improper influence, nepotism, and a host of crimes, including conspiracy, false statements, and obstruction of justice.”
“Focus will be on the two constitutional grounds,” the course description reads. “Impeachment and removal (25th Amendment), and the possible charges of the independent counsel, the powers of the president,” and “a history of the creation of [the presidency] and the comparison of divine right and rule of law leadership.”
5. University makes staffers take ‘cultural humility’ training
Emory University’s Campus Life Executive Leadership Team began requiring employees to take “cultural humility and social justice” training with specific discussions on stereotyping and bias.
“Beginning in the 2018-19 academic year, all Campus Life staff will receive feedback on the new competency as part of the formal evaluation process,” the notification email stated. “To prepare staff for this new competency, Campus Life will offer several mandatory professional development programs in 2018” [emphasis in original].
“As Emory Campus Life evolves, we continue to hold fast to our strategic values, which include a deep and sincere commitment to cultural humility and social justice,” the email concluded. “That commitment begins with our individual efforts to develop ourselves and our capacity for empathy, humility, and self-reflection.”
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