The top 12 most outrageous campus stories of 2012
Throughout 2012, Campus Reform reported hundreds of stories of waste, fraud, and abuse on America’s college campuses.
Here is a list of our 12 most bizarre and outrageous stories of 2012:
University sponsors campaign to undermine ‘white privilege’
The University of Minnesota – Duluth (UMD) sponsored an ad-campaign designed to achieve “racial justice” by raising awareness of “white privilege.” The project claimed “society was setup for us [whites],” and as such is “unfair,” through an aggressive campaign of online videos, billboards, and lectures.
The school became the focus of national and foreign news media, resulting in thousands of phone calls and emails from individuals expressing discontent. Soon after UMD released a statement notifying media they had “indefinitely suspended” sponsorship of the controversial campaign.
Click here to read the story
Berkeley administration kills police department’s plans to acquire tank
In June the University of California – Berkeley’s Police Department acquired a grant through the Department of Homeland Security to purchase an eight-ton tank. The tank they sought to purchase is often equipped with a rotating roof hatch, powered turrets, gun ports, a battering ram, and a weapon system used to remotely engage a target with lethal force.
However, after Campus Reform’s report lead to dozens of news stories in national and local media, the university announced it had terminated plans to acquire the “Armored Response Counter Attack Truck.”
Click here to read the story
College suspends professor for allegedly attempting to force students to vote for Obama
A college professor was placed on leave after she allegedly forced her class to sign a pledge to vote for President Obama in the 2012 elections.
In September, professor Sharon Sweet at Brevard Community College told students to sign a pledge that read: “I pledge to vote for President Obama and Democrats up and down the ticket.”
Click here to read the story
Conservative student denied entry to Michelle Obama speech at university for wearing ‘McCain’ t-shirt
A conservative student was denied entry into a rally featuring Michelle Obama at the University of Florida in September because he was wearing a t-shirt in support of Republican John McCain’s (R-Ariz) 2007 campaign for the White House.
Click here to read the story
Student speaks out over Harvard University’s annual ‘Incest-Fest’ party
At least one student at Harvard University expressed outrage over the name of “Incest-Fest,” a hook-up dance that was held at the school’s famous Kirkland House this past semester.
The event was described as an annual “debaucherous dance open to [male and female] members of the house.”
Click here to read the story
UNC drops term ‘freshman’ in favor of ‘gender inclusive language’
The University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill removed the word “freshman” from official university documents, citing as their reason an attempt to adopt more “gender inclusive language.”
Click here to read the story
‘Anti-Thanksgiving’ potluck sparks controversy on UVA campus
An “anti-Thanksgiving potluck” held at the University of Virginia stirred controversy on campus. The event aimed to “discuss Thanksgiving from a Native American perspective” and the organizer promised it would provide a “contrast…with the typical American view of Thanksgiving.”
Click here to read the story
Atheist group at Dartmouth hosts anti Mother Teresa event
An atheist group at Dartmouth College hosted an event aimed at skewering the reputation of the late Mother Teresa.
The Atheists Humanists Agnostics club sent out a campus-wide e-mail announcing the program and promising a “full-out romp against why one of the most beloved people of the century, Mother Teresa, is as Hitchens put it… ‘a lying, thieving Albanian dwarf.’”
Click here to read the story
University police fire officer after video of altercation goes viral on YouTube
The University of Kentucky – Lexington Police Department in December terminated an officer involved in a raid of a student’s room, following a Campus Reform investigation of a viral YouTube video of the incident.
The University of Kentucky Police Chief Joe Monroe said in a statement his investigation of the incident revealed gross misconduct by the officer in question.
Click here to read the story
UC Berkeley students seek Christmas ban on Salvation Army bell ringers
The student government at the University of California – Berkeley passed a resolution in November that would ban Salvation Army bell ringers and their iconic red kettles from campus during Christmas season because of the Christian organization’s alleged bias against homosexuals.
Click here to read the story
Professor calls for assassination of NRA CEO
A professor of history turned to Twitter after the Newtown shooting to call for the death of National Rifle Association CEO Wayne LaPierre, branding the gun rights group he heads as a terrorist organization.
After becoming the subject of intense media scrutiny, the professor deleted his twitter account and the university issued a statement distancing themselves from the professor.
Click here to read the story
Public university hires pornographic poet as English professor
The University of North Carolina – Wilmington hired an English literature professor whose pornographic poetry verses include fantasies of sexual relations with freshmen female students.
Click here to read the story
