04 Culture

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An Asian American coalition has filed a federal civil rights complaint against Yale University alleging discrimination using racial proxies during the 2023-2024 admission cycle.

The complaint, filed on April 22 by the Asian American Coalition for Education to the Office for Civil Rights under the U.S. Department of Education, alleges that Yale discriminated against Asian American applicants in its admissions process.

“Compelling evidence indicated that Yale University may have unlawfully employed race proxies to circumvent the Supreme Court’s SFFA rulings,” AACE President Yukong Zhao told The College Fix in a recent email.

In the complaint, the coalition asked the federal government to suspend funding to the university if Yale does not comply with the law and remove all race-based admission preferences and practices.

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The Planned Parenthood clinic of Omaha, Nebraska, is experiencing a staffing crisis that abortion advocates claim is the result of corporate executives’ indifference, a Nebraska newsroom reported May 1.

The Flatwater Free Press reported that the clinic’s recent struggles have included burnout, insufficient training, unionization of Planned Parenthood North Central States employees, and high turnover. Training challenges led to a stay on rapid tests for two sexually transmitted diseases, according to the news outlet. All the factors have led to breaks with standard procedures while abortions are performed. The last licensed nurse trained to assist with abortions resigned from the clinic in April.

The Omaha clinic is also under major construction at the moment, resulting in chaos and requests to temporarily close the clinic or limit abortions and other services. However, management ignored the requests, prompting more employees to quit.

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The woke public school district in Loudoun County, Virginia, has for years been a key battleground in the war over gender ideology, the primary victims of which have been children. For instance, a skirt-wearing male who identified as “non-binary” took advantage of Loudoun County Public Schools’ ideological capture in 2021, entered the girls’ restroom, and raped a 15-year-old female student.

While students and parents have spoken out against the invasion of female spaces by opportunistic boys, gender-bending incursions in the district are not unidirectional.

A female transvestite has reportedly been using the boys’ locker room at Stone Bridge High. Following a gym class in March, she allegedly videotaped three boys in the locker room who were discussing their discomfort over her presence.

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Forgive them, for they know not what they do.

This admonition came to my mind this week as I was reminded of the devastation caused by Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro’s decision to pull the plug on a decades-old program funding pregnancy care centers in the Keystone State.

Shapiro canceled the contract of Real Alternatives, an award-winning organization which admirably served pregnant women and their children throughout the Commonwealth.

For one pregnancy center that I am aware of, that meant a loss of $100,000.

Can you imagine how many women can be served with that amount of money? It is a significant loss, not only of treasure, but of service to the community.

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Harvard University will receive no new federal grants until it meets a series of demands from President Donald Trump’s administration, the Education Department announced Monday.

The action was laid out in a letter to Harvard’s president and amounts to a major escalation of Trump’s battle with the Ivy League school. The administration previously froze $2.2 billion in federal grants to Harvard, and Trump is pushing to strip the school of its tax-exempt status.

In a press call, an Education Department official said Harvard will receive no new federal grants until it “demonstrates responsible management of the university” and satisfies federal demands on a range of subjects. It applies to federal research grants and not federal financial aid students receive to help cover tuition and fees.

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Democrats hold supermajorities in both houses of the state legislature. They could have easily passed this into law. The Left Is Trying to Normalize Pedophilia

Republicans tried to push Democrats to increase penalties for soliciting 16- and 17-year-olds for sex or prostitution. That crime is a misdemeanor punishable by between two days to a year in jail. Solicitation involves asking for or arranging sex in exchange for money or something valuable; a host of other sex crimes involving minors of any age are felonies, including paying for and having sex with a minor. This time, Republicans had the backing of freshman Democratic Assemblymember Maggy Krell, of Sacramento, who authored Assembly Bill 379. Krell objected on Tuesday when her colleagues removed the provision on soliciting older minors, saying fellow Democrats had forced her to agree to it on the threat the Public Safety committee would refuse to hold a hearing otherwise (Cal Matters).

President Donald Trump’s administration has chosen to defend former President Joe Biden’s policies that allow over-the-counter access to the unborn-child-killer pill, mifepristone. The administration is claiming the suing states have no standing to sue. It should be noted Trump ran on the promise he wouldn’t cut off access to the abortion pill.

Trump will defend Biden’s abortion pill rules in Texas case – Politico

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The Trump administration is defending federal regulations allowing abortion pills to be available online and by mail, the Justice Department revealed on Monday.

But rather than defending the Food and Drug Administration’s rules for the pills on the merits, the DOJ argued in a filing with a Texas federal court that the three GOP-controlled states suing the agency lack standing and the case should be thrown out.

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Kids in Communist-dominated Illinois, where Democrats care so very much about our kids, can’t read.

The latest look at education statistics in the great state of Illinois shows that only 30 percent of fourth graders can read at level.

That isn’t even half!

So, in a state that has some of the highest spending per student, few of them can read.

Nice going, Democrats.

Per The Center Square:

Data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress report card shows that in Illinois, just 30% of fourth graders are hitting such standards. In a 2024 national exam, the state’s students finished 29th in the country for the percentage of fourth graders at or above proficiency.

“This is a huge problem across the country, but it’s a real problem here in Illinois,” Ugaste told The Center Square. “It’s my understanding that our 8th graders are doing a bit better. It speaks to the amount of damage that was done when the schools closed during the pandemic. That’s when these children would have first been in school and first learning how to read, write and do math.”

With researchers identifying third and fourth grades as being a critical period in a student’s overall academic development, school system critics like Ugaste argue that now more than ever, parents should be allowed to make use of school choice to send their children to the best school for them. Researchers stress such assessments can be early predictors for critical milestones such as future employment and overall earning potential.

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Student’s victory leads to policy shift at South Carolina university

Winthrop University student Riley Dill successfully challenged the school administration and Council of Student Leaders for violating her free speech rights after they denied her application to start a Students for Life club.

Dill reached out to Students for Life of America for help, and the national pro-life group issued a demand letter to allow the student to start her club.

Within one week of receiving the letter, the public South Carolina university rescinded the decision and confirmed recognition of Winthrop Students for Life as a new student organization.

Reached for comment, the Council of Student Leaders directed The Fix to Winthrop President Edward Serna’s official statement on the case.

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Ten years have passed since the Department of Defense initiated a social experiment with women in the military. Pentagon officials promised that female trainees headed for previously all-male combat arms units would have to meet the exact same standards as men. Has the experiment played out as promised?

We are about to find out. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s March 30 memorandum calls for a 60-day review to achieve high, uncompromised standards in combat arms units such as the infantry, special operations, and other occupations with extraordinary physical demands.

Thanks to a series of executive orders that President Donald Trump has issued since January, Hegseth’s six-month implementation period should proceed without equivocation or distractions related to percentage-based diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) quotas. Wrote Hegseth, “[I]t is essential to identify which positions require heightened entry-level and sustained physical fitness.”

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A recent memorial resolution introduced in the Texas House has sparked controversy for honoring Cecile Richards, the former president of Planned Parenthood who died in January. Richards passed away at the age of 67, following a battle with aggressive brain cancer.

The resolution says absolutely nothing about the fact that she oversaw the killing of millions of babies.

Texas House Resolution 236, introduced by Democratic Rep. Ramon Romero and co-sponsored by Rep. Ann Johnson, both of Houston, praises Richards as a Texas native whose “exceptional contributions” left an “unmistakable mark on the world.” The resolution omits any mention of abortion, despite Richards’ leadership of Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest abortion business, from 2006 to 2018.

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More than 100 US universities and colleges, including Ivy League institutions Princeton and Brown, issued a joint letter on Tuesday condemning President Donald Trump’s “political interference” in the education system.

The move comes a day after Harvard University sued the Trump administration, which has threatened to cut funding and impose outside political supervision.

“We speak with one voice against the unprecedented government overreach and political interference now endangering American higher education,” the letter read.

“We are open to constructive reform and do not oppose legitimate government oversight. However, we must oppose undue government intrusion,” it said, adding: “We must reject the coercive use of public research funding.”

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The idea of separate graduation ceremonies for different groups is un-American. It shouldn’t be happening anywhere.

WLKY News reports:

University of Kentucky cancels identity-based graduation ceremonies

The University of Kentucky will no longer host graduation ceremonies that recognize specific student groups, such as LGBTQ+, Black, and first-generation students.

The university said the decision was made “following a number of federal and state policy changes and directives.”

In February, the U.S. Department of Education directed all public universities receiving federal funding to cancel diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives.

Some alumni have said they never thought their graduation ceremony, or those honoring Black and first-generation students, would face the same fate.

“I love the University of Kentucky with all my heart, but I can see why some parents might not want their children to go there in the future,” said Tuesday Meadows, the former president of PrideCats.

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The Mayo Clinic is rebranding its diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives as “belonging,” following President Donald Trump’s executive order prohibiting all such DEI-related programs.

On Inauguration Day, Trump signed an executive action “Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing,” banning the “illegal and immoral discrimination programs” within the federal government. The administration warned it would pull federal funding, including grant awards, from entities that continue implementing DEI-related initiatives despite the ban.

‘In keeping with this focus and recent national events, we’re embracing an opportunity to accelerate Mayo Clinic’s belonging journey to reflect our culture of collaboration and respect and support positive patient experiences.’

Trump’s action appears to have prompted some companies, including the Mayo Clinic, to effectively cancel the acronym while potentially keeping the same goals under a new name.

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A federal judge has canceled a Joe Biden-era rule that required businesses to promote abortion.

The rule, perpetrated by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission under Biden, demanded that employers provide abortion-related leave and other practices that violated the beliefs of a multitude of business operators and owners.

A report in the Washington Stand explained the impact of the ruling from Daniel Traynor, a Trump appointee to the District Court of North Dakota, is that 9,000 Catholic businesses now do not have to grant abortion leave and other practices contrary to their beliefs.

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Amid the escalating battle with Harvard University, President Donald Trump is reportedly planning to withdraw another $1 billion in taxpayer-funded federal funding from the prestigious school.

The alleged plan was revealed in a report from the Wall Street Journal

The outlet reported that the $1 billion is related to Harvard’s health research funding, according to sources familiar with the matter.

The latest report comes just days after the White House asked the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to revoke the tax-exempt status of the elite Massachusetts Ivy League school.

The order was issued over Harvard’s failure to address anti-Semitism on campus.

In March, the Department of Justice (DOJ) began a “comprehensive review” of the school’s federal contracts and government-funded grants.