University of Minnesota – Twin Cities: Political Litmus Test for Future Teachers

November 25, 2009

Equal Opportunity & Affirmative Action: Definition – Race and Color Discrimination

Speech Code Category: Harassment Policies
Last updated: March 24, 2016

Harassment on the basis of race or color is a violation if the conduct creates an intimidating, hostile, or offensive work or educational environment, or interferes with an individual’s work or educational performance. Racial slurs or jokes and verbal or physical conduct motivated by an individual’s race or color are unacceptable in the University educational and work community.

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Equal Opportunity & Affirmative Action: Definition- Bias Incident

Speech Code Category: Policies on Bias and Hate Speech
Last updated: March 24, 2016

What do we mean by “bias incident”? Expressions of disrespectful bias, hate, harassment or hostility against an individual or group because of the individual or group’s actual or perceived race, color, creed, religion, national origin, gender, gender identification, age, marital status, disability, public assistance status, veteran status and/or sexual orientation can be forms of discrimination. Expressions vary, and can be in the form of language, words, signs, symbols, threats, or actions that could potentially cause alarm, anger, fear, or resentment in others, or that endanger the health, safety, and welfare of a member(s) of the University community, even when presented as a joke.

…

Reasons for reporting an incident:

• So you or someone you know can receive support
• So any damage to property can be repaired
• So we can follow-up with any alleged perpetrators
• So we can track campus climate and work towards improving it
• So we can try to prevent further acts of bias
• Because suffering in silence can be a suffocating experience

The conduct underlying some bias incidents might be protected speech, but still violate the University of Minnesota’s commitment to civility and diversity. Constitutional rights will continue to be protected, but University staff will also exercise their right to speak and engage in educational dialogue.

The University of Minnesota’s Mission Statement commits us to “establish and nurture an environment that actively acknowledges and values diversity and is free from racism, sexism, and other forms of prejudice, intolerance or harassment.”  Be an ally, and help us achieve this goal.

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Using and Leasing University Outdoor Space: Twin Cities

Speech Code Category: Protest and Demonstration Policies
Last updated: March 24, 2016

Permit Required

A permit is required to use University outdoor space for:

• An event involving 50 or more participants;
• The use of displays, structures, tents, contact tables, fires or grills, sound amplification, or food service;
• An event likely to require police, traffic management, or other personnel to appropriately manage the event;
• An event requiring University service such as rentals, sanitation, additional trash bins, etc.; or
• Overnight outdoor stays, including camping.

Assembly Without a Permit

Rallies, demonstrations, or other gatherings in the areas immediate adjacent to Morrill Hall, the McNamara Alumni Center, Coffman Memorial Union, the West Bank Plaza, or the St Paul Student Center will not require a permit, provided that, in the view of the University, the rally, demonstration, or gathering:

• Does not involve the use of displays, structures, tents, contact tables, fires or grills, or food service;
• Does not interfere with other reserved uses of the space or other authorized events or regular activities or functions on campus (including classes); and
• Does not necessitate police, traffic management, or other personnel;

Rallies, demonstrations, or other gatherings under this provision must:

• Refrain from damaging University property;
• Avoid posing a risk to health and safety; and
• Comply with noise or sound amplification policies;

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Housing & Residential Life Guidebook: Mission Statement- Commitment to Socially Just Communities

Speech Code Category: Policies Restricting Freedom of Conscience
Last updated: March 24, 2016

Our community members are responsible for establishing a safe and inclusive community by interrupting social injustice, championing those negatively affected by bias or intolerance, and exploring social justice through the sharing of ideas and life experiences. This commitment is founded on the principle of doing no harm and requires community members to take responsibility for their own actions and learning, to address and report acts of bias or intolerance, and to be inclusive in language and behavior.

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Board of Regents Policy: Sexual Harassment

Speech Code Category: Harassment Policies
Last updated: March 24, 2016

“Sexual harassment” means unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and/or other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature when: … such conduct has the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with an individual’s work or academic performance or creating an intimidating, hostile, or offensive working or academic environment in any University activity or program.

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Board of Regents Policy: Student Conduct Code

Speech Code Category: Bullying Policies
Last updated: March 24, 2016

Bullying means aggressive behavior directed at another person, either in person or through electronic means, that causes stress or harm and that is repeated over time, including but not limited to assaulting, defaming, terrorizing, making obscene gestures, or invading privacy.

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Board of Regents Policy: Student Conduct Code

Speech Code Category: Harassment Policies
Last updated: March 24, 2016

Harm to person means engaging in conduct that endangers or threatens to endanger the physical and/or mental health, safety, or welfare of another person, including, but not limited to, threatening, stalking, harassing, intimidating, or assaulting behavior.

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University of Minnesota to Adopt ‘Affirmative Consent’ Rule for Sex Partners

July 7, 2015

By Maura Lerner at Star Tribune The University of Minnesota is joining a national movement requiring students to obtain “affirmative consent” from their sex partners or risk being disciplined for sexual assault. The policy change, sometimes known as the “yes means yes” rule, has been sweeping college campuses across the country since California passed the first such law last year. The U’s new rule, which is poised to take effect this month after a 30-day comment period, says that sex is OK only if both parties express consent through “clear and unambiguous words or actions.” Absent that, it would fit […]

Professors Asked To Remove Mohammad Drawings After Complaints Of Blasphemy

May 7, 2015

By Alexandra Zimmerin at The College Fix Students and others claimed caricature of prophet is ‘very offensive,’ should not be allowed University of Minnesota faculty members were asked earlier this year to take down posters advertising an academic panel because they included an “offensive” recreated cartoon picture of Mohammed – the one made famous by Charlie Hebdo earlier this year. The posters had advertised a panel discussion by various professors as well as a Minneapolis Star Tribune newspaper cartoonist. Co-sponsored by a dozen academic departments in the College of Liberal Arts following the attack on the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo […]

Take It Down

May 5, 2015

By Colleen Flaherty at Inside Higher Ed “[T]hey can employ not just metaphor, but caricature, which can be harsh… Humor, mockery, satire. People don’t like to be made fun of. They don’t like their views to be made fun of, they don’t like their religion to be made fun of. And sometimes they perceive a harsh personal insult where one is not intended, or maybe where one is intended.” That’s how Steve Sack, a Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist for The Minneapolis Star-Tribune, described the political minefield in which cartoonists work during a Jan. 29 panel on free speech and satire at the University […]

Professor Requires Students To Agree That Native American Mascots Should Be Banned

December 10, 2014

By Ashley Dobson at Red Alert Politics An American Indian Studies professor at the University of Minnesota is requiring his students to agree with his views on Native American issues in order to pass an assignment, Campus Reform reports. “You must pick one of the following topics and your video must be focused on that topic. Your video must follow the line of questioning laid out. In other words, you have to stick with the theme I gave you. You cannot give a counter argument. Your video must be focused on why your subject matter is important and why it […]

A political test for teachers

December 28, 2009

When a child doesn’t finish his homework, who’s at fault? The Race, Culture, Class and Gender Task Group in the University of Minnesota’s teacher-education program wants every teacher blaming things like “white privilege, hegemonic masculinity, heteronormativity and internalized oppression.” Those who don’t, these professors believe, are unfit to be teachers. These professors plainly want everybody to share their ideology. Fair enough. But they don’t want to limit themselves to persuasion — they want to use the university’s power to demand that all teachers conform to their political litmus test. Thus the task group’s “final report” recommends ideological screening of applicants […]

Profoundly tone deaf and wrong

December 21, 2009

By this stage, many people around town – and not a few across the country – have heard of the controversy surrounding a task force report on “Race, Culture, Class, and Gender” coming out of the College of Education and Human Development (CEHD) at the University of Minnesota.  My friend and former American Experiment colleague Kathy Kersten has written about the document twice in the Star Tribune, national organizations such as the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation and the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) have blasted it, FOX News has jumped in, and who knows how many bloggers have […]

Katherine Kersten: Battle lines drawn against U initiative

December 12, 2009

In this age of political correctness, a college student’s best friend is FIRE — the Philadelphia-based Foundation for Individual Rights in Education. Since 1999, FIRE has safeguarded the civil rights of students across the ideological spectrum — winning victories at 121 colleges and universities, bringing an end to 81 unconstitutional or repressive policies, and benefiting 2.7 million students. Now, FIRE is riding to the rescue of students at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, where a heavy-handed attempt at thought control is underway. The Race, Culture, Class and Gender Task Group of the U’s College of Education and Human Development has […]

CEHD proposal under scrutiny

December 10, 2009

After receiving a $4.5 million grant from the Bush Foundation on Friday to overhaul teacher education curriculum, the University of Minnesota College of Education and Human Development is moving forward with what has become a controversial redesign of its teaching curriculum. The Teacher Education Redesign Initiative (TERI) began about three years ago and has gained more momentum in the past year. The initiative aims to work with area K-12 schools to find out what qualities good teachers should have and then incorporate those qualities into the curriculum. Seven task groups worked over the summer to propose ideas for the curriculum […]

U. of Minnesota takes heat for proposal to gauge future teachers’ sensitivity

December 2, 2009

by Peter Schmidt The Chronicle of Higher Education   The University of Minnesota-Twin Cities has come under pressure to reject a faculty panel’s proposal to require students in its education school to doubt the United States is a meritocracy and to demonstrate an understanding of concepts such as “white privilege.” Conservative pundits and a prominent free-speech advocacy group have attacked the education-school panel, called the Race, Culture, Class, and Gender Task Group, which has said future teachers should “understand the importance of cultural identity” and “be able to discuss their own histories and current thinking drawing on notions of white […]

Decoding Teacher Training

November 30, 2009

Thanks to the efforts of the American Council of Trustees and Alumni and the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education—and a rare, if welcome, instance of Congress standing up for students’ rights in higher education—the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) abandoned its de facto “social justice” criterion. Yet while the development made it harder for Education schools to use “social justice” and “diversity” to demand ideological fidelity from students, the ideologues that populate such programs have hardly ceased their efforts. Only now they must take accountability for their actions. A good example of the continuing problem is […]

U. of Minnesota Chills Speech Via ‘Charlie Hebdo’ Flyer Investigation

May 5, 2015

After sponsoring an event focused on the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo and the aftermath of the tragic attack on the publication’s staff in January, the University of Minnesota’s (UMN’s) College of Liberal Arts (CLA) was investigated by the Office of Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action (EOAA) for flyers promoting the event. The flyers featured a reproduction of the cover of the first Charlie Hebdo edition published following the attack with the word “censored” stamped over it. Eight individuals filed a complaint with EOAA, and approximately 260 people signed a petition calling the flyer design “very offensive.” Both groups included […]

UNC, Halloween, and the ‘Professionalism’ Threat to the First Amendment

October 31, 2014

This being Halloween week, we’ve seen a few cautionary notices from universities warning of the potential for hurt feelings and emotional harm caused by culturally “insensitive” Halloween costumes. To cite one example, the University of Minnesota (UM) cautioned students to “keep in mind that certain Halloween costumes perpetuate racial, cultural, and gender stereotypes” and that such costumes “can depict identities in ways that are offensive or hurtful to others.” Many of these university statements function as reaffirmations of institutional values, such as diversity, tolerance, and inclusion, and obviously universities are more than free to issue them. UM gave some common […]

FIRE’s Catherine Sevcenko Speaking at University of Minnesota Law School

October 7, 2014

Students, faculty, and FIRE supporters in the Minneapolis area are invited to hear Catherine Sevcenko, FIRE’s Associate Director for Litigation, speak tomorrow, October 8, at 12:15 p.m. at the University of Minnesota Law School. Catherine will be speaking about “Why We Shouldn’t Stop Hate Speech,” with commentary by Jane Kirtley, University of Minnesota media ethics and law professor and director of the Silha Center for the Study of Media Ethics and Law. When: Wednesday, October 8, 12:15–1:15 p.m. Where: University of Minnesota Law School. Who: Catherine Sevcenko, FIRE’s Associate Director of Litigation, sponsored by the American Constitution Society and the Federalist […]

Former Central Lakes Nursing Student Appeals First Amendment Case

August 29, 2014

Craig Keefe, a former student at Central Lakes College (CLC) in Minnesota, is appealing a U.S. district court’s dismissal of his claims that the college violated his First Amendment and due process rights when it expelled him in December 2012 for remarks he had made on Facebook.

FIRE’s Will Creeley Speaking at the University of Minnesota Law School Today

April 9, 2014

Students and FIRE supporters in the Minneapolis area are invited to hear FIRE Director of Legal and Public Advocacy Will Creeley speak at the University of Minnesota (U of M) Law School today at 12:15 p.m. in Mondale Hall, Room 229. Today’s event will also feature remarks by Professor Jane Kirtley, the Silha Professor of Media Ethics and Law at the School of Journalism and Mass Communication and Director of the Silha Center for the Study of Media Ethics and Law.

Censoring Speech? There’s an Admin for That

December 31, 2012

The Wall Street Journal this weekend featured an in-depth look at administrative bloat in the University of Minnesota system, where (as in many places in academia) the ranks of administrators are growing far more quickly than those of faculty or students. As authors Douglas Belkin and Scott Thurm write: Many of the newly hired, it turns out, were doing little teaching. A Wall Street Journal analysis of University of Minnesota salary and employment records from 2001 through last spring shows that the system added more than 1,000 administrators over that period. Their ranks grew 37%, more than twice as fast […]

Misunderstanding ‘Harassment’

October 16, 2012

Last week, FIRE kicked off a blog series about how schools can reform problematic speech codes with a discussion of why mandating “civility” is inconsistent with students’ right to free speech. This week, we are tackling another trouble spot for free speech: the harassment policy.  As an initial matter, campus harassment policies can be divided into two categories: policies prohibiting discriminatory harassment (including sexual harassment) and policies prohibiting general harassment (including threats and stalking). It will be most useful to discuss these categories separately.  Discriminatory Harassment   Federal anti-discrimination law requires colleges and universities receiving federal funding (which is virtually all […]

Amanda Tatro Dead at 31

June 26, 2012

There is tragic news from Minnesota today. Amanda Tatro, the student plaintiff in Tatro v. University of Minnesota (in which FIRE filed an amici curiae brief along with the Student Press Law Center), has reportedly died at the age of 31. FIRE’s thoughts are with Amanda Tatro’s husband and family at this difficult time.

A Closer Look at ‘Tatro v. University of Minnesota’

June 22, 2012

As discussed here on The Torch, the Minnesota Supreme Court issued a ruling (PDF) Wednesday in Tatro v. University of Minnesota, finding that the University of Minnesota did not violate mortuary science student Amanda Tatro’s First Amendment rights by punishing her for the content of Facebook posts discussing her classroom work with cadavers. While the state’s highest court reached the same ultimate result as the Minnesota Court of Appeals’ troublingly broad July 2011 decision, it did so on far narrower grounds—a much better result for free speech on campus. The court held that public universities do not violate the First […]

Minnesota Supreme Court Issues Ruling in ‘Tatro’

June 20, 2012

Earlier today, the Minnesota Supreme Court issued a ruling (PDF) in Tatro v. University of Minnesota, an important student free speech case. The state Supreme Court upheld the Minnesota Court of Appeals’ problematic July 2011 decision, finding that the University of Minnesota did not violate the First Amendment rights of mortuary sciences student Amanda Tatro by punishing her for the content of her Facebook posts.   Despite the disappointing affirmation of the lower court’s ruling, the Minnesota Supreme Court’s opinion is in some respects a significant improvement from the Court of Appeals’ earlier decision. The Supreme Court’s opinion explicitly cabins a […]

UM Student Newspaper Weighs in on ‘Tatro’ and Defends Students’ Free Speech

February 17, 2012

Last week, the Minnesota Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Tatro v. University of Minnesota, a controversial case involving the punishment of a mortuary sciences student for comments posted on Facebook. FIRE and the Student Press Law Center (SPLC) submitted an amici curiae brief on behalf of student Amanda Tatro, arguing that her punishment violated the First Amendment and would establish a dangerous precedent if allowed to stand. Now, as we settle in and wait for the court’s opinion, University of Minnesota student newspaper the Minnesota Daily is weighing in with opinions and more information about the case.  On Monday, […]

Minnesota Supreme Court Hears Oral Arguments in ‘Tatro,’ with Student Speech Rights at Stake

February 9, 2012

Yesterday, the Minnesota Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the case of Tatro v. University of Minnesota. As reported by The Chronicle of Higher Education, Tatro concerns the University of Minnesota’s punishment of mortuary sciences student Amanda Tatro for off-campus comments she posted on Facebook that her school labeled as threatening. However, as FIRE argued in an amici curiae brief filed along with the Student Press Law Center (SPLC) before the Minnesota Supreme Court, Tatro’s expression was clearly protected and non-threatening, and the implications of granting the universities the right to police such off-campus, online speech would be very damaging […]

A Roundup of 2011’s Free Speech Case Law

December 28, 2011

While FIRE has won numerous victories this year in working to protect individual rights on college campuses, 2011 was a mixed year for the defense of students’ rights by the courts. Importantly, this year highlighted divergent theories of the First Amendment rights of students off campus. While some courts have held that schools are limited by the First Amendment in what they can regulate off campus, other courts this year held that things students say off campus can have almost unlimited disciplinary consequences on campus. This is a troubling trend, outlined in several cases below. In June, the United States […]

In Troubling Ruling, Minnesota Court of Appeals Upholds Punishment of Student for Facebook Posts

July 12, 2011

In a troubling ruling (PDF) for speech on campus issued yesterday, the Minnesota Court of Appeals held that a public university student’s First Amendment rights are not violated by discipline meted out for social networking posts when such posts “materially and substantially disrupted the work and discipline of the university.” The facts of the case, Tatro v. University of Minnesota, are certainly unique, even within the always interesting realm of First Amendment law. University of Minnesota (UM) undergraduate student Amanda Tatro studies in the university’s mortuary sciences program. As part of the program’s coursework, Tatro and other students participate in “laboratory […]

‘Omaha World-Herald’ Covers U. Minnesota’s Teacher Ed Scandal Regarding ‘Cultural Competence’ Requirement

July 11, 2011

Yesterday the Omaha World-Herald covered the teacher education scandal at the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities, where the Race, Culture, Class, and Gender Task Group proposed an ideological litmus test for future teachers based on a highly politicized notion of "cultural competence." FIRE intervened, and the case made national news before the university’s top lawyer finally promised that the university would never screen out prospective students with the "wrong" views. Yesterday’s article connects this scandal to a decision in April 2011 by the Omaha school board to buy 8,000 copies of a book arguing that teachers should "take action for […]

First Major Test of Academic Freedom Protections at University of Minnesota

March 22, 2010

Last March and November, my colleague Azhar Majeed noted the extra steps that some faculty bodies are taking to preserve their academic freedom in response to the ambiguous statement by the Supreme Court in Garcetti v. Ceballos, 547 U.S. 410 (2006) explicitly reserving judgment on the question of whether faculty members at public colleges and universities, despite the special importance of academic freedom and the societal benefit of having professors speak freely on issues related to institutional governance and areas of their professional expertise, are protected by the First Amendment when they do so because, in the end, they are […]

40 Percent of Minnesota College Students Say Certain Topics or Viewpoints Are ‘Off Limits’

March 18, 2010

A report on higher education in Minnesota released this morning by the American Council of Trustees and Alumni (ACTA) with the Freedom Foundation of Minnesota features FIRE’s work defending the First Amendment in the state. The report, “At a Crossroads: A Report Card on Public Higher Education in Minnesota” (PDF), includes a survey of students that presents some disturbing findings. Of most interest for Torch readers are the responses to these two questions from a professional poll taken of students at the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities campus and St. Cloud State University: “On my campus, there are certain topics or viewpoints that […]

U. Minnesota Teacher Ed Scandal Keeps Rippling Through Minnesota—And Beyond

February 1, 2010

The February 2010 issue of Mpls.St.Paul Magazine features an interview with Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota in which she discusses the teacher education scandal at the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities, where the Race, Culture, Class, and Gender Task Group proposed an ideological litmus test for future teachers based on a highly politicized notion of “cultural competence.” FIRE intervened, and the case made national news before the university’s top lawyer finally promised that the university would never screen out prospective students with the “wrong” views.  In the interview, Bachmann complains of “politically correct indoctrination” in the materials that her foster […]

Latest on University of Minnesota Teacher Education Scandal

January 15, 2010

Regular Torch readers are familiar with the scandal created by the Race, Culture, Class, and Gender Task Group at the University of Minnesota’s College of Education and Human Development when the task group proposed an ideological litmus test for teachers based on a highly politicized view of “cultural competence.” Fortunately, after extensive public attention, the university’s top lawyer promised that the university will never “mandate any particular beliefs, or screen out people with ‘wrong beliefs’ from the University.” The first test of that promise is concluding this afternoon as I write and as the college’s two-day Teacher Education Redesign Initiative […]

Rights in the News: Yale and Minnesota Still in Headlines as FIRE Eyes 2010 Campaign

January 8, 2010

Even during the supposedly slow Christmas-to-New-Year’s stretch, FIRE’s cases continued to captivate the media, none more so than the recent brouhaha at Yale over a censored F. Scott Fitzgerald-quoting t-shirt calling Harvard men “sissies.” Following Greg’s earlier writings in The Huffington Post, Robert wrote on the case for Pajamas Media. (Knowing such PC nonsense when he saw it, Glenn Reynolds tipped them both at Instapundit.) Both The Boston Globe and U.S. News & World Report have picked up the story as well. And in a wonderfully caustic post, Write Bastard blogger Ian Wood heaps scorn on Yale, where apparently “the […]

University of Minnesota Still in the Hot Seat

January 5, 2010

Here at FIRE we are holding the University of Minnesota to its promise that it will never “mandate any particular beliefs, or screen out people with ‘wrong beliefs’ from the University.” We are watching carefully because if some of the university’s professors had their way, this ideological screening would be exactly what the College of Education and Human Development would be doing in its teacher education program. The university’s promise came last month from the university’s top attorney, Mark B. Rotenberg. We will ensure that the promise is kept by carefully monitoring the university’s subsequent plans. Yet Rotenberg’s letter also […]

FIRE Op-Ed in ‘New York Post’ on University of Minnesota Victory

December 28, 2009

Today’s issue of the New York Post features an op-ed by FIRE’s Adam Kissel, in which he discusses the University of Minnesota–Twin Cities’ plan to impose a political litmus test on future teachers enrolled in its College of Education and Human Development. The plan would have redesigned the curriculum to enforce a narrow view of “cultural competence” and sought to require each student in the program to accept theories of “white privilege, hegemonic masculinity, heteronormativity, and internalized oppression.” Adam explains in his article: The task group also wants teachers to blame themselves. This isn’t about admitting that they need to […]

Victory for Freedom of Conscience as University of Minnesota Backs Away from Ideological Screening for Ed Students

December 23, 2009

MINNEAPOLIS, December 23, 2009—In response to sustained pressure from the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), the University of Minnesota–Twin Cities has backed away from its plans to enforce a political litmus test for future teachers. The plans from its College of Education and Human Development (CEHD) involved redesigning admissions and the curriculum to enforce an ideology centered on a narrow view of “cultural competence.” Those with the “wrong” views were to receive remedial re-education, be weeded out, or be denied admission altogether. In a letter to FIRE, however, the university’s top lawyer has now promised that the university […]

Victory for Freedom of Conscience as University of Minnesota Backs Away from Ideological Screening for Ed Students

December 23, 2009

Today’s press release reports that the University of Minnesota–Twin Cities has backed away from its plans to enforce a political litmus test for future teachers. As Torch readers know, the plans from its College of Education and Human Development (CEHD) involved redesigning admissions and the curriculum to enforce an ideology centered on a narrow view of “cultural competence.” Those with the “wrong” views were to receive remedial re-education, be weeded out, or be denied admission altogether. In a letter to FIRE, however, the university’s top lawyer has now promised that the university will never “mandate any particular beliefs, or screen out people with ‘wrong beliefs’ from the University.” […]

Will the University of Minnesota Board of Regents Need to Intervene to Protect Freedom of Conscience?

December 18, 2009

Yesterday, FIRE reported that the University of Minnesota, in the face of widespread national outrage in the media, is defending the indefensible: a set of plans to impose an ideological litmus test on future teachers. The desire to teach “cultural competence” or to expose students to any set of values and beliefs is not itself a matter of individual rights—indeed, FIRE would defend professors against any effort to ban specific views from the classroom—but these plans cross the line by declaring that students without the approved values, attitudes, and beliefs are not “competent” enough to become teachers. This morning, the […]

University of Minnesota Defends Ideological Screening for Ed Students; Academic Freedom Committee Meets Friday

December 17, 2009

Today’s press release explains that the University of Minnesota–Twin Cities has chosen to defend its plans to enforce a political litmus test for future teachers in the face of national outrage, rather than repudiate the parts of the plans that violate the academic freedom and freedom of conscience of future teachers. The plans from the university’s College of Education and Human Development (CEHD) involve redesigning admissions and the curriculum to enforce an ideology centered on a narrow view of “cultural competence.” Those with the “wrong” views are to receive remedial re-education, be weeded out, or be denied admission altogether. After […]

University of Minnesota Defends Ideological Screening for Ed Students; Academic Freedom Committee Meets Friday

December 17, 2009

MINNEAPOLIS, December 17, 2009—The University of Minnesota–Twin Cities is defending its plans to enforce a political litmus test for future teachers in the face of national outrage. The plans from its College of Education and Human Development (CEHD) involve redesigning admissions and the curriculum to enforce an ideology centered on a narrow view of “cultural competence.“ Those with the “wrong” views are to receive remedial re-education, be weeded out, or be denied admission altogether. After an anonymous source at the university contacted the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) for help, FIRE called on the university to end its plans, […]

Media Outrage Grows over Teacher Education Scandal at University of Minnesota-Twin Cities

December 16, 2009

Fox News Channel’s The O’Reilly Factor is the latest media outlet to weigh in on the teacher education scandal at University of Minnesota–Twin Cities (transcript) (video). Bill O’Reilly gets it right in his interview with John Stossel: This is not just about introducing future teachers to other cultures but about invading and judging future teachers’ thoughts, values, attitudes, and beliefs and using these judgments to decide whether people are “culturally competent” enough to become teachers. As FIRE wrote in our letter to the university last month: If the Race, Culture, Class, and Gender Task Group achieves its stated goals, the result […]

University of Minnesota Under Fire for Task Force’s Discrimination-Based Teacher Education Plan

December 9, 2009

by Diane Macedo FOXNews.com   A branch of the University of Minnesota may require all education students at the school to understand and accept that they are either privileged or oppressed and that they be well-versed in issues like “white privilege,” “institutional racism” and the “myth of meritocracy in the United States.” Critics are condemning the Race, Culture, Class and Gender Task Group at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities, which proposes making race, class and gender issues the “overarching framework” of all teaching courses. The task group, formed as part of the Teacher Education Redesign Initiative at the state […]

FOXNews.com Covers FIRE’s University of Minnesota Ed School Case

December 9, 2009

Late last month, FIRE wrote a letter to the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities about proposed changes that would implement what amounts to a political litmus test for enrollment and participation in its College of Education and Human Development’s teacher education program. FOXNews.com has now joined the coverage of the program with a front-page story entitled “University of Minnesota Under Fire for Task Force’s Discrimination-Based Teacher Education Plan.” (Pun intended, we hope.) Writer Diane Macedo’s article includes commentary both from FIRE’s Adam Kissel and from the university, as well as from an unaffiliated constitutional lawyer. A branch of the University of […]

Bloggers Debate University of Minnesota’s Teacher Education Redesign, But Some Miss Key Evidence

December 1, 2009

The University of Minnesota-Twin Cities College of Education & Human Development’s proposals to mandate the beliefs and values of its students have generated widespread attention since Katherine Kersten first reported on them in the Minneapolis Star Tribune, and FIRE’s letter expressing deep concern over the proposed requirements has served to further intensify the spotlight on the college’s plans. An intense debate about the college’s proposals has ensued in the media and across the blogosphere. The Richmond Times-Dispatch has editorialized about the proposals, and Power Line and many other bloggers are appalled by the threats that the proposals pose to the individual liberties […]

Spotlight on Speech Codes at University of Minnesota-Twin Cities

November 30, 2009

Given the uproar over the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities’ (U of M’s) plans to implement a re-education program for future teachers, which has generated quite a bit of media coverage in recent days, FIRE will be shining the spotlight heavily on U of M. We have already sent a letter to U of M President Robert H. Bruininks laying out our many concerns about the program. Today, I would like to examine U of M’s speech codes and explain why FIRE has given the university a red-light rating in Spotlight, our comprehensive database on university speech codes. The University of Minnesota-Twin […]

Teacher Re-Education Scandal at University of Minnesota Gains Steam

November 30, 2009

Last week, FIRE wrote University of Minnesota-Twin Cities (U of M) President Robert H. Bruininks about the proposed political and ideological litmus test for future teachers at U of M’s College of Education and Human Development. The college intends to mandate particular beliefs and values—”dispositions and commitments”—for future teachers. These are not just things like the disposition to deal with classroom discipline, but demands that future teachers demonstrate “cultural competence” as defined by the college’s Race, Culture, Class, and Gender Task Group. The college even intends to redesign its admissions process so that it screens out people with the “wrong” beliefs and values as […]

Jean K. Quam: American Dream lives on at the U

November 27, 2009

In her Nov. 22 column, Katherine Kersten suggested that the future of teacher preparation at the University of Minnesota will be a process of ideological indoctrination denouncing “the American Dream.” Just the opposite is true. The American Dream lives and thrives in the College of Education and Human Development. The college is engaged in a significant rethinking of its teacher education programs, and its main focus is on improving student learning across Minnesota. The Teacher Education Redesign Initiative, with support from education partners throughout the state, will be a national model for preparing teachers for the real challenges of a […]

In Letter to President of University of Minnesota – Twin Cities, FIRE Expresses Deep Concern over Political Litmus Test

November 25, 2009

FIRE sent a letter to University of Minnesota-Twin Cities President Robert H. Bruininks today, expressing deep concern over proposals generated by the College of Education and Human Development’s Teacher Education Redesign Initiative task groups. As Adam, who authored today’s letter, detailed in full yesterday here on The Torch, the “Race, Culture, Class, and Gender Task Group” has proposed mandating certain beliefs and values—”dispositions”—for future teachers. Further, the College evidently plans to implement a screening procedure so that potential students with the “wrong”  beliefs who seek admission will be excluded from participation. FIRE’s letter asks that the university abandon the proposals […]

Political Litmus Test for Future Teachers at University of Minnesota – Twin Cities

November 24, 2009

All signs are that the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities is planning to enforce a political litmus test for future teachers. The university’s College of Education and Human Development intends to mandate certain beliefs and values—”dispositions”—for future teachers. Yet that is not enough. It even intends to redesign its admissions process so that it screens out people with the wrong beliefs and values-those who it judges will not be able to be brought around to the correct beliefs and values of “cultural competence” even after remedial training. The college’s Teacher Education Redesign Initiative includes several task groups. The Race, Culture, Class, […]

Sustainability can be a warm, fuzzy word that invites tyranny

October 11, 2008

Today’s socially conscious student finds it tough to keep up with all the latest buzzwords. He wants to be for “social justice” and against “institutional racism.” He’s keen to be seen as an “environmentalist,” a “multiculturalist” and an “anti-imperialist.” The list, so to speak, goes on. Wouldn’t life be simpler if all the correct labels could be captured in just one word? That magic word is here, and it’s taking college campuses by storm. The abracadabra bon mot is “sustainability.” In Minnesota, you’ll find talk of sustainability at institutions ranging from public giants such as the University of Minnesota to […]

University of Minnesota Comes Through for Dissenting Student

March 25, 2008

With FIRE’s help, a graduate student at the University of Minnesota has been saved from the Office for Student Conduct and Academic Integrity after his professor reported him for disrupting the class—simply because he and the professor had openly disagreed about a number of issues raised during his class presentation. According to the student, during his presentation he took exception to some of the claims and methods in some of the course readings—a perfectly normal exercise of academic freedom, if not also academic responsibility. He had expressed similar views in email exchanges with fellow students. The professor disagreed, however, and […]