Monthly Archives: August 2023

Ellis Recognized for His UVa Work

Posted on August 5, 2023 by | 8 comments

The Common Sense Society, an international organization dedicated to championing liberty, prosperity and beauty, has awarded its Common Sense Courage Award to Bert Ellis, serial entrepreneur, president emeritus of The Jefferson Council, and member of the University of Virginia Board of Visitors.

“Bert has worked tirelessly to promote intellectual diversity in the face of a radical and intolerant ‘DEI’ agenda, to protect the UVA Lawn, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, against defacement, and to promote the UVA Honor System, which champions integrity and honesty in students,” stated the press release.

Common Sense cited the “unjustified smear campaign” unleashed against Ellis in local and national media.

“Bert has shown inspiring resolve against the anti-intellectual forces that are assaulting free speech and freedom of academic inquiry,” said CSS president and CEO Marion Smith. “He has pushed UVA to focus on teaching instead of indoctrinating, defended its beautiful and historic UVA Lawn, and stood resolute in the face of an unjustified smear campaign. We are happy to present Bert with the Common Sense Courage Award.” Continue reading →

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Racial Check Boxes Out at UVa Admissions. Racial Life Experiences In.

Posted on August 1, 2023 by | 10 comments

by James A. Bacon

The University of Virginia will eliminate the race/ethnicity checkbox on admissions applications but will allow students to describe how their “personal experiences” — including but not limited to race or ethnicity — “shaped their ability to contribute,” announced President Jim Ryan in an announcement emailed to the University community Monday.

The change in admissions policy represents Ryan’s first tangible response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent ruling restricting the use of race as a factor in college admissions. Ryan had previously signaled his intention to “admit a class of students who are diverse across every possible dimension and to make every student feel welcome and included here at UVa.”

The tweaks to UVa’s admissions policy incorporated input from “leaders across the University,” including the Office of University Counsel, Ryan said.

Ryan’s announcement boiled down the changes to several bullet points: Continue reading →

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Posted in Admissions

Bettinger v. Ryan, Groves and UVa

Posted on August 1, 2023 by | 4 comments

The Jefferson Council has obtained a file-stamped copy of a lawsuit filed on behalf of Morgan Bettinger against University of Virginia President Jim Ryan, former Dean of Students Allen Groves, and the University of Virginia.

The allegations must be demonstrated in court. If proven true, they paint an unflattering picture of civil rights (for anyone of any race or color) at UVa. They certainly recount a horrifying tale of the abandonment and betrayal of Ms. Bettinger by the people whose very job was to protect her.

We will let the complaint speak for itself. Readers can draw their own conclusions. — JAB

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Tech to End Racial and Legacy Preferences in Admissions

Posted on August 1, 2023 by | 5 comments

I have cross-posted this article about Virginia Tech’s admissions policy from Bacon’s Rebellion. Tech is a peer institution, and its restatement of admissions policy sets an expectation that the University of Virginia should as well. The views expressed here are my own, not those of the Jefferson Council. — JAB

by James A. Bacon

In the wake of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling, Virginia Tech has announced that it will eliminate race and legacy status as factors in admissions. Information about an individual’s race/ethnicity will no longer be visible during the application process.

“Much of our recent success in attracting and graduating students from underrepresented minority and underserved backgrounds (including low-income, first generation and veteran students) has been achieved by lowering barriers to admissions, creating effective pre-college programs, and supporting our students while on campus,” said President Tim Sands. “We will increase our emphasis on those programs and support mechanisms going forward.”

These changes strike me as a reasonable compromise in response to the Supreme Court ruling. Dropping race and ethnicity as factors in admissions ends the invidious practice of explicit discrimination on the basis of race. It represents a huge defeat for “anti-racists” who believe that the only antidote to past discrimination against minorities is reverse discrimination in their favor.

Tech has coupled that decision with a formal end to favoring legacies. Given the fact that legacies are disproportionately White, the symbolic value is huge. Continue reading →

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Posted in Admissions, Race, Equity and Diversity

UVa Board Should Demand Transparency on Racial-Preference Initiatives

Posted on August 1, 2023 by | 1 comment

Last week Jefferson Council President Tom Neale sent the following letter to University of Virginia Rector Robert Hardie, members of the Board of Visitors, and selected UVa administrative officials. 

July 25, 2023

Dear Mr. Hardie:

I am the President of The Jefferson Council for the University of Virginia, and am writing you regarding what we believe to be an egregious contravention of academic governance by Provost Ian Baucom.

In a presentation to the Faculty Senate on October 11, 2022, Provost Baucom described between $20 and $40 million in initiatives to recruit graduate students and faculty from “under-represented” racial/ethnic groups. When describing these and other academic initiatives to the Board of Visitors in its March 2023 meeting, however, he never alluded to the scope of the programs, or the racial preferences embedded in them.

For most of the year, the U.S. Supreme Court was widely expected to issue a ruling restricting the use of race as a factor in college admissions. Mr. Baucom had been cognizant enough of the debatable legality of the programs to seek guidance from the University Counsel, yet he failed to mention these concerns – or the nature of the University Counsel’s guidance, if any — in his presentation to the Board. Continue reading →

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Posted in Admissions, Race, Equity and Diversity

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