Nailing Sensitivity Into Your Tiny Mind

And why can’t our universities be this gosh-darned inclusive? Why can’t our students be cossetted and protected from the mean, mean outside world as is their right? Why? Why in the name of Camila Batmanghelidjh? Why?
Oh, hang on. They can: http://bit.ly/29a8oXL

They really are doomed.
It’s not over until it’s over. Recall the courage of Constantine XI Palaiologos.

“Recall the courage of Constantine XI Palaiologos.”
I googled that name and got back “you tell me”.

Meanwhile, at the White House

“They think it’s the first time ‘dildo’ has been said in the Roosevelt Room in the West Wing,” the group noted on social media. “‘Cocks’ also reverberated around the room dozens of times

Or: ‘How Trump Voters Are Made’.
Context for the photo?

I suppose I could google it, but I’m just going to guess that the University of Michigan isn’t ‘for profit’ and that $125,000,000.00 isn’t shareholders’ capital allocated by the board?

I feel sorry for the youth of this country.
I feel sorry for this country, never mind the youth.

So I’m going to subject y’all to another of my obsessive reviews. You are forgiven in advance if you prefer to head upstairs to the hottub.
From the preface:
It is our imperfect history coupled with our strong
tradition of student activism and striving for change that has led us
to this next concerted effort to create a diverse, equitable and
inclusive environment for our entire campus community
Self-criticism and bending over for the most immature and noisy among us…
five-year plan
Oh, god.
Metrics: This
tracking and reporting will occur at the university
as well as the school, college and unit levels
incremental paperwork never hurt anyone’s productivity…
A lack of coordination across schools,
colleges and units, with respect to diversity, equity
and inclusion, a dearth of central data from which
to evaluate the success of existing efforts and the
lack of consistent accountability among schools,
colleges and units for progress on these issues
all were highlighted as key areas of concern.
This was highlighted as a problem, ahead of pretty much anything else. Typical administrations view of things…
diversity, which is
expressed in myriad forms, including race and
ethnicity, gender and gender identity, sexual
orientation, socioeconomic status, language,
culture, national origins, religious commitments,
age, disability status and political perspective.
OK, not totally ridiculous, but this is the last mention of “political perspective” in the document.
In total, 49 planning units were established—including
all 19 schools and colleges, other academic
affairs units, student life, athletics, the health
system and administrative offices—and nearly 100
strategic planning leads were identified to lead the
local planning efforts. Later, scores of additional
planning leads were recruited to engage with the
process across the health system
So 30 “planning units” in addition to the 19 academic divisions. And 100 “leads” because everybody gets to be
a chief, and because why not?
Then there is a “snapshot” graphic of the campus population. At first glance reasonable, but the one notices that it is divided by sex, undergrad / grad, and then only by race / national origin, but with “international” undivide. No overall distributions given (e.g. what % of students are women?). One suspects that something is being concealed here.
Along with the new programs and initiatives outlined
below, this plan also encompasses the wide range
of existing diversity-, equity- and inclusion-related
efforts in which the university will continue to invest
As noted later, there are already at least 12 distinct campus and college programs dealing with these issues.
This program will be managed by the Office of the
Vice Provost for Equity and Inclusion and Chief
Diversity Officer, a new campuswide leadership
position
Natch.
the
university is building a new multicultural center
in the heart of campus. Designed as a hub for
multicultural education, events and activities, the
new facility will have enhanced staff capacity for
innovative programming

Money no object.
new Vice Provost for Equity and Inclusion and
Chief Diversity Officer (VPEI-CDO)
Money no object.
A follow-up assessment will be
administered within two to three years following first
assessment to determine program effectiveness
and areas of future investment. Upon completion of
the program, students may be eligible for formal
certification. The pilot program is designed to grow
each year, and by year five will include the entire
freshman cohort.
Why do I suspect that the certification
will be effectively mandatory at some point?
The “assessment” is the IDI, which comes from this:
Bennett’s Development Model of Intercultural Sensitivity (DMIS):
The DMIS incorporates six stages of development that are divided into
ethnocentric and ethnorelative categorizations. The ethnocentric stages
include Denial, Defense, and Minimization. In Denial, one’s own culture
is viewed as essential, and consideration of other cultures is generally
avoided through psychological and/or physical isolation from difference.
The Defense stage is characterized by a perception of cultural difference
as a threat, where one’s own culture is deemed best and all others are
viewed as inferior. The final ethnocentric stage, Minimization, reflects
a tendency to view one’s own culture as universal or absolute. Although
cultural differences are viewed as acceptable on the surface, deep down
an individual in this stage views other cultures as essentially similar
to one’s own.
The ethnorelative stages include Acceptance, Adaptation, and Integration.
In the Acceptance stage, other cultures are viewed as equally complex to
one’s own culture. In Adaptation, one is able to incorporate different
cultural perspectives into his or her worldview, which may result in
intentional shifts in behaviors or attitudes to accommodate cultural
differences. The final stage, Integration, reflects a shift in one’s
experience of self, in which an individual is able to move in or out
of different cultural worldviews.
It’s the “more evolved” “New Soviet Man” for the 21st Century.

WrongThought™ will be detected. Worldviews will be harmonised. Intrusive condescension will be the norm.
Who the hell made it any of their business how ‘sensitive’ my kids are? Just teach them chemistry, French or engineering.

Who the hell made it any of their business how ‘sensitive’ my kids are? Just teach them chemistry, French or engineering.
Ah, but mere competence in a job where results can be measured, and valued accordingly, would be so dull, for them. And most likely beyond their talents. Instead, they presume to open windows into men’s souls. And then poke about, intrusively, while enjoying the power imbalance offered by their position. You can imagine the kinds of personalities to whom that would appeal.

It’s not over until it’s over
Yes it’s frightening watching madness proliferate, but I tend to think that this is our generation’s struggle, and that of the next one. The last lot before us had to face things like Communism & Facism, we get the updated 21st century form – this weird attempted brainwashing & widespread groupthink.

tolkein: It doesn’t matter what you do. You are the object, not the subject. Consistency on the side of the rule-makers is not only not required, it would get in their way.
I knew we were doomed back about 1980 when I heard an account of a small meat-packer who got in trouble with OSHA (US Federal Occupational Health And Safety). Their inspector noticed the removable cleaning hatch on the packaging line, and told them the presence of the hole in the machine was a violation. Shop owner replies that the Cal-OSHA (California state equivalent) inspector had insisted on the hatch. Too bad, violation, pay up and weld it closed. “But what about Cal-OSHA? They’ll fine me and make me re-install it.” “Not our problem.”

‘Instead of focusing solely on their coursework, University of Virginia professors are being asked to inspect their syllabi for non-inclusive subtextual messages’.
As the above is a “university-wide initiative,” aimed at “every academic department,” I’m wondering what kind of “non-inclusive subtextual messages” will be found and denounced in the teaching of, say, physics, astronomy, calculus or engineering. How does “embracing social justice” fit in there? And then there’s the conceit that “students of colour” can’t comprehend physics, astronomy, calculus or engineering unless it’s being taught by “professors who look like them.”
These parasites should be chased off campus with nail guns.

I find it impressive just how civil everyone has been to these grievancemongering racebaiters of diversity, really. Tar and feathers is too kind for them. Returning the re-educational favor by sending the lot of them as penitents to monasteries would be my preferred policy, hitting three birds with one stone: exile from sensible society, rehabilitation and character improvement, punishment for misdeeds. The sort of monasteries, that is, where the nuns/monks aren’t afraid to apply ruler to knuckles and the like, and no iGadgets are allowed.
But I suspect and fear that what will happen instead is the return of the lynch mob when the pendulum swings back.
Regarding how it’s not over yet, I might suggest pointing one’s aspirations towards the Reconquista over Constantine. Muslim Iberia looked like a settled fact, until it wasn’t.
(Although an eventual retaking of the Hagia Sophia shouldn’t entirely be counted out. The Moors held Granada for longer than the Turks have held Constantinople, after all.)

…it’s to be named the Trotter Multicultural Center…
You know, I think that this time next year Del Boy really might be a millionaire.

Some previous and notable efforts to foster sensitivity among students can be found here, here and here.
Note that the methods used in the first video (including the ludicrous, question-begging marshmallow exercise) weren’t a bizarre anomaly or some one-off aberration, but were widely hailed as an exemplar of “social justice education.” The gold standard for other programmes to aim for. And note that in the second video, no-one responsible was fired or demoted. The affirmative-actionista Marguerite Watkins, whose actions were positively Kafkaesque, was actually promoted shortly after the incident in question.

Regarding how it’s not over yet, I might suggest pointing one’s aspirations towards the Reconquista over Constantine. Muslim Iberia looked like a settled fact, until it wasn’t.
(Although an eventual retaking of the Hagia Sophia shouldn’t entirely be counted out. The Moors held Granada for longer than the Turks have held Constantinople, after all.)
I mentioned Constantine XI because of his courage: he was no quitter, he did not despair. The Turks offered him the chance of escape to Mistra in the Byzantine Despotate of Morea (Peloponnese), but he refused. He was determined to resist the final siege and died doing so. The Turkish presence in Europe (migrants to Germany excluded) has been shrinking since 1683. If the Turkish state implodes, Greece will rush to seize Constantinople.
Your point about the Reconquista is a good one. ‘1492’ may yet become a rallying cry.

champ
The UK diversity industry has been onto that one for a long time. Here’s the BBC in 2004:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/talking_point/3726602.stm

champ
That link of yours suggests the US diversity industry is tooling up nicely…

See, if you read your ironic comments as straight-up and earnest, you could get applause from the Left,
There’s a comfort.

Microbillionaire
Nobody in mediaeval Spain called the Peninsula Iberia. It was called Hispania right back from Carthaginian/Roman times until well into Muslim rule when part of it was called Al-Andalus (early coins from the Muslim conquest refer to Ishbann). Only modern historians call the Peninsula something that nobody who has lived there for over 2,000 years, or traded with it, or visited it, or described it, used to name the Peninsula. Why?
There was an Iberia in Roman times. Where modern Georgia (on the Black Sea) is located.

I am not sure that blacks are that rare in the English countryside. After all, there’s often a nigger in the wood pile.

tolkein
The term ‘Iberia’ comes from the ancient greek geographers, like Strabo; and so pre-dates ‘Hispania’. I imagine it is used today because the peninsula has five states holding parts of it: Spain, Portugal,the UK, Andorra and France. (News of this might not have reached Middle Earth.) In any event, ‘Hispania’ would now be a very loaded term suggesting that the Spanish state had a valid claim to the entire peninsula, which it hasn’t – certainly, not to Gibraltar,anyway.

https://sli.mg/nkLYW2
It made me laugh, where do I report for re-education and thought-crime?

“comment that” not “comment to”
(must remind self, preview is your friend)

Greece will rush to seize Constantinople
I would bet my entire retirement account that no such thing will happen.
That Russia will invade at least one of the Baltic states, on the other hand? : no bet.
(Of course, this is assuming that the next administration leaves anything for me from my current retirement account. Seems there are so many folk more deserving than me …)

Gleischaltung, as Insty so often reminds us.
I’m reminded of the question; Just what part of Gestalt don’t you understand??

I love that they call it a 5-year-plan.
It’s just so……Stalin.

It’s like calling the East Roman Empire, or Greek Roman Empire, the Byzantine Empire. Calling it by a name no-one for the whole its life called it.
Why?
To separate the peninsula from the political variations that occupy all or part of it.
By using Iberian we know exactly what we mean — the geographic area and nothing else. Not using a name that has also had a political life is therefore an advantage.
And what do you think the peninsular should be called? “Hispanic” is taken as the adjective for the language group, so is out. The Portuguese would react poorly to it being called the “Spanish Peninsular”. “Andalusia” is no good, as it already taken for a province. I’m running out of options.
It’s like calling the East Roman Empire, or Greek Roman Empire, the Byzantine Empire
Again, I think it is much clearer. The Greek (part of the) Roman Empire needs to not be confused with the Greek “Roman Empire”. The “East Roman Empire” is best used for the eastern part when there was also a Western Part, which is a useful distinction. (For a while the Byzantine Empire held Italy, much of North Africa and Spain, so it wasn’t even particularly “eastern” at that time.)
And it’s not like the Byzantines called it the “Eastern Roman Empire”, since to them it was just “The Roman Empire” so pretty much any name will be anachronistic.