Post by RS Davis on Dec 9, 2003 19:46:02 GMT -5
[glow=red,2,300]David E. Bernstein Wrote:[/glow] First, a little history. The origins of federal interference with university policy lie in Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which bans racial discrimination at federally funded universities, and the Title IX Amendment of 1972, which extended the ban to sex discrimination. Grove City College, a Christian liberal arts school in Pennsylvania, tried to preserve its independence by refusing all federal funding. Grove City even declined to participate in federal student aid programs that required the college's direct involvement.
But those efforts to retain independence were not enough to stave off federal bureaucrats motivated by extremist antidiscrimination ideology. In 1977, the Office for Civil Rights of the old Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW) claimed that while Grove City declined direct federal funding, it received indirect funding by accepting tuition payments subsidized by a federal program, even though students applied for this program without any input from or participation by the school. Therefore, according to HEW, Grove City was bound by Title IX.
Grove City's then-president, Charles MacKenzie, refused to sign the assurance of compliance. But he did affirm that the school had "no argument with the spirit or intent of Title IX's support of nondiscrimination." The college had accepted women since its founding in 1876 and had never been accused of sex discrimination. But MacKenzie believed that if Grove City agreed to comply with Title IX, the result would be increased costs to the college, greater expenses for its students, threats to the Christian nature of the college, mandated affirmative action preferences based on race and sex, and a general loss of independence. HEW at least partially validated his suspicions when it later informed Grove City that colleges subject to Title IX must maintain "detailed records of all student and employee applications, enrollments, academic records, personnel files, suspensions, hirings, firings, promotions, denial of promotions, etc. -- all broken down by race, age, sex, and ethnic origin -- and submit them upon demand to federal authorities.". . . .
The Solomon Amendment is modeled after the Civil Rights Restoration Act's interpretation of Title IX. If Harvard Law School refuses to comply with the amendment, Harvard University stands to lose all of its $420 million in annual federal funding. Suddenly, liberal professors at Harvard and elsewhere have decided that draconian antidiscrimination laws should not be invoked at the expense of university autonomy.
Well, it's a little late for that. With the Solomon Amendment, liberal activists are learning the old lesson that whatever power you give the government to do things for you carries with it the equivalent power to do things to you.
But those efforts to retain independence were not enough to stave off federal bureaucrats motivated by extremist antidiscrimination ideology. In 1977, the Office for Civil Rights of the old Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW) claimed that while Grove City declined direct federal funding, it received indirect funding by accepting tuition payments subsidized by a federal program, even though students applied for this program without any input from or participation by the school. Therefore, according to HEW, Grove City was bound by Title IX.
Grove City's then-president, Charles MacKenzie, refused to sign the assurance of compliance. But he did affirm that the school had "no argument with the spirit or intent of Title IX's support of nondiscrimination." The college had accepted women since its founding in 1876 and had never been accused of sex discrimination. But MacKenzie believed that if Grove City agreed to comply with Title IX, the result would be increased costs to the college, greater expenses for its students, threats to the Christian nature of the college, mandated affirmative action preferences based on race and sex, and a general loss of independence. HEW at least partially validated his suspicions when it later informed Grove City that colleges subject to Title IX must maintain "detailed records of all student and employee applications, enrollments, academic records, personnel files, suspensions, hirings, firings, promotions, denial of promotions, etc. -- all broken down by race, age, sex, and ethnic origin -- and submit them upon demand to federal authorities.". . . .
The Solomon Amendment is modeled after the Civil Rights Restoration Act's interpretation of Title IX. If Harvard Law School refuses to comply with the amendment, Harvard University stands to lose all of its $420 million in annual federal funding. Suddenly, liberal professors at Harvard and elsewhere have decided that draconian antidiscrimination laws should not be invoked at the expense of university autonomy.
Well, it's a little late for that. With the Solomon Amendment, liberal activists are learning the old lesson that whatever power you give the government to do things for you carries with it the equivalent power to do things to you.
- Rick
