It’s always about timing. Watchdog’s last posting mentioned Mayor Steve Chirico has never missed a meeting. Eight years at no less than 20 meetings per year is 160 city council meetings and the mayor has never missed one. With less than a handful of meetings remaining, Watchdog said in the last posting “anyone want to bet he’ll be at those meetings”. Nobody took me up on that bet, which was good for me, because the mayor was not ‘at’ the February 7th meeting. So technically he was not ‘at’ the meeting, however he did attend the meeting via telephone; we couldn’t see him, but we could hear him. Since he voted on each issue, I suppose you could say he was there, making his perfect attendance still flawless. However, there are those who would say, he wasn’t there, ending his perfect attendance record. We’ll have to leave that for the historians to figure out.
It reminds me of Wally Pipp who played 1st base for the New York Yankees. He led the American League in home runs in 1916 and 1917, amassed 833 RBI’s and 1,577 hits in 11 years, and was a major part of the Yankee’s first World Championship. To say that Wally Pipp was a star would be an understatement.
One day Pipp came to the ballpark, feeling a little bit under the weather, and told his manager he needed to take the day off. When a star needs a day off, the team will usually accommodate his request. The Yankee manager put in a guy by the name of Lou Gehrig who proceeded to become the greatest 1st baseman of all-time, and set a record by playing in 2,130 straight games in a row without ever missing a game.
Be careful about taking a day off, there might be a ‘Wally Pipp’ waiting for the opportunity, which might be a reason the mayor joined the meeting via telephone.
Just curious Watchdog, are you going to rip the City Council Candidates that fail to show up for the Safe Suburbs forum too?
The hypocrisy is pretty stunning.
Forget the venue. Candidates need to show-up and speak-up, and have the courage to truly express their opinions on all topics.
So then you will write a piece condemning the leftist for not attending the Safe Suburbs event?
Were they invited? It has been my personal experience that these conservative groups only invite the candidates they want their supporters to hear speak and do not invite anyone that does not support their agenda. Something no one can accuse left leaning groups of doing.
Someone needs to check Ashley South’s educational credentials. It’s come to my attention she is claiming a degree from Columbia and from what I am hearing that is false. Someone needs to press her on that and have per prove she isn’t lying.
DEI Spells Death for the Idea of a University and for free discourse in the City of Naperville.
Wherever this agenda is allowed to take root, free expression and academic integrity are doomed.
The first object of government, James Madison tells us in Federalist 10, is the protection of “the diversity in the faculties of men.” By diversity, Madison meant different opinions to be encouraged to preserve liberty. Equity is an ancient legal concept of justice in particular cases, developed over centuries of English common-law practice. Inclusion simply means to make a part of, as in defining a mathematical set by what it does and doesn’t include.
All good words with respectable origins. Yet in true Orwellian fashion, they have been redefined.
Diversity is no longer a term to describe the breadth of our differences but a demand to flatter and grant privileges to purportedly oppressed identity groups. Equity assigns desirable positions based on race, sex and sexual orientation rather than character, competence and merit. Inclusion now means creating a social environment where identity groups are celebrated while those who disagree are maligned.
“Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion”—the compound form of these modern concepts—is especially toxic. It divides us by social identity groups, ranks those groups on privilege and power, and excludes those who fail to honor the new orthodoxy. Rather than being equally endowed with innate dignity and fundamental rights as human beings—best judged by our character and not skin color—we are supposed to discriminate and confer status based on race, sex and cultural affinity.
This isn’t merely a conceptual problem. DEI initiatives have proliferated in higher education. There are offices, deans and vice presidents of diversity, equity and inclusion at most colleges and universities, such as New College of Florida, where I have recently been appointed a trustee. One review of top universities found an average of 45 DEI staff members at each school (about one DEI staffer for every 30 professors). Another study found that 20% of academic job postings require DEI statements as a requirement of employment or promotion.
College is a partnership between faculty and students focused on learning and pursuing knowledge. It’s ultimately about the enduring question of human flourishing. Freshman orientation shouldn’t be a re-education session. DEI may be the heart of the woke movement, but it deadens the academic mind.
A recent report from the National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education speaks of “creating a framework for diversity officers to advance anti-racism strategies, particularly anti-Black racism, at their respective institutions of higher education.” How? Through curriculum and pedagogy for sure, but also through admissions, campus culture, institutional structures, policies, hiring, promotions and employee training. In short, everything.
To be clear, we aren’t talking about a particular department or faculty here, or the departments doing scholarly research or teaching classes as part of the curriculum. Nor is this about the regular practice of assuring compliance with civil-rights laws or creating reasonable outreach programs. One can disagree and debate those within the collegial context, where different views are encouraged and protected under the aegis of academic freedom. But DEI is an effort within the administrative authority of the college to shape the whole institution and all its activities consistent with its ideology.
When coming from the college’s administration, DEI practices essentially gatekeep entry to college faculty, staff and students. Requiring DEI statements as part of the faculty employment process dissuades those who think otherwise from even applying. It stifles discourse by keeping dissenting viewpoints from campus in the first place.
College DEI training programs discourage the open and candid discussion necessary for intellectual growth. They exacerbate divisions between groups, creating an environment of tension, fear and one-mindedness, and they have the pernicious effect of closing minds and shutting down thoughtful debate even before classes begin.
DEI attacks the integrity of the academic project. Instead of listening to divergent voices, ears are shut. Instead of the free expression of contrary opinions, chilling self-censorship takes place. Instead of a campus open to all, one finds a narrow doorway through which only an approved few may enter. If the right pieties and homilies aren’t made, ostracization and exclusion become the norm rather than the exception. Unanimity, inequality and exclusion—Orwellian indeed.
Since Muhammad was a slave owner will Ashfaq Syed condemn the naming of any buildings in Naperville with the name Muhammad in them? If not, why not? Muhammad was a slave owner and it’s only fair if statues and buildings with Southern slave owner names on them have to remove their names so should muslims in this country. After all the Muslim faith perpetuated slave holding for a LONG time.
First Muhammad lived over 1500 years ago and not in the US. During this time in history many Christians (including Popes) also owned slaves since the bible actually supported slavery. In fact there was a Papal decree allowing the owning of slaves. If you are going to insist that no building, streets, parks, etc be named after Muhammad because he owned slaves does this mean you will also insist on all schools and public libraries remove and ban all copies and versions of the Christian bible for supporting slavery?
Second if you travel to the Mid-East you will not find any building (other then mosques), streets or parks named after Muhammad because this would be considered disrepectful by Muslims.
Your ignorance is showing
First, so there is a time limit on owning slaves and accountability? Who knew! What is that magic cutoff date? Hmmm, guess Muslims don’t mind naming their boys after a slave merchant. Of course you skipped the part about Christians leading the charge to ban slavery, and the fact that Muslims were by far the largest slave merchants in the Mediterranean area for hundreds of years and still are, but that’s just your ignorance showing.
Of course you skipped the part about Muslims hating gays and lesbians and killing them, but then that’s just your ignorance showing again.
I wonder if the local Mosque would accept openly gay members?