Free Republic

Duke University’s decision to end a full ride scholarship program for Black students has received both support and criticism from former recipients of the award. The university announced earlier this month that the Reginaldo M. Howard Memorial Scholarship would be replaced by the Reginaldo Howard Leadership Program, which “will be open to all Duke undergraduates.” In an announcement published on Duke’s website, the university said it told current scholarship recipients that the transition was necessary “due to the legal landscape related to race-based considerations in higher education.” “We are reimagining the Reginaldo ‘Reggie’ Howard Scholars program to expand the impact...

New research in a Duke University academic journal confronts a controversial subject within the LGBT community and comes to an equally controversial conclusion: a significant portion of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender individuals switch to a “straight” identity.The landmark research, published in the Duke University Press journal Demography, examined data from the United Kingdom Household Longitudinal Study, which involved interviews with 22,673 people who were interviewed in two waves: first in 2011–2013 and then in 2017–2019.A total of 8.6 percent of people who identified as gay and lesbian in the first wave changed their identity to heterosexual by the second...

Duke University is facing a fresh federal civil rights investigation for a racially exclusive program at its medical school days after resolving a separate civil rights matter over excluding women. Last week, the Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights informed Mark Perry, a senior fellow with the medical watchdog group Do No Harm, that Duke University was no longer excluding men from two programs the school had organized, one for high school girls interested in orthopedic surgery and engineering, and another for female medical students. But on Tuesday, in response to a complaint from Perry about a program at...

A report from Hope Rawlson at the blog for the Institute on Religion & Democracy has documented that students at Duke Divinity School, which is affiliated with the United Methodist Church, have held a “Pride” worship service to pray to the “Great Queer One.”She revealed, “Divinity Pride, a student group affirming the ‘dignity, faithfulness, and strength of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, Queer/Questioning, Intersex, Asexual, and gender/sexuality non-conforming Christians,'” held the event.The posting explained, “Criticizing the church, Justis Mitchell, a first-year M.Div student, stated, ‘In the pews we listen to the pastor who preaches about commandments, condemning those who disobey, predicating...

Mark Meadows, former Trump administration chief of staff who pushed the debunked claims that the 2020 election was stolen, registered to vote in a rusted tin-roofed mobile home where he has apparently has never lived, according to a new report. If that is true, the ex-North Carolina congressman might have committed voter fraud, according to The New Yorker magazine. Neighbors of the mobile home in Appalachia listed on Meadows' voter registration said they have never seen the politician there, magazine scribe Charles Bethea reports. When he quit his elected position to join the Trump administration, Meadows sold his property in...

Sen. Rand Paul revealed Wednesday in a disclosure that was more than a year overdue that his wife in February 2020 bought up to $15,000 worth of shares in Gilead, a biotech company that brought to market the first drug designed to treat COVID-19. Paul’s mandatory filing with the Senate shows that his wife purchased between $1,000 and $15,000 worth of Gilead stock on Feb. 26, 2020. Gilead’s antiviral drug remdesivir became the first COVID-19 specific treatment to win an emergency use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration less that three months after the purchase in May 2020.

George Floyd’s toxicology report pinned to Black History Month display at Duke Duke University is investigating how a printout of George Floyd’s toxicology report, with comments insinuating his death was related to drugs, ended up pinned to a Black History Month bulletin board display on campus, according to the school and reports. The flier was found Saturday pinned to a display honoring black victims of police violence and was inscribed with handwritten remarks in pink pen that said: “Mix of drugs presents in difficulty breathing! Overdose? Good Man? Use of fake currency is a felony!”

Does anyone else find it odd that so many Asian activists reacted to the mass murder of (mostly) Asian women last week by talking about how smoking hot they are? I was at law school when I first noticed the phenomenon of liberal women pretending to be outraged as a cover for bragging. Average-to-ugly girls would work up feigned indignation about how a guy had “sexually harassed” them that day, then launch into a 20-minute retelling of some compliment they’d received. A man talked to me! I think he likes me … Let’s see, how do I work this into...

Virginia Military Institute's top official resigned Monday, a week after Gov. Ralph Northam announced an investigation into the school's culture and policies following reports of racism that received national attention. Retired Army Gen. J.H. Binford Peay III submitted his resignation letter as superintendent, which the board of visitors accepted "with deep regret," board President John Boland said in a statement. In his resignation letter to the president of the board of visitors, Peay wrote that Gov. Northam’s chief of staff, Clark Mercer, informed him on Friday that “the governor and certain legislative leaders had lost confidence in my leadership as...

Accused conspirators charged in a plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer also discussed "taking" Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam, an FBI agent testified at a court hearing Tuesday. During the hearing in Grand Rapids, Mich., to discuss the charges filed last week against members of a self-proclaimed militia accused of plotting to kidnap Michigan’s Democratic governor, FBI Special Agent Richard Trask revealed that months ago some of the suspects met in Dublin, Ohio, where Northam, also a Democrat, was discussed as a potential target.

SHENZHEN, China — Meet the man dubbed China's Elon Musk, Ruopeng Liu. Like Musk, he's working on sending people into space, and has already sent them flying. He's the man behind jet-powered surfboards, and is a multi-billionaire at just 35 years old. "We call ourselves the future studio," said Liu during an NBC News visit to his company's headquarters here. "We design the future." But is he guilty of stealing the intellectual property of a famous American scientist? Dr. David Smith of Duke University is one of the world's experts on something called "metamaterials." Liu, who says he had long...

"Scientists have raised questions about the dataset published in The Lancet last week that triggered the suspension of clinical trials around the world—and about Surgisphere Corporation, the company behind the study. " Surgisphere Corporation, the company that supplied data for a controversial study on the health risks of hydroxychloroquine for COVID-19 patients published in The Lancet last week (May 22), has found itself in the spotlight after researchers raised questions about the dataset. The Lancet study, which lists Surgisphere founder and CEO Sapan Desai as one of four coauthors, reported harmful effects tied to the anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine among patients...

A study conducted by researchers from Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, have found that the amygdala in mice's brain can significantly control their sense of pain. According to Fan Wang, the lead author of the study and the Morris N. Broad Distinguished Professor of neurobiology in the School of Medicine, recent studies have determined parts of the brain that could 'turn on' pain signals, but this was the first time they were able to pinpoint where pain could be 'turned off.' The researchers also discovered that general anesthesia also stimulates a specific subgroup of inhibitory neurons in the central...

Herring still doesn’t have much appreciation for civil rights. He’s defending Virginia social distancing policies that led to the pastor of a Virginia church being cited for holding a church service. There were sixteen people in the church sanctuary, which seats 225. The congregation in question serves, among others, recovering drug addicts and former prostitutes. The church sought legal relief. The Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division filed a statement of interest, arguing that the Virginia polices at issue may constitute a violation of the constitutional right to the free exercise of religion. Herring’s office responded with this imbecilic statement:...

KKK-Blackface Governor Ralph Northam (D) on Monday signed sweeping legislation repealing voter ID laws and expanded early voting programs. “Voting is a fundamental right, and these new laws strengthen our democracy by making it easier to cast a ballot, not harder,” said Governor Northam in a statement. “No matter who you are or where you live in Virginia, your voice deserves to be heard. I’m proud to sign these bills into law.” Northam signed legislation allowing early voting 45 days prior to an election without even stating an excuse. Voters used to have to provide a reason for absentee voting from an approved...

RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — Governor Ralph Northam put pen to paper in making Virginia the first state in the South to enact comprehensive protections for the LGBTQ community. Today, Governor Northam announced he has signed the Virginia Values Act, protecting the LGBTQ community against discrimination in housing, employment, public spaces, and credit applications. “This legislation sends a strong, clear message—Virginia is a place where all people are welcome to live, work, visit, and raise a family,” said Governor Northam. “We are building an inclusive Commonwealth where there is opportunity for everyone, and everyone is treated fairly. No longer will LGBTQ...

Millions of college students will be closing out the semester from home, with online courses replacing in-person offerings. Due to the abrupt change, many schools are acknowledging the disruption, and associated changes in students’ circumstances, may lead to a decrease in academic performance unrelated to effort or intelligence, and are therefore instituting grading policies that provide appropriate understanding for the bizarre situation. Many universities, including Georgetown, Duke, University of Pennsylvania, have extended the deadline for taking a class pass/fail until either the last day of classes or even a week after report cards are released. However, many student groups are...

Speaking onstage to Peter Feaver, professor of political science at Duke, Bolton, by his own admission, “ducked” questions about his instructions from Trump. He said the administration’s prepublication review meant that he could not discuss details for fear of legal action. “I say things in the manuscript about what he said to me. I hope they become public someday,” he said. “He tweets, but I can’t talk about it. How fair is that?”

We may finally get a Democrat debate tonight that isn't deathly boring for a change.  Elizabeth Warren, facing declining poll numbers, is attacking Bernie Sanders with the claim that in a private meeting 13 months ago, he told her that a woman could not win the presidency.  M.J Lee of CNN broke the story yesterday: The stakes were high when Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren met at Warren's apartment in Washington, DC, one evening in December 2018. The longtime friends knew that they could soon be running against each other for president. The two agreed that if they ultimately faced each other as presidential candidates, they should...

President Donald Trump has achieved more concrete progress for blacks, gays, and Jews than any other American president.That claim is sure to be disputed, if not mocked, by those for whom grievance and identity politics are a profession or a psychological crutch.Yet it remains true — and was thrown into sharp relief this week, as the Jussie Smollett case turned from one of the most horrific attacks in recent memory to the worst hate crime hoax in history.There are two reasons the media, Hollywood, and the Democratic political elite believed Smollett’s claims.First, he belongs to several victim categories: black, gay,...