Free Republic

It’s now been three years since the United States Supreme Court declared that race may never be used as a “negative” or operate as a “stereotype” in higher education. While that landmark case, Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, dismantled affirmative action in admissions, race still lingers as a factor in many other areas of higher education. One such area is financial aid—specifically grants and scholarships. The National Scholarship Providers Association estimates that 11% of all higher-education scholarships still contain eligibility requirements for race, ethnicity, or other demographic factors, even after SFFA. Race-based scholarships, though, are facing increasing scrutiny. Last...

The director of African American Affairs at Minnesota State University (MSU), Mankato is no longer employed by the university after a federal jury convicted him of a tax fraud scheme prosecutors said generated approximately $387,000 in fraudulent tax refunds. Cortez Hollis worked in the university’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) division, where he led the African American Affairs office. A federal jury found Hollis guilty in June on 20 counts of aiding or assisting in the preparation of false tax returns, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Hollis owned and...

In a sweeping regulatory shift, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has finalized a rule that dramatically narrows how discrimination can be penalized across billions of dollars in federal grants. The decision strips the government of its ability to penalize funding recipients for policies that disproportionately harm minority groups—unless explicit discriminatory intent can be proven. The final rule, signed by Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin and scheduled for publication in the Federal Register on June 22, officially eliminates “disparate-impact” liability under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 for DHS and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). It...

The number of University of California Berkeley students who failed a computer science course this past spring semester was “significantly higher” than previous terms, according to a recent report. According to The Daily Californian, a whopping 35 percent failed the introductory course “The Beauty and Joy of Computing” (designed for students “with minimal prior exposure to computer science), and just under 11 percent in “The Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs,” an intro to programming class. Computer science department guidelines note that “7% of students in lower division courses [including the courses noted], should receive D’s and F’s,” and that...

The first officer of a United Airlines jet warned the pilot "you are still slow and a little low" before the aircraft hit a light pole and tractor-trailer on the New Jersey Turnpike while landing at Newark Liberty Airport on May 3. A preliminary report released Thursday by the National Transportation Safety Board about the May 3 incident said the airliner was hit by a 34 mph wind gust just before crossing the highway, and confirmed the jet struck both the light pole and the tractor-trailer. The crew of United Flight 169 heard a thump and felt a jolt as...

FOR DECADES, THE FORMULA for career success was simple: go to school, get a job, climb the ladder. But the ladder is now collapsing before our eyes. And honestly, good riddance. The career ladder isn’t just an outdated metaphor — it actively blocks people from finding more fulfilling work. Think about it this way: In school, there are clear markers for success. The goal is to get good grades. This continues into entry-level roles, where workers strive for raises and promotions. Tracked careers like law and consulting are attractive, at least in part, because they offer legible paths for advancement....

Former Vice President Kamala Harris criticized the Supreme Court’s ruling in which a race-based redistricting map in Louisiana was struck down, stating that the ruling “guts the Voting Rights Act.” In a post on X, Harris expressed that the ruling was “an outrage,” and added that it was “part of an agenda that conservatives set in place decades ago to steal power from everyday people.” Harris also stated that the “court’s decision is motivated by politics and designed to give an upper hand” to President Donald Trump and the Republican Party. “Today’s Supreme Court ruling guts the Voting Rights Act...

Rachel Wu was looking around a dining hall at the Johns Hopkins University when she noticed the shift: There are a lot more Asian students at the elite Baltimore university these days. “It’s starting to feel like all the freshmen are Asian,” said Wu, an Asian American junior. Last fall, 45% of Hopkins’ first-year students were Asian, the university reported in December, up from about 26% just two years ago. The massive shift came after the 2023 U.S. Supreme Court decision that forbade colleges from considering race in admissions, but other selective colleges did not see such a dramatic swing....

A Palo Alto father who has filed multiple lawsuits against major university systems over his son's college rejections says artificial intelligence has become the key to pursuing the cases after no law firm agreed to represent them. The legal fight stems from a 2023 ABC7 News story about Stanley Zhong, then an 18-year-old Gunn High School student with a 4.4 GPA and a near-perfect 1590 SAT score who was rejected by 16 out of the 18 colleges he applied to. Despite the rejections, he was later hired as a software engineer at Google. Two and a half years later, his...

Heart-pounding audio captured the frantic moments before Sunday’s fatal collision involving an Air Canada passenger plane and a firefighting truck at LaGuardia Airport — with one air traffic controller admitting after they “messed up.” Air traffic controllers urged an incoming plane to go around as the crash unfolded on the ground, killing the jet’s pilot and co-pilot, according to LiveATC audio. The truck was cleared to cross the airport’s Runway 4 before air traffic controllers urged a Frontier plane bound for Miami and the vehicle to stop. “Stop, stop, stop, stop,” the controller frantically demanded. “Truck 1, stop, stop, stop....

Former first lady Michelle Obama argued that getting accepted into college for being a star athlete is no different than being accepted due to affirmative action policies. During Wednesday’s episode of Mrs. Obama’s “IMO” podcast, comedian Josh Johnson spoke about his own experience as a young Black comedian and writer and sometimes being the only Black person in the room. “It is funny because, like, you know, people talk about, like, DEI and some of these initiatives and everything. And the thing that’s always funny to me about the outrage is that y’all already have the number,” Johnson said. He...

You’ve heard of DEI in the workforce, but DEI in the National Football League isn’t all that different of a ball game. And after looking at the stats, BlazeTV host Jason Whitlock determines it’s been doing far more damage than good. In 2018, 19 quarterbacks averaged more than 250 passing yards per game. Now, in 2025, there are only five quarterbacks who average more than 250 passing yards per game. “There are five quarterbacks that average more than 250 passing yards per game: Dak Prescott, Matthew Stafford, Jared Goff, Patrick Mahomes, and Drake Maye. ... What are we watching? What...

https://x.com/nicksortor/status/2003272753953247254 0:53 VIDEO at link...............

Forget, ‘no good deed goes unpunished’. More accurately, no corporate wokeness goes unpunished by those taking advantage of it. Affirmative action is one of the worst examples as companies set themselves up for lawsuits like this through their illegal and immoral pursuit of diversity. A group of 18 former student pilots sued Fort Worth-based American Airlines this week, alleging the company misled them and racially discriminated against them while they were enrolled in a flight training program. The federal lawsuit, filed Tuesday in a federal court in San Diego by a group of plaintiffs who identify as Black, Asian or...

Scouting America responded on Tuesday to a reported memo from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth seeking to cut ties with the organization, saying it was “surprised and disappointed” by the potential policy change, as the military has given its support to the Scouts since 1937. Congress requires the Pentagon to support Scouting America’s Jamboree, lending trucks, ambulances and medical teams free of charge. “The Scouting movement has had a strong relationship with our nation’s military going back more than a century,” according to the group. “From the tremendous support of the West Virginia National Guard at our National Jamborees to Scout...

A former Air Force Intelligence officer has pleaded guilty to lying to law enforcement when she claimed her then-estranged astronaut wife committed the first crime in space, according to authorities. Summer Worden, 50, faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 maximum fine for falsely alleging top NASA astronaut and then-spouse Anna McClain accessed Worden’s bank account from the International Space Station, the US Attorney’s Office, Southern District of Texas said in a press release. Worden’s guilty plea Thursday put an end to a bitter legal feud with McClain. Worden alleged McClain had guessed the password and illegally...

History has been made! Over the weekend, a crew of thieves rolled up to the famous Paris museum IN BROAD DAYLIGHT, used a crane to get inside, used chainsaws to cut through protective cases, and stole nine priceless treasures. One, the gold crown of Empress Eugénie seen in the video below, was discarded and found later by police. To make matters worse, it's not even the only heist from a major Paris museum that's made headlines this week. A Chinese woman has been charged with stealing gold nuggets on September 16th from the city's National Museum of Natural History. That...

Unveiling the Bias: How Israel's Systems Favor Arabs Over JewsThe provided sources argue that Israel’s legal, social, and administrative systems exhibit preferential treatment toward Arabs over Jews, particularly in religious freedom, construction, land allocation, legal enforcement, and access to resources.1. Religious Freedom and Access to Holy SitesIn a Jewish state, Jews face unjust restrictions on accessing and praying at the Temple Mount, their holiest site, due to court rulings prioritizing Arab sensitivities over Jewish religious rights (Weber, 2006; Weiss, 2023). Weber notes that the Supreme Court, under Aharon Barak, limited Jewish access to avoid Arab unrest, undermining the fundamental right...

The Right Way to Fight Anti-SemitismOctober 7’s second anniversary is cause for sober reflection on how to confront an ancient hatred.I remember the early hours of October 7, 2023. I was sitting at my desk in Gig Harbor, Washington, as the first grainy images from the Hamas terror campaign in Southern Israel started to circulate on X. For most of that day, I scrolled through my timeline, attempting to make sense of the carnage and barbarism.Elay, an Israeli-American contractor who had been working on my home, called me in a panic. Hamas militants had attempted to knock down his wife...

Charlie Kirk was a racist because he said that Joy Reid only got into Harvard because of affirmative action." 2023. Joy Reid: "Let me be clear, I got into Harvard only because of affirmative action."