Free Republic

At nearly all American colleges and universities, the “soft” disciplines have been overrun by “progressives” who insist that their beliefs alone must be taught, whether or not they’re pertinent to the subject. They are determined to turn students into ideological clones of themselves. Will this indoctrination help students succeed after graduation? That question never arises. My recent Martin Center article about a lawsuit brought by a professor in UNC’s School of Social Work prompts a look into the politicization of that field. Part of the background to that case was the School’s overwrought reaction to the death of George Floyd...

Just over one year ago, Cairn University, a small, private, Christian school in southeastern Pennsylvania, made a strategic institutional decision to eliminate its School of Social Work and all related degrees and programs, thus bringing to an end a 50-plus-year run. Closing what was a pioneering program with a long history and a sound reputation was not an easy decision, but it was a clear one. The Board of Trustees approved a recommendation from the administration to close the school based upon multiple factors. Among these were declining enrollment and an associated and growing disparity between revenue and expenses. Also...

Brian Murray knows just how fierce an opponent Arizona's Sen. Kyrsten Sinema can be. The Republican strategist saw his candidate lose to Democrat Sinema in their 2012 race for the House. Calling the experience "unpleasant," Murray admits his candidate, Vernon Parker, was flawed, but "flawed candidates win all of the time. Kyrsten, however, was an absolute machine." Sinema, along with fellow centrist Democrat Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, has recently become the epicenter of American politics largely because she insists on siding with the interests of her constituents instead of the demands of her party. Over the past few...

<p>IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa social worker has been charged with perjury for delivering false testimony that helped convince a judge to remove four children from their parents, investigators said Tuesday.</p> <p>Former Department of Human Services employee Chelsie Gray is charged with knowingly giving false information during a December 2017 hearing in which she recommended a judge terminate the parental rights of a mother and father.</p>

A longtime College of Southern Nevada sociology professor is facing felony gun charges in connection with an on-campus shooting on the second day of classes. Mark J. Bird was charged last month with discharging a gun within a prohibited structure, carrying a concealed weapon without a permit and possessing a dangerous weapon on school property, court records show. He was found bleeding from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to his arm about 8:15 a.m. on Aug. 28 outside a bathroom in the Charleston campus K building.

The high court will determine if Obama's DAPA -- Deferred Action for Parents of Americans -- is Constitutional. AUSTIN, TX -- The U.S. Supreme Court this week could rule on a far-reaching immigration-related case that would allow the parents of immigrant children to stay in the country legally. United States v. Texas, the pending U.S. Supreme Court case hinges on the constitutionality of an Obama administration initiative -- Deferred Action for Parents of Americans -- known by its acronym DAPA. The program was unveiled by Obama in November 2014 as an executive action, in a move to grant deferred action...

BALTIMORE, MARYLAND— Sirens wail frequently outside Bronwyn Mayden’s office, with ambulances and squad cars rushing to the University of Maryland Medical Center half a block away. It’s a trauma hospital, the one where 25-year-old Freddie Gray wound up dying in April from a neck injury sustained in police custody. Mayden deals with trauma, too, but of a different kind. Assistant dean at the university’s School of Social Work, she’s also executive director of Promise Heights, an academic-community partnership that assists one of West Baltimore’s neediest neighborhoods just over a mile from her office. Upton-Druid Heights – like the adjacent Sandtown...

"I can’t have you participate in class anymore.” I was on my way out of class when my social welfare and policy professor casually called me over to tell me this. The friendliness of her tone did not match her words, and I attempted a shocked, confused apology. It was my first semester at the Hunter College School of Social Work, and I was as yet unfamiliar with the consistent, underlying threat that characterized much of the school’s policy and atmosphere. This professor was simply more open and direct than most. I asked if I had said or done anything...

This is a 5 minute audio clip of a Detroit Human Services worker's phone mail message as well as two follow-up calls of the worker which were recorded.

To a man with a hammer, every problem looks like a nail. To a community organizer, every citizen looks like a victim entitled to someone else’s money. The Obama campaign and administration has proved that again and again. But both the president and his wife put a fine point on it with commencement addresses this month. (Joe Biden also gave one, but it’s a safe bet that nobody – Joe least of all – knew what he was talking about.) To the Obamas, grads should opt for the virtue of what Michelle has called “helping” careers, and eschew the vice...

Ann Fisher commentary: This work is nothing to sneer at Monday, September 8, 2008 3:12 AM By Ann Fisher In her acceptance speech last week, the GOP nominee for vice president took aim at the Democratic nominee for president, trashing Barack Obama's work as a community organizer. But the ammo landed like so much shrapnel in the hearts and minds of community organizers across the country. Community Organizers of America launched a Web site and demanded an apology. The National Association of Social Workers issued an angry news release, with the Ohio chapter and others following suit. Here's what angered...

...In 2005, Emily Brooker, a social-work student at Missouri State University, was enrolled in a class taught by a professor who advertised himself as a liberal and insisted that social work is a liberal profession. At first, a mandatory assignment for his class was to advocate homosexual foster homes and adoption, with all students required to sign an advocacy letter, on university stationery, to the state legislature. When Brooker objected on religious grounds, the project was made optional. But shortly before the final exam she was charged with a "Level 3," the most serious, violation of professional standards. In a...

The Relevance of Social Work Education by: Nirmala Punnusami, September 19, 2007 It is the considered view of The National Association of Scholars that American schools of social work have lost their noble mission. They no longer adhere to the basic principles of intellectual inquiry. They no longer work on relevant issues of poverty, drug addiction, crime and developing informed opinions, but instead their education programs now run counter to the spirit and the principles of good educational practice. They have compromised their education principles. They have subverted their social work education, and have now gone to an advanced stage...

In 1997, the National Association of Social Work (NASW) altered its ethics code, ruling that all social workers must promote social justice "from local to global level." This call for mandatory advocacy raised the question: what kind of political action did the highly liberal field of social work have in mind? The answer wasn't long in coming. The Council on Social Work Education, the national accreditor of social work education programs, says candidates must fight "oppression," and sees American society as pervaded by the "global interconnections of oppression." Now aspiring social workers must commit themselves, usually in writing, to a...

In 1997, the National Association of Social Work (NASW) altered its ethics code, ruling that all social workers must promote social justice “from local to global level.” This call for mandatory advocacy raised the question: what kind of political action did the highly liberal field of social work have in mind? The answer wasn’t long in coming. The Council on Social Work Education, the national accreditor of social work education programs, says candidates must fight “oppression,” and sees American society as pervaded by the “global interconnections of oppression.” Now aspiring social workers must commit themselves, usually in writing, to a...

For students living on ramen noodles or people in low-wage, time-consuming jobs, folks who are down on their luck or living on fixed incomes, healthy eating may seem too expensive. Nutritionists say, however, that's a false perception. Healthy eating, in fact, is cheaper. The cost of expensive eating often isn't the food, it's the bells and whistles of trendy packaging. "You pay for convenience," says Amy Moore, a dietitian at St. Louis University. "What it takes is planning and sometimes a little investment." That means eating more fresh food from low-cost stores and farmers markets, watching store sales and using...

Several years ago my wife and I attended the back-to-school festivities at my son's elementary school. This is the yearly exercise where hapless parents learn about all the new and wondrous miracle strategies that the public education system has cooked up to benefit "the children."The evening was winding down, finally, when we bumped into the principal in the hallway. Although I tried my best to avert my eyes and hurry toward the exit, he corralled us and asked if we had any questions. "Well," I said, "there is one thing I'd like to discuss. My son continues to be bullied...

RALEIGH — I’m never surprised to be hit in the face each morning with multicultural, victimization, support-group style reporting in my local papers. That’s the bread and butter of the mainstream media these days. But if any publication was going to resist the trend I figured it would be Scouting magazine. I was wrong. Scouting bills itself as “a family magazine published by the Boy Scouts of America.” In the interest of full disclosure, I’m a big supporter of the Boy Scouts of America, was an avid Scout as a kid and am the father of two Eagle Scouts. I...

ACLU to help reformed killer help others ACLU: Man who yearns to be social worker is appealing UAA program's decision. By LISA DEMER Anchorage Daily News Published: July 7th, 2005 Last Modified: July 7th, 2005 at 05:05 AM The American Civil Liberties Union has gone to court for Mike Purcell, a man convicted of murder as a teen who has served his time and wants a career in social work. Purcell, now 37, otherwise qualifies for entry into the social work program at the University of Alaska Anchorage. But the social work faculty twice rejected his bid, as did an...

Customs, schooling, food become issues for Muslim children put in Christian home The controversy surrounding four Muslim children placed in a Christian foster home in St. Catharines, Ont., has exposed a child-welfare system in culture shock. When Family and Children's Services of Niagara plucked the children from their parents last November and placed the four in a foster home with little knowledge of their religious and cultural practices, an outraged local Muslim community condemned the agency for its cultural insensitivity and even staged a vigil outside its offices in protest. But the children's aid society had only one Muslim foster...