{"id":2251621,"date":"2024-05-23T19:52:02","date_gmt":"2024-05-23T23:52:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/activism-over-education-law-school-embraced-drag-shows-and-social-justice-amid-rankings-free-fall\/"},"modified":"2024-05-23T20:03:16","modified_gmt":"2024-05-24T00:03:16","slug":"activism-over-education-law-school-embraced-drag-shows-and-social-justice-amid-rankings-free-fall","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/activism-over-education-law-school-embraced-drag-shows-and-social-justice-amid-rankings-free-fall\/","title":{"rendered":"Prioritizing Activism: Law School Hosts Drag Shows and Social Justice Amid Declining Rankings"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">26<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Factivism-over-education-law-school-embraced-drag-shows-and-social-justice-amid-rankings-free-fall%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2251621&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The University of \u200dLouisville&#8217;s\u2063 Brandeis School of Law hosted events like &#8220;Drag Story Hour&#8221; and lectures in honor of\u200b Breonna Taylor, incorporating \u2064<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/despite-mixed-reviews-godzilla-x-kong-blows-past-expectations-we-are-in-a-good-position\/\" title=\"Godzilla vs. Kong' Surpasses Expectations Despite Mixed Reviews, Putting Us in a Strong Position\">social justice themes<\/a>. \u200dWhile promoting diversity \u200band activism, some\u200c students feel the focus should \u200dbe more on education rather than politically-charged activities, highlighting concerns about academic diversity and ideological balance. The University of Louisville&#8217;s Brandeis School of Law\u200d organized \u2062events such as &#8220;Drag Story Hour&#8221; and lectures honoring Breonna Taylor with social justice themes. Despite advocating diversity \u200dand activism, certain students \u2063believe there should be a greater emphasis on education over politically-driven initiatives,\u200d raising issues regarding \u2062academic\u200d diversity and ideological equilibrium.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Students at the University of Louisville Louis D. Brandeis School of Law were shocked in February to learn their school was hosting a \u201cDrag Story Hour,\u201d in which one of their professors dressed as a woman and told a story about a gay rabbit with a member of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The event was part of the university\u2019s \u201cDrag Me to Class\u201d fundraiser to raise money for students to attend the LGBT-focused Lavender Law Conference in the nation\u2019s capital. But while the school leaned into drag, students were fuming over projections that the law school could be taking a massive dive in the US News &#038; World Report\u2019s upcoming law school rankings. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Those fears were confirmed on April 9, when the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.usnews.com\/best-graduate-schools\/top-law-schools\/law-rankings?name=brandeis&#038;_sort=my_rankings-asc\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">rankings<\/a> saw Brandeis drop from 99 to 136 in the rankings. The 37 spot drop was the largest of any school on the list, and has left both faculty and students pointing fingers. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">School administrators blamed the drop in rankings on leadership changes, a lagging job market due to the COVID pandemic, and a new methodological ranking system by US News &#038; World Report. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Current students aren\u2019t buying it, and told The Daily Wire that the drop came as they witnessed the school pivot towards activism, and away from academics. T<\/span>he school\u2019s total first-time bar passage rates have been in a free fall since 2020, when the rate sat at 89%, to just 75% last year. And the pass rate was<span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> just 65% in 2022, <a href=\"https:\/\/louisville.edu\/law\/about\/accreditation\/aba-required-disclosures\/bar-passage-outcomes\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">according<\/a> to the most recent data available on the school\u2019s website. By comparison, the number one law school in the country, Stanford, had a first-time bar passage rate of 94%. <\/span><\/p>\n<p>One student,<span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> who chose to remain anonymous to avoid academic repercussions, told The Daily Wire that traditional law school electives like remedies and federal courts have not been offered over the last two years while other substantive classes\u00a0like advanced civil procedure and advance contracts were only sporadically taught. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Meanwhile, the student noted a surge of \u201cwacky\u201d classes like \u201cGender, Law, and Policy,\u201d \u201cAfro-American Women and Reproductive Justice,\u201d Critical Race Theory,\u201d and \u201cReproductive Rights and Justice,\u201d which were all taught in the last year. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The class on \u201cCritical Race Theory,\u201d examines the \u201cfundamental propositions about race and racism in society and uses those propositions to critique the law as a legitimizing force for advancing systemic racism and structural inequality.\u201d It is taught by Cedric Powell, a Critical Race Theory scholar. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Another class called \u201cEnvironmental Law,\u201d focuses on discussions of \u201cenvironmental justice\u201d and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/cnn-accuses-white-people-of-digital-blackface-and-people-have-thoughts\/\" title=\"CNN Accuses White People Of \u2018Digital Blackface\u2019 And People Have Thoughts\">accuses white people<\/a> of racism, according to another current student. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The professor who teaches the class, Tony Arnold, also leads up the law school\u2019s \u201c<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/archive.ph\/aUAcj#selection-837.15-837.63\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Resilience Justice Project<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">,\u201d which is a research project looking at the \u201cinequitable vulnerabilities of communities\u201d through a lens of \u201cclimate change,\u201d \u201csystemic racism,\u201d and \u201canti-colonialism.\u201d The project\u2019s goals include increasing the \u201cpower of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/lockdown-blamed-in-part-for-philadelphia-rise-in-gun-violence\/\" title=\"Lockdown blamed in part for Philadelphia rise in gun violence\">low-income communities<\/a> of color\u201d and making changes to systems of injustice in society and governance.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p>The students said that there was a real appetite for that type of instruction among the student body.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cTo be fair a little bit to the school, that\u2019s what a lot of the students coming in do want, which is kind of the sad part,\u201d one student told The Daily Wire. \u201cBut it\u2019s not what everybody wants. A lot of us wanted law school to be an academic pursuit as opposed to an activist one.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The pivot Left at Brandeis includes a hyper-focus on the politicized death of Breonna Taylor, who was fatally shot by police after her boyfriend opened fire on several officers conducting a drug bust in Louisville. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Earlier this year, Brandeis School of Law Assistant Director of Diversity and Community Mark Martinez sent out a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/noose-reported-on-campus-it-was-a-steel-crane-loop-used-to-hoist-an-american-flag-for-memorial-day\/\" title=\"Noose Reported On Campus. It Was A Steel Crane Loop Used To Hoist An American Flag For Memorial Day.\">campus-wide email<\/a> in remembrance of the fourth anniversary of Taylor\u2019s death. The email boasted that the school sought \u201cto honor Breonna Taylor in several ways,\u201d and included<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">  a poem by leftist poet Camonghne Felix that encouraged the public to \u201cshut the streets down\u201d and referenced embracing \u201crage\u201d and being a \u201cmenace.\u201d<br \/> <\/span><\/p>\n<p>The school also hosts<span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> a <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/louisville.edu\/law\/news\/save-the-date-breonna-taylor-lecture-on-structural-inequality-set-for-april-10\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">yearly lecture<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">  called \u201cThe Breonna Taylor Lecture on Structural Inequality.\u201d It <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/louisville.edu\/communityengagement\/news\/breonna-taylor-portrait-trust-distributions-result-in-1-million-gift-to-university-of-louisville\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">created<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">  \u201cThe Breonna Taylor Legacy Fellowship\u201d in 2022, which gives a handful of students $9,000 summer stipends to pursue \u201csocial justice\u201d work. Money for the scholarship comes from the proceeds of a portrait of Taylor painted by activist painter Amy Sherald. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">In line with criticism of police over Taylor\u2019s death, the school <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/C5tT_QusfQf\/?hl=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">brought<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">  in a lecturer in April to talk to school staff about \u201cwhite supremacy\u201d in policing for its 2024 faculty workshop. <\/span><\/p>\n<p>The school has also encouraged students to flag<span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> alleged \u201cmicroaggressions.\u201d This was so that administrators could help decrease\u00a0\u201cthe systemic and cultural oppression within the school.\u201d <\/span>One example of a microaggression included a student complaining about how a professor <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cerased trans identities\u201d by making a reference to the biology of women. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Internally, Brandeis has openly embraced Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion initiatives. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cFostering an equitable and inclusive learning environment is a priority at the University of Louisville and at the Brandeis School of Law, as we strive to better serve our students, faculty and staff of color, those who identify as LGBTQ+, those with disabilities, those from international backgrounds and others who have been historically marginalized or underrepresented in the legal profession,\u201d the school <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/louisville.edu\/law\/admissions\/equity-inclusion\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">says<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">While students don\u2019t pin all the blame for the decline on activism and DEI-focused luncheons, they wish the school would focus more on education than politically-charged seminars and drag dress-up fundraisers. They also point to a real lack of \u201cacademic diversity\u201d on campus, saying that there are only a few center-Right professors on the whole staff. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The professor who participated in the drag fundraiser was law professor Dan Canon, who donned a skirt and wig to read the book \u201cA Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo,\u201d a children\u2019s picture book about gay rabbits, alongside \u201cSister Petty Davis,\u201d a member of a local chapter of the anti-Christian Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence. According to the university, the two also <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/louisville.edu\/law\/news\/2018drag-me-to-class2019-raises-almost-1-800-for-students-to-attend-lavender-law-conference\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">gave<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">  students tips on \u201cdrag activism.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_740085\" style=\"width: 783px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\">\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-740085\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Screen Shot: Brandeis School of Law Instagram.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The fundraiser involved donors giving in support of specific law school faculty members to dress up in drag. The reading raised $1,800 for the campus\u2019s Lamba Law Caucus to go to an LGBT-themed retreat. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/dancanon\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Canon<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">  has been with the university since 2016 and teaches civil rights and civil procedure at the law school. He supports abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement, boasts about suing former President Donald Trump, and was one of the lawyers who helped to overturn laws defining marriage as between a man and a woman. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">In 2017, he ran for Congress in Indiana as a Democrat seeking to abolish ICE, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/article\/archive\/its-time-to-abolish-ice\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">saying<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">  that it existed \u201csolely to cruelly and wantonly [break] up families.\u201d Later that year, in an <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.slate.com\/articles\/news_and_politics\/cover_story\/2017\/04\/ice_detainees_enter_an_unbelievably_cruel_system_designed_to_make_them_disappear.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">article<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">  for Slate, he claimed that concerns over illegal immigration were unfounded. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Another professor <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/louisville.edu\/law\/news\/professor-laura-mcneal-stars-in-new-documentary-about-the-killing-of-george-floyd\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">provided<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">  commentary \u201con the role of structural inequality in the disproportionate use of force by law enforcement in communities of color,\u201d for a documentary on the death of George Floyd by the Black News Channel. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/louisville.edu\/law\/faculty-staff\/faculty-directory\/trucios-haynes-enid\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Enid F. Trucios-Haynes<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, an immigration and civil rights professor, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aclu-ky.org\/en\/news\/faces-liberty-enid-trucios-haynes\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">advocated against<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">  a proposed Kentucky bill that would have given law enforcement more tools to crack down on illegal immigration and is linked to the leftist ACLU. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Professors have also lashed out at anyone from the other side of the political aisle. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">One former conservative Brandeis professor, Justin Walker, was criticized by his colleagues after former President Donald Trump appointed him to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. After the nomination, several of his colleagues <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.courier-journal.com\/story\/news\/politics\/2020\/06\/10\/some-law-professors-turned-judge-justin-walkers-nomination\/5338183002\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">released<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">  a letter saying that they could \u201cnot fully support\u201d Walker\u2019s nomination. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Administrators at the law school have a similar leftward bent. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The school\u2019s associate <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/louisville.edu\/law\/faculty-staff\/faculty-directory\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">dean of academic affairs<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, JoAnne Sweeney, who <a href=\"https:\/\/louisville.edu\/law\/faculty-staff\/faculty-directory\/sweeny-joanne\">includes<\/a> \u201cfeminist jurisprudence\u201d as one of her scholarly interests, has made several public partisan statements. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">In an opinion column for the Washington Post, she wrote that Ireland\u2019s vote to legalize abortion should bring \u201chope\u201d to Americans. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cIreland\u2019s story provides some hope that the United States might find its way to legalizing abortion, yet it also shows how a government can impede changes that have <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/poll-plurality-of-texas-latinos-oppose-bidens-border-policies\/\" title=\"Poll: Plurality of Texas Latinos Oppose Biden's Border Policies\">strong public support<\/a> by passing unpopular legislation and blocking any attempts at judicial reform,\u201d she <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/made-by-history\/2022\/08\/16\/ireland-changed-its-antiabortion-laws-can-it-offer-blueprint-us\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">wrote<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Sweeney\u2019s social media history shows her <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/joannesweeny\/status\/1321041153089802246\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">cheering on<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">  Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) while <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/joannesweeny\/status\/1357754304669573126\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">saying<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">  that former President Donald Trump appealing to the First Amendment after the Democrat-led House impeached him over January 6 is \u201cutter bulls***.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The school\u2019s dean, Melanie Jacobs, has a similar leftward social media history. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">In a post from January 2022, Jacobs <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Professor_MBJ\/status\/1540481779777372160\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">referred<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">  to an unborn baby as \u201ca mass of cells smaller than my fingernail\u201d as justification for abortion. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cA D&#038;C is not a good medical option for me but is for many women,\u201d she posted. \u201cThat treatment is now unavailable in many states. This is about more than abortion. Why is women\u2019s health secondary to a mass of cells smaller than my fingernail?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">In another post, she <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Professor_MBJ\/status\/1631805881959448585\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">said<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">  that a bill to protect children from transgender procedures would \u201ccause pain and breed discrimination.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">When Jacobs, a lawyer whose academic work<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.legalnews.com\/Home\/Articles?DataId=1065075\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">  focused<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">  on \u201cnon-traditional families,\u201d was appointed the new dean of Brandeis, then interim President Lori Gonzalez <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.diverseeducation.com\/latest-news\/article\/15290218\/the-university-of-louisville-names-new-dean-of-brandeis-school-of-law\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">praised<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">  her for her history of advocating for DEI. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Gonzalez said that Jacobs had a \u201chistory of championing diversity, equity, and inclusion and is a strong advocate for the needs of students, faculty, and staff.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">In February, Jacobs <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Professor_MBJ\/status\/1753487523144421743\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">hosted<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">  a panel of the National Conference of Bar Presidents in Louisville asking the question, \u201cIs DEI dead, or are those rumors greatly exaggerated?\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The success among diversity rankings apparently did not translate into success with the US News &#038; World Report\u2019s rankings. In an email to students, Jacobs maintained that the ranking did not truly measure the school\u2019s success. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cThe hard news is that Brandeis School of Law dropped in the rankings, a dip that does not reflect what a great moment this is for our law school and our students. No ranking methodology can fully capture what is happening at an institution, especially a methodology that has markedly changed,\u201d Jacobs wrote in a letter to the campus community obtained by The Daily Wire.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>In a statement to The Daily Wire, a spokesman for the school pointed to recent bar passage rates and employment data when asked about the drop in ranking.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLast year, U.S. News changed the weights of the criteria used in compiling its rankings.\u00a0Unfortunately, this resulted in a 37-point drop for Brandeis Law School,\u201d the spokesman said. \u201cBecause U.S. News relies on data that we report to the ABA for accreditation purposes, the employment and bar passage numbers never represent our most recent cohort.\u00a0For this year\u2019s rankings, U.S. News relied on bar passage rate and employment data \u2013 two significant portions of the new ranking formula \u2013 from 2021 and 2022.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn fact, the Brandeis School of Law Class of 2023 had the best first-time taker bar passage rate in the Commonwealth of Kentucky \u2013 over 80% for first-time takers \u2013 and over 90% of the Class of 2023 is employed,\u201d the spokesman added. \u201cBoth of these data points are key metrics for determining a law school\u2019s success.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The most current data available on the school\u2019s website indicates that the passage rate inside Kentucky for first-time takers was 78%, and the rate outside of Kentucky was 64%.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Bills to claw back DEI initiatives and the promotion of discriminatory concepts <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kentucky.com\/news\/politics-government\/article287172050.html\">failed<\/a> in the Kentucky legislature this year, even though Republicans have a supermajority. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cI feel a little betrayed by my own state, my own legislature. This is a state school,\u201d one student said. \u201cI\u2019m just a little depressed by the fact that we have an all-red legislature in Kentucky that\u2019s just kind of not done much about it, until recently with the DEI bill, which they miserably failed at.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The measure, which would have banned state funds from going toward DEI offices and officers, DEI training, DEI initiatives, and the promotion of discriminatory concepts, failed <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/spectrumnews1.com\/ky\/louisville\/news\/2024\/03\/29\/anti-dei-bill-fails-to-pass-before-veto-period--unlikely-to-become-law\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">after<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">  Republicans in the Senate were unable to move the bill forward. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The bill reportedly \u201ccaused an uproar on campus,\u201d and the school hosted luncheons where students were encouraged to be \u201cscared\u201d of the measure. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">One faculty member at Brandeis, Cassie Chamber Armstrong, is also a Democrat state senator from Louisville. She opposed the bill, claiming it would have blocked her from teaching history. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">On the other hand, conservative students say the infiltration of leftwing politics into public universities has \u201cgone way too far\u201d and should have been addressed years ago. Journalist Chris Rufo <a href=\"https:\/\/christopherrufo.com\/p\/dei-dominates-the-university-of-kentucky\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">reported<\/a> earlier this month that DEI had taken over the University of Kentucky, and called on the Republican-dominated state legislature to crack down on DEI in the state. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Other conservative states, like Texas and Florida, have advanced robust DEI prohibitions leading many university DEI offices to be closed down and DEI officers fired. Kentucky Republicans would need to stick close together as Democratic Governor Andy Beshear would most likely veto any legislation that cracks down on DEI. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Still, many students say their requests are simple: \u201cMore law, less activism.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In February, University of Louisville&#8217;s Louis D. Brandeis School of Law surprised students by hosting a &#8220;Drag Story Hour.&#8221; A professor dressed as a woman narrated a tale about a gay rabbit alongside a member of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence. The event sparked both shock and intrigue among the attendees<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":200,"featured_media":2251622,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/dw-wp-production.imgix.net\/2024\/05\/MixCollage-22-May-2024-03-22-PM-6337-scaled.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[541],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2251621","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-daily-wire"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/dw-wp-production.imgix.net\/2024\/05\/MixCollage-22-May-2024-03-22-PM-6337-scaled.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2251621","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/200"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2251621"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2251621\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2251622"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2251621"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2251621"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2251621"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}