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| -Great Cultural Revolution |
| Has the Air Force Academy Become Just Another Liberal Arts School? |
| 2022-09-25 |
| [American Thinker] The Cadet Honor Code; high attrition rates; intense competition in academics, athletics, and military performance; an all-military faculty; the requirement to swear an Oath of Office to the Constitution; and the primary mission to train career military officers — these are the traditional elements that separate a United States Air Force Academy (USAFA) education from its liberal arts counterparts. Much has changed since the first class graduated in 1959, including the welcome addition of female cadets to the Cadet Wing, but the transition includes an onerous drift toward relaxation of standards, an erosion of the Honor Code, politicization of the educational experience, and a sympathetic view of Critical Race Theory promoted by the Academy's pervasive Diversity and inclusion Program (D&I). Last week, talking points from a USAFA-authorized lecture on inclusive language entitled "What Can I Do Now?" were shared with concerned graduates. The D&I program openly promotes a set of values consistent with the teachings of Critical Race Theory (CRT), where language, syntax, and word definitions are meticulously defined to weaponize communication and support the narrative that racism is inherent and ubiquitous. Imagine a cadet audience being told they must now communicate in a manner dictated by CRT founders and Marxists Richard Delgado and Derrick Bell. They must become fluent in a sterile, sexually obsessed language in order to accommodate those who are easily offended and regard common English as a second language. The Cadet Wing was instructed that the mundane, non-descriptive term "partner" should be used in lieu of "boyfriend" or "girlfriend." A nonsensical distinction was made between "people with disabilities" and "the disabled," and "transgender people" and "transgenders" — subtle, seemingly innocent differences in speech separate the pariah from the woke. A dubious guideline prohibited the use of the words "mom" and "dad." Proper terminology included caregivers and guardians, which give one the impression that one's parents serve as employees in a nursing home. Dr. Martin Luther King's sage remarks regarding a colorless society, where one's character is more important than skin color, is deemed controversial and unacceptable by USAFA standards. Cadets were cautioned not to use the word "colorblind" or the expression "I don't see color" or "we're all just people." Anyone straying from these guidelines is instructed to "model humility." Civilian professors constitute a large portion of the USAFA faculty and wield considerable influence over a cadet's educational experience, now valued at $416,000. USAFA offers a minor academic degree in D&I — a curious choice for an institution known for its STEM curriculum. According to Colonel Scott Williams, vice dean of the faculty, 37% of faculty authorizations are civilian, with the number expanding to 42% when including visiting faculty and distinguished chairs. Controversy erupted when political science professor Lynne Chandler Garcia openly admitted in a Washington Post op-ed that she taught CRT at the Academy. Despite the Academy administration's denial of the events, it left many to question whether or not civilian faculty are monitored and why course syllabuses are not available to the public. Unlike military faculty members, civilian faculty do not take an oath to defend and support the Constitution. Related: Air Force Academy: 2022-09-23 Air Force Academy promotes fellowship that bans ‘cisgender' men: ‘This program isn't for you' Air Force Academy: 2021-09-10 Sean Spicer says he's suing Biden for firing him from a position Trump gave him at the US Naval Academy Air Force Academy: 2021-07-14 'You're surrounded by total incompetence. Hang in there': Friend warned Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Mark Milley about trouble on election night because of 'fourth-rate people at the Pentagon and fifth-rate people at the White House' |
| Posted by:Besoeker |
| #7 Make all cadets major in engineering like West Point used to do. |
| Posted by: Snash Shairt9621 2022-09-25 19:44 |
| #6 We could start by DEemphasizing Division 1 "semi-pro" sports at the Academies. If someone wants to play "Pro Sports" there are more appropriate places for them to go. If they want to major in "grievance studies" majors then there are other places. STEM, or maybe Business Majors, should be the emphasis... |
| Posted by: magpie 2022-09-25 19:01 |
| #5 /\ Yes, we too have seen a bit of that. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2022-09-25 14:57 |
| #4 All the service academies are trying to out do each other on this these days. |
| Posted by: ed in texas 2022-09-25 14:06 |
| #3 West Point is right behind them. |
| Posted by: 49 Pan 2022-09-25 08:39 |
| #2 " And airplanes are an extension of manspreading. It's like they want to be everywhere, looking down on everything! And rockets, OMG so phallic!" |
| Posted by: Dron66046 2022-09-25 08:19 |
#1  'Math be hard.' Everyone knows STEM is racist and exclusionary. Southern state military patriotism is a hold-over from the days of Jim Crow and represents a threat to equity. The threat to our national security from historic, red-blooded MAGA patriotism and outdated STEM curriculums must be stopped. [sarc off] |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2022-09-25 04:04 |