Only one student has registered for courses at West Virginia University’s new Washington Center, an academic program mandated by Republican lawmakers for the campus.
State lawmakers have allocated $3 million in state dollars to the “Washington Center for Civics, Culture and Statesmanship” in the last two years ahead of it officially opening this fall.
Proposed college courses this fall include “Woke,” “Nation and Migration” and “The New Right.” The center has hired faculty members ahead of its launch.
This is the demographic that put Linda McMahon in charge of the Department of Education. While that might not have a direct bearing on this situation, I feel like it speaks volumes about intent. They’re “laying the smackdown” on education as an obscene, tribalistic, conflict fantasy. I doubt the legislators actually care how this goes. The point is that it’s a story they can show their base, so that their supporters feel like their group is winning. It’s a perspective fundamentally detached from the nature of education in a functioning society, which is fundamentally collaborative.
I think you’re right that they’re breaking stuff. They’re also effectively selling tickets to watch the drama.