Education

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos was loudly booed by the students at Florida’s historically black Bethune-Cookman College today as she attempted to deliver the commencement address. The Washington Post reports: Many students and alumni had objected to having DeVos as speaker in part because they said the outreach by President Trump and the education secretary to historically black colleges is an …

AL.com reports: An Auburn University student organization wants the institution to take a stronger stance against white supremacy after a group claiming to be the “Auburn White Student Union” distributed flyers expressing anti-Semitic messages on campus last week. The group, which identifies as alt-right, said it was created in response to political and racial tension across the nation. “White people …

UPI reports: New York became the first state to waive college tuition for middle-class students with the passage of a bill in its Senate. Under a plan first introduced in January by Gov. Andrew Cuomo, undergraduate students at State University of New York or City University of New York schools will be eligible for the Excelsior Scholarship if their families …

Tulsa World reports: State representatives have voted to allow monuments to “historically significant documents” — primarily the Ten Commandments — to be displayed on public property. House Bill 2177, by Rep. John Bennett [photo] is offered as an antidote to a state Supreme Court decision that removed such a memorial from the Capitol grounds and a vote of the people …

The BBC reports: Canada’s largest school board is cancelling new school trips to the United States until further notice. The Toronto District School Board announced the decision citing “uncertainty” with regards to who may be affected by US President Donald’s Trump’s latest travel restrictions. Twenty-five already scheduled trips will go ahead as planned. The school board joins the Girl Guides …

The Houston Chronicle reports: U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry, a former Texas governor and Texas A&M University Aggies Yell Leader, said Wednesday the election of the first openly gay president of the institution’s student body was “stolen” and that the student who had the most votes was disqualified through a process that “made a mockery of due process and transparency.” …

Milo ended up with 6% of the vote. The Huffington Post UK reports: Alt-right journalist Milo Yiannopoulos has lost the election for Glasgow University rector in a landslide defeat to human rights lawyer Aamer Anwar. Despite the support of a vocal student faction on campus, former Breitbart News editor Yiannopoulos took just 533 of 8,210 student votes for the role …

The Texas Tribune reports: Texas A&M University’s first openly gay student body president is set to take office next month, marking a milestone for the largest public university in the state. Bobby Brooks, an economics junior at the flagship campus in College Station, was elected by A&M students as the university’s 74th student body president March 9. In an interview …

Entertainment Weekly reports: Count Chelsea Clinton among the many people whom Elizabeth Warren inspired when she refused to be silenced in the Senate. Clinton, the daughter of former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and former U.S. President Bill Clinton, is writing a new children’s picture book showcasing inspirational women in American history, EW can exclusively announce. The book is …

Via press release: Commuters passing through Springtown, Texas on Route 199 will likely notice a new black billboard emblazoned with a red inverted pentagram framing a goat’s head underneath, which reads: “Paid for by The Satanic Temple.” More prominently, the primary message states: “Never be hit in school again. Exercise your religious rights.” According to The Satanic Temple spokesperson, Lucien …

The Associated Press reports: An Orlando businessman is raising money for scholarships for gay students in order to honor the 49 patrons killed during the Pulse nightclub massacre. Barry Miller said Monday the fund would award 10 scholarships each year, each worth $4,900. Students would have to self-identify as “out,” attend an institution of higher learning full time and have …

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos today met with three LGBT rights groups to discuss the Trump administration’s revocation of Obama’s guidelines on transgender student protections. Chris Johnson reports at the Washington Blade: Stephanie White, executive director of Equality Michigan, said her organization sought out the meeting to convey the “profound negative consequences” of the withdrawal of the guidance protecting transgender students. …

Ben Winslow reports at Salt Lake City’s Fox affiliate: Utah lawmakers have passed a bill repealing a controversial law forbidding discussion in classrooms of anything that could be construed as “promotion” of homosexuality. Senate Bill 196’s passage might also get the state out of a lawsuit filed by three students and a pair of gay rights groups. The bill, sponsored …

ABC News reports: Angry social media users flew into an uproar Monday evening after Education Secretary Betsy DeVos issued a statement that some said ignored the context under which historically black universities were created. The statement called historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) “real pioneers when it comes to school choice,” and came shortly after President Donald Trump held a …

The Hill reports: New Education Secretary Betsy DeVos defended the Trump administration’s decision to rescind protections for transgender students, arguing that the protections were an “overreach” of the Obama administration. “This issue was a very huge example of the Obama administration’s overreach, to suggest one-size-fits-all, federal government approach,” DeVos said on Thursday at the conservative conference CPAC. DeVos was initially …

The New York Times reports: President Trump rescinded protections for transgender students that had allowed them to use bathrooms of their gender identity, overruling his own education secretary and placing his administration firmly in the middle of the culture wars that many Republicans have tried to leave behind. In a joint letter, the top civil rights officials from the Justice …

Law Newz reports: There is now a draft copy of a document circulating that shows the potential Trump administration reasoning for backing off the Obama policy regarding transgender bathroom use. The Obama administration’s contends that Title IX prohibits the discrimination on the “basis of sex” to include a requirement that facilities provide people access to bathrooms based on the sex …

The New York Times reports: A fight over a draft order that would rescind protections for transgender students in public schools has erupted inside the Trump administration, pitting Attorney General Jeff Sessions against the secretary of education, Betsy DeVos. Ms. DeVos initially resisted signing off on the order and told President Trump that she was uncomfortable with it, according to …

Politico reports: White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said Tuesday that the Trump administration will be issuing “further guidance” on a former Obama directive aimed at protecting the rights of transgender students. “The president has maintained for a long time that this is a states’ rights issue and not one for the federal government,” Spicer said. “So while we have …

Chris Johnson reports at the Washington Blade: Despite pleas from parents of transgender children and LGBT employees, the Trump administration is set Tuesday to rescind Obama-era guidance to schools barring discrimination against transgender students and ensuring they have access to the restroom consistent with their gender identity. Mara Keisling, executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality, told the …