Chick-fil-A on campus...

I found this article interesting and definitely relates to U of I since there is a Chick-fil-A on campus and there have been several reports of businesses with similar ties (Target) in the US and it brings up questions of who should we support.
The LGBT group on this IU campus petitioned to have this restaurant removed as a vendor due to their ties with organizations that support anti-gay causes. This definitely brings up an issue of a college's responsibility to create a diverse and safe learning environment on campus that does not promote discrimination. There are many questions I have...like how far should this go (should other campuses follow-suit, other vendors be examined)? Should students have imput on vendors or is this a personal decision (they should just not support the place by visiting)? How close do ties to these organizations have to be (what if the part of these programs they are supporting is making a positive impact and that is why Chick-fil-A is donating to them, does it make a difference)?
It definitely makes corporations more responsible for viewpoints they may take and careful in selecting the organizations they support. One campus can definitely send a strong message, it will be interesting to see if others follow suit. I think that it is great that students are looking beyond the students and making the vendors responsible to the environment they would like portrayed on campus!

Chick-fil-A Booted from Indiana University South Bend's Campus Over Anti-Gay Work

Education attainment rates

The Chronicle carried an article yesterday about the complexities of educational attainment gaps. I thought this will be a good read to go with Bowen's Chapter 1.

On average, the racial gaps have increased. But, it also matters where (at county level) people live and what sub-groups they belong in for racial minorities.

http://chronicle.com/article/Census-Data-Reveal-Rise-in/126026/?sid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en

State of the Union and Education: We do big things?

http://chronicle.com/article/Obamas-Spending-Freeze/126054/

Once again, education was a key part of President Obama's State of the Union Address. Public investment in education is not a new idea, but a tough sell in these economic conditions. What can we learn from the first chapter of Crossing the Finish Line? Is 'human capital' development the only persuasive argument for the importance of education?

Dr. Martin Luther King's 1963 Speech at Western Michigan University

 http://www.wmich.edu/library/archives/mlk/transcription.html

In December 1963, as part of their "Conscience of America" lecture series, Western Michigan University invited Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. to speak. This event followed an appearance on campus a few months earlier by Mississippi Governor Ross Barnett, a pro-segregationist. At that time, as now, college campuses represented an arena for larger socio-political debate.

Earlier this week, we honored Dr. King by observing his birthday as a national holiday. Yesterday, we started our journey together exploring issues related to diversity in higher education. Juxtaposing these two moments, let us consider the themes of this particular campus speech from Dr. King and how it relates to our understanding of the persistent issues of diversity, community, inequality and education.