English Dept. vs. English and other commentary

Campus watch: English Dept. vs. English

Among its several “actions in solidarity with Black Lives Matter,” Rutgers University’s English Department will de-emphasize “traditional grammar rules,” reports Alex Frank at The College Fix. In an e-mail celebrating Juneteenth, department head Rebecca Walkowitz, vowed to incorporate “ ‘critical grammar’ into our pedagogy,” which will challenge “the familiar dogma that writing instruction should limit emphasis on grammar/sentence-level issues,” so as not to put students with poor “academic” English backgrounds “at a disadvantage.” Another goal: “decolonizing the Writing Center.” How does lowering standards serve justice? Executive dean Peter March and spokeswoman Dory Devlin didn’t respond to Frank’s request for comment.

Conservative: Blame the Prosecutors, Too

“Democratic mayors, backing Joe Biden, are on the defensive” over President Trump’s threat to send in federal agents to deal with urban violent-crime waves, says The Chicago Tribune’s John Kass. But the worst culprits aren’t always the mayors, but prosecutors often elected with the help of billionaire George Soros: “They promised to empty their jails through the social-justice warrior policy of ‘decarceration.’ They also help give repeat, violent criminals little or no bond when arrested. And in many of the violent cities, the prosecutors have delivered on their promises, not to keep the violent in jail, but to let them out.” In Chicago, for ­example, Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx “reportedly received at least $2 million from a Soros-backed political-action committee.” She has announced she won’t prosecute “peaceful protesters,” including those who normally face charges for “disorderly conduct and curfew violations.” In all, “you can see that something is growing in the big cities: an overwhelming sense of lawlessness.”

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