
Berkeley Weeded Out Job Applicants Who Didn't Propose Plans to Advance Diversity - mgamache
https://reason.com/2020/02/03/university-of-california-diversity-initiative-berkeley/
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btilly
Now read
[http://www.paulgraham.com/say.html](http://www.paulgraham.com/say.html).

Requiring commitment to a particular political position is the best way to
undermine the principles of free inquiry that our university system is based
on. When thoughts become unthinkable, what happens if the unthinkable thoughts
turn out to be true?

I don't care whether the opinions being shut down are ones that I agree or
disagree with. They should not be examined honestly, not shut down. As the
quote often misattributed to Voltaire says, "I disapprove of what you say, but
I will defend to the death your right to say it." (Actual author Evelyn
Beatrice Hall. Voltaire says the quote in a book of hers.)

~~~
salawat
>I don't care whether the opinions being shut down are ones that I agree or
disagree with. They should _not_ be examined honestly, not shut down.

That is either one very unfortunate typo, or the mother of all Freudian slips.

I'm pretty sure I know which one. I hate it when my thought/finger
synchronization is off.

~~~
btilly
I rephrased and left a negative where I didn't mean to. Big oops.

Hopefully my intent is clear from the rest of the content.

------
kilo_bravo_3
Reason: "Free Minds and Free Markets"

Berkeley: "Ok, we've freed our minds and want to focus on diversity. No Gods
or Kings, Only Man amirite?"

Reason: "No, not like that."

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Paraesthetic
Discrimination at its finest.

No doubt by a minority agenda to advance said minority agenda.

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t223
That in of itself is discrimination, isn’t it?

~~~
Udik
Maximum exterior diversity, maximum ideological alignment. Diversity of
opinions not welcome.

~~~
Jamwinner
That seems to be the trend. 'If you're not a facist, you're a nazi' looks to
be the hip discourse lately. I have never been more happy, or genuinely
nervous to be unaffiliated with any political movement burdened by other
members.

Still though, remember the left, the right, the facists, the nazis, the whigs,
and even stalin all think they were doing the right thing, and saving humanity
by making hard choices at the expense of others. Power, no matter how it is
held, can and will bulldoze the powerless, no matter who they are.

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HarryHirsch
What exactly is the argument? Berkeley attracts people from all over the
world, and they also aim to educate students from non-traditional backgrounds.
_Of course_ you need minimal cultural competency just to do your job, and it's
little surprise that the institution would like to see tangible proof.

~~~
blub
Reading the article instead of just the title may prove enlightening:

"Berkeley rejected 76 percent of qualified applicants without even considering
their teaching skills, their publication history, their potential for academic
excellence or their ability to contribute to their field. As far as the
university knew, these applicants could well have been the next Albert
Einstein or Jonas Salk, or they might have been outstanding and innovative
educators who would make a significant difference in students' lives."

~~~
perl4ever
Only so many (very few relatively speaking) people can go to a given elite
school. If it _really_ matters who gets in, everyone is doomed. If it doesn't
matter, then they can use any criteria they please.

I happened to be looking at capsule bios of Kodak's C-level execs - I'm not
sure how this compares to before their 2013 bankruptcy, but many of them
seemed to have illustrious careers, and more than one went to SUNY Geneseo.
Who knows, maybe one of them was motivated by being rejected by Harvard or
something.

