A Vassar College student says administrators ignored concerns from Christian students and allowed a student burlesque group to mock their faith in a sexual performance in the campus chapel.
Sydney, a Vassar sophomore granted anonymity for this story, told The Daily Wire she first learned about the event when a friend showed her the flyer for a performance titled “Whoreship &amp; Prayer.” The show was produced by Vassar Burlesque, a student group that regularly puts on sexual and drag performances.
“I found the flyer … and I was disgusted immediately,” Sydney said. “The imagery and name of the show made it [clear] &#8230; it was definitely a show that had a Christian theme … clearly mocking Christianity.”
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<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-1013635" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/burlesque-image-1-410x576.jpeg" alt="Burlesque image 1" width="410" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/burlesque-image-1-410x576.jpeg 410w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/burlesque-image-1-213x300.jpeg 213w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/burlesque-image-1-768x1080.jpeg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/burlesque-image-1-1093x1536.jpeg 1093w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/burlesque-image-1.jpeg 1264w" sizes=" (max-width: 410px) 100vw, 410px" /></div>
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Sydney emailed the dean of student living, the college president, and other administrators to explain exactly why Christian students believed the performance violated Vassar’s stated values of diversity and inclusion. She says she was then contacted by the Office of Institutional Equity, the department that handles identity-based complaints, including those pertaining to religion. She says she met with <a href="https://offices.vassar.edu/institutional-equity/2024/12/19/eoaa-welcomes-brian-van-brunt/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Brian Van Brun</a><a href="https://offices.vassar.edu/institutional-equity/2024/12/19/eoaa-welcomes-brian-van-brunt/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">t</a>, Vassar&#8217;s Institutional Equity and Title VI Coordinator.
Sydney said Van Brunt acknowledged the event was mocking religious imagery and allegedly admitted it would have been treated differently if Christians weren’t the ones being targeted.
“He basically said … it would be different if it were another religion,” Sydney said. Referring to comments students made on the anonymous social media platform Fizz, she said one hypothetical they talked about was if the flyer had referenced Allah. “If Allah was used … then it wouldn’t have been allowed. And he said, ‘Well, obviously that’s a different situation.’”
Sydney said Van Brunt floated the idea of making minor changes to the flyer, such as removing the image of the Virgin Mary or changing the event&#8217;s name, but even those were rejected by the administration. Despite the number of complaints from Christian students, the administration informed them the event would proceed with no modifications.
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<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-1013637" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Burlesque-image-2-396x576.jpeg" alt="Burlesque image 2" width="396" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Burlesque-image-2-396x576.jpeg 396w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Burlesque-image-2-206x300.jpeg 206w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Burlesque-image-2-768x1117.jpeg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Burlesque-image-2-1056x1536.jpeg 1056w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Burlesque-image-2.jpeg 1249w" sizes=" (max-width: 396px) 100vw, 396px" /></div>
&nbsp;
“Whoreship and Prayer” sold out both nights, <a href="https://miscellanynews.org/2025/12/04/arts/whoreship-and-prayer-burlesque-is-a-religious-experience/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according to</a> Vassar’s student newspaper, The Miscellany News. In its coverage, the paper described the November performances as a fusion of religious motifs with sexual choreography.
The Miscellany noted some of the acts, including routines called “Touched by the Holy Spirit,” “Red Sea,” and “Blasphemy.”
Muse, one of the group’s co-presidents, told The Miscellany the show explored “the relationship between sexuality and religion — human intersectionalities that exist in a chaotic harmony.” She added, “I grew up very religious … my spirituality is still a huge part of my life, but the relationship between my body, sexuality and my spirituality has always been a bit of a struggle to untangle.”
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<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-1013639" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Burlesque-image-3-446x576.jpeg" alt="Burlesque image 3" width="446" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Burlesque-image-3-446x576.jpeg 446w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Burlesque-image-3-232x300.jpeg 232w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Burlesque-image-3-768x993.jpeg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Burlesque-image-3-1188x1536.jpeg 1188w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Burlesque-image-3.jpeg 1264w" sizes=" (max-width: 446px) 100vw, 446px" /></div>
&nbsp;
Reached for comment, Van Brunt referred The Daily Wire to Victoria Grantham, the vice president for communications, who declined to comment.
Sydney said the Vassar Burlesque group also mocked the backlash from Christian students online, posting memes and celebratory images that used nun costumes, Bibles, and crosses as ironic props. “They actually posted like a tweet … to mock the fact that we were complaining,” Sydney said.
The college sophomore said this was not the first time she saw bias against Christians on campus, but it was the most blatant.
“It made me feel uncomfortable, and I had already felt uncomfortable as a Christian,” she said. “I had heard little comments … little jabs at Christianity before, but I had never seen something this blatantly inappropriate and blatantly hurtful.”
This incident has convinced her that the school’s commitment to “inclusion” does not apply equally.
“They’re outright saying, well, if you are a Christian, you don’t have the same rights as other religions … everyone except you kind of thing. I felt very ostracized.”
The Vassar Chapel continues to host worship nights, Christmas services, and religious gatherings, yet Vassar maintains that it is a “secular space.”
Sydney said that the explanation does not resolve the larger problem: the selective enforcement of respect for religion. “Hopefully, if we bring more attention to it, then it won’t have to be this way forever,” she told The Daily Wire.

Vassar story

Woke New York College Allowed Burlesque Troupe To Mock Christianity In Campus Chapel

Vassar Approved Burlesque Mocking Christianity But Not Other Faiths, Student Claims

Christianity

College

Discrimination

Religion

Back in September, New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/zohran-mamdani-social-workers-nypd-mayors-race-interview/">stated</a> that his administration, should he succeed, intended to dedicate $1 billion to the overhaul of public safety, which would include the hiring of many more social workers.
Following his election win, Mayor-elect Mamdani then <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/mamdanis-top-incoming-aide-chief-architect-radical-proposal-overhauling-nypd">announced</a> that the “chief architect” behind the proposal, 34-year-old California native Elle Bisgaard-Church, was joining his staff, leading many to speculate that the controversial proposal now has real momentum.
While it remains to be seen how Mamdani and his administration will actually handle policing in New York City, it appears a substantial increase in the hiring of social workers is on the way. For many Americans, the idea that this new approach to policing will reduce crime — especially violent crime — is absurd. But for the far-left, it is not just about implementing an alternative solution to policing, it is about growing the ranks of credentialed supporters of anti-racism, diversity, equity, and inclusion — or ADEI — in public institutions, especially schools.
This isn’t the first time in recent years that tax dollars will be used to increase the number of social workers. From 2021 to 2024, the Biden administration’s Department of Education <a href="https://defendinged.org/investigations/granted-social-work/">distributed</a> over $100 million in grants to universities to recruit and train more school social workers. Twenty-two of the universities that received funding currently weave ADEI into all levels of their degree coursework.
But the integration of ADEI into social work goes beyond a few outliers, it is a core principle of the accrediting organization and schools of social work. In fact, over 55% of the almost 900 accredited schools currently list ADEI as part of their program objectives and philosophy. It is through these accreditor competencies, biased application <a href="https://form.jotform.com/80024346548152">screenings</a>, required <a href="https://defendinged.org/investigations/granted-social-work/">courses</a>, and student <a href="https://socialwork.asu.edu/sites/g/files/litvpz286/files/2025-07/Fall%202025%2C%20First%20Semester%2C%20SWG%20541%20%281%20of%202%29%2C%20MSW%20Generalist%20Learning%20Contract%20and%20Evaluation%20Sonia%20-%20Form%20Preview.pdf">evaluations</a> that schools of social work have become a tool for advancing left-wing orthodoxy into society and K-12 education.
The Council on Social Work Education (CSWE), the accrediting agency, not only weaves ADEI throughout eight of the nine student <a href="https://www.cswe.org/getmedia/bb5d8afe-7680-42dc-a332-a6e6103f4998/2022-Educational-Policy-and-Accreditation-Standards-(EPAS).pdf">competencies</a>, but it also includes ADEI as a core element in the organization’s educational policies and standards for which universities are evaluated. Rutgers University’s School of Social Work goes a step further by adding a tenth competency aimed at developing a student’s “<a href="https://socialwork.rutgers.edu/sites/default/files/2025-04/2022_Enhanced%20MAP_Competencies%202024_April.pdf">Liberatory Consciousness”</a> — the ability to “understand and identify how white supremacy, racism, and other forms of stigma, prejudice, discrimination, and oppression” impact people and communities. Additionally, CSWE’s standards state that social work programs must “recognize the pervasive impact of White supremacy and privilege and prepare students to have the knowledge, awareness, and skills necessary to engage in anti-racist practices.”
However, long before entering their respective social work programs, many applicants are screened for their commitment to anti-racism and DEI through essays, personal statements, and question sets. For example, Metropolitan State University of Denver’s (CO) program <a href="https://www.msudenver.edu/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/2026-MSW-Personal-Statement-Prompts.pdf">states</a> it seeks students who are committed to “ADEI work,” and requires an essay that prompts them to discuss any experiences and specific roles they have had engaging with ADEI. A University of Alaska Anchorage <a href="https://www.uaa.alaska.edu/academics/college-of-health/departments/school-of-social-work/msw/_documents/2026-27-MSW-admissions-booklet.pdf">document</a> titled “Program and Admissions Information” declares that the purpose of the writing sample is to evaluate an applicant&#8217;s understanding and commitment to “social justice, diversity, and anti-racism.”
Just as <a href="https://defendinged.org/investigations/corrupted/">Colleges of Education</a> prepare future K-12 teachers to advance social justice and DEI in the classroom, so do social work programs.
In fact, the School Social Work Association of America’s (SSWAA) “<a href="https://www.sswaa.org/racial-equity-and-social-justice">Racial Equity &amp; Social Justice Resources</a>” page states that “school social workers are well positioned to be transformational leaders in promoting equity, inclusivity and supportive school environments.” The site also links to the organization’s “<a href="https://www.sswaa.org/_files/ugd/486e55_0be666d8efd241aba23af719e33856fc.pdf">Solidarity Statement with Black Lives Matter</a>.”
<div id="attachment_1015125" style="width: 785px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1015125" class="size-large wp-image-1015125" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Wisconsin-social-workers-775x576.jpg" alt="Credit: Wisconsin Department of Public Education" width="775" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Wisconsin-social-workers-775x576.jpg 775w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Wisconsin-social-workers-300x223.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Wisconsin-social-workers-768x571.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Wisconsin-social-workers-1536x1141.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Wisconsin-social-workers.jpg 1911w" sizes=" (max-width: 775px) 100vw, 775px" />Credit: Wisconsin Department of Public Education</div>
For years, there has been a concerted effort to increase the number of social workers inside K-12 schools. According to Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction <a href="https://dpi.wi.gov/sites/default/files/imce/sspw/pdf/17-24_SSW_Trend_Data.pdf">data</a>, from 2017 to 2024, licensed and employed school social workers in the Badger State increased from 620 to 840. Overall, the percentage of schools with at least one social worker increased from 27% to 39%, while the per student to social worker ratio dropped to 1,014 to 1. The target <a href="https://www.sswaa.org/national-census">goal</a> of SSWAA is 250 to 1, or roughly 200,000 school social workers.
There is no doubt that too many young Americans have real mental health issues that need to be addressed. But inserting social workers, trained to be champions of anti-racism and DEI, into every school as a remedy is nonsense.
It is well past time for state and federal legislatures to rein in university social work programs and their accreditor.
* * *
Rhyen Staley is Director of Research for Defending Education. He holds a master’s degree in elementary education and has over a decade of classroom experience in both public and private schools.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
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US-POLITICS-VOTE-NEW YORK-MAYOR

Mamdani And The Expanding Army Of DEI-Trained Social Workers

American Universities

Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI)

Education

Opinion

Police

social worker

Zohran Mamdani

Last week, the White House convened an education roundtable with U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon titled, “Biased Professors, Woke Administrators, and the End of Free Inquiry on U.S. Campuses.”
Secretary McMahon opened the event by <a href="https://www.ed.gov/about/news/press-release/us-secretary-of-education-linda-mcmahon-participates-white-house-roundtable-left-wing-ideological-capture-of-universities">stating</a>, “It was an honor to be at the White House today with this dedicated coalition of students, faculty, institutional leaders, and policy advocates to highlight the issue of woke ideology and the capture of our institutions of higher education. DEI policies have turned universities from free marketplaces of ideas to purveyors of manufactured ideological conformity, chilling free speech and undermining academic rigor.”
She <a href="https://www.ed.gov/about/news/press-release/us-secretary-of-education-linda-mcmahon-participates-white-house-roundtable-left-wing-ideological-capture-of-universities">explained</a>, “We are committed to working with higher education leaders to reverse course from these decades of decline.”
The Secretary highlighted actions taken by the Trump Administration, including dissolving DEI programs, enforcing merit-based practices, and guiding universities to comply with federal law, noting that over 400 institutions have made substantive changes. The U.S. Department of Education is working to incentivize universities to operate with fairness, academic rigor, and civil discourse.
Providing strong, positive leadership, Secretary McMahon <a href="https://www.ed.gov/media/document/secretary-mcmahon-white-house-remarks-12325-112619.pdf">shared</a>, “We want to provide every opportunity for colleges to recommit themselves to principles like non-discrimination, open discourse and neutrality, financial responsibility, resisting foreign influence, and putting students first.” She called for a recommitment to principles of reason, individual excellence, and non-discrimination to create a “golden age” of higher education.
This was the second in a series of higher education roundtables. The first roundtable was held at the White House on November 19, titled “Administrative Bloat and Low-Value Programs: How U.S. Universities are Failing American Families and How They Can Reform.” It addressed higher-education affordability and key components of President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act, including new caps on graduate loan borrowing aimed at reducing costs and boosting accountability.
Undeniably, the Trump Administration is providing pivotal leadership to reform public higher education. As Eric Bledsoe, Special Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy with a focus on education, explained at last week’s roundtable, “universities serve a public interest and must be held accountable by the public.” Bledsoe also noted that higher education should be about “cultivating mature citizens who are prepared for the workforce.”
It’s common sense 101, and thankfully for the American people, this administration is working overtime to change the status quo and cultivate a return to normalcy in public higher education, which has been overtaken by wokeness.
In October, the “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education” was released by the Trump Administration and sent initially to nine institutions. It outlined eight “priorities of the U.S. government in its engagement with universities that benefit from the relationship.” It clearly <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Compact-for-Academic-Excellence-in-Higher-Education-10.1.pdf">notes</a> that “Institutions of higher education are free to develop models and values” other than those outlined “if the institution elects to forego federal benefits.”
The priorities are as follows: equality in admission, marketplace of ideas and civil discourse, non-discrimination in faculty and administrative hiring, institutional neutrality, student learning, student equality, financial responsibility, and foreign entanglements.
The Compact <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Compact-for-Academic-Excellence-in-Higher-Education-10.1.pdf">reads</a>: “The leadership of an academic institute is directly responsible for its strategy, success, and adherence to legal and governmental requirements.” More specifically, each year, the institute’s President, Provost, and Head of Admissions will be required to certify that the university abides by the principles outlined in the Compact.
Violators — whether willfully or negligently — will lose benefits for at least one year. Repeat offenders will lose benefits for at least two years. Additionally, funds advanced to the university by the federal government during the year of violation must be returned. Most <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Compact-for-Academic-Excellence-in-Higher-Education-10.1.pdf">notably</a>, “any private contributions to the university during the year(s) in which such violation occurred shall be returned to the grantor upon the request of the grantor.”
Universities collectively receive hundreds of billions of dollars each year, yet do not deliver soundly on their mission. This much-needed accountability is a major step in the right direction.
As Secretary McMahon <a href="https://www.ed.gov/media/document/secretary-mcmahon-white-house-remarks-12325-112619.pdf">communicated</a> at the most recent White House education roundtable, she is inviting those leading higher education institutions to join her in “creating a golden age of academe — committed to reason, not racial preferences. Merit, not marginalizing the so-called ‘oppressor.’ Individual excellence, not ideological indoctrination.”
University leaders would be wise to get out of the business of indoctrination and discrimination and instead focus on fulfilling their institution’s mission of open inquiry and excellence in academics. Even if they do not align with the Trump Administration, agree with the Compact, or value meritocracy, their institution’s bottom line will be better for it. And most importantly, so will their students and our nation.
* * *
Dr. Keri D. Ingraham is a Senior Fellow at Discovery Institute, Director of the American Center for Transforming Education, and a Senior Fellow at Independent Women’s Forum.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
<a href="https://get.dailywire.com/subscribe/plus/?utm_medium=website&amp;utm_source=editorial&amp;utm_campaign=christmas&amp;utm_content=christmassale25">Christmas Sale &#8211; Get 40% off New DailyWire+ Annual Memberships</a>

Universities II. Google Gemini design.

Ending The Woke Monopoly: White House Takes Aim At Higher Ed’s Ideological Capture

Ivy League

Linda McMahon

Public Schools

Trump Administration

White House

Woke Culture

Artificial intelligence has been taking the world by storm, beginning a whole new technological revolution that has already influenced tens of millions of Americans and encouraged hundreds of billions in <a href="https://hai.stanford.edu/ai-index/2025-ai-index-report/economy">corporate investments</a>.
A recent Elon University <a href="https://www.elon.edu/u/news/2025/03/12/survey-52-of-u-s-adults-now-use-ai-large-language-models-like-chatgpt/">poll</a> found that over 50% of Americans now use large language models like ChatGPT and Google Gemini, some of the most popular artificial intelligence resources in use.
As a student, I can validate these findings.
When ChatGPT was released almost three years ago, many of my classmates and I quickly adopted artificial intelligence as part of our daily routine, using it for tasks like summarizing texts and exploring topics that would normally require far more time and effort. My phone now includes a quick access button linked directly to Perplexity AI’s voice mode, allowing me to directly open the app and verbally ask questions or verify comments.
An <a href="https://cdn.openai.com/global-affairs/openai-edu-ai-ready-workforce.pdf">OpenAI report</a> confirms this trend, finding that three in four college-aged users desire to use AI in their education and career.
Personally, my work and education has greatly benefited from this technology, as I am able to selectively choose the AI most applicable to my research and generate clear, yet expansive information on any subject that interests me, all without cheating or stealing information.
But, as everyone who pays even the slightest bit of attention to the news knows, there are plenty of valid concerns associated with artificial intelligence and its uses.
<a href="https://datascience.hawaii.edu/profile/peter-sadowski/">Dr. Peter Sadowski,</a> an Associate Professor at the University of Hawaii at Mānoa, has been examining this issue. His work focuses on machine learning and artificial intelligence, specifically how to use these methods to address the most challenging problems in science and engineering.
As a teacher, Dr. Sadowski has noticed a massive shift in the way AI has transformed education as we know it.
“With these language models, it is just so easy for students to take an assignment and run in through ChatGPT and get results,” he told The Daily Wire. “It can write an essay, it can solve a programming assignment, it can solve math assignments. That is just a huge shift.”
In response to this new challenge, Sadowski made some changes to his teaching model.
“The first week ChatGPT went live, I immediately abandoned take-home tests, since ChatGPT could just do all the questions … Most schools have some evolving AI guidances and policies, but the best way to learn is to experiment to become familiar with the capabilities of these technologies.”
Many schools have introduced AI policies to inform both students and faculty on how to use the new technology responsibly. For instance, my own school, the Franciscan University of Steubenville, introduced <a href="https://franciscan.smartcatalogiq.com/en/2024-2025/undergraduate-catalog-2024-2025/academic-and-university-policies/academic-integrity/use-of-artificial-intelligence">guidance</a> on using artificial intelligence, including <a href="https://magazine.franciscan.edu/articles/navigating-ai/">discussions</a> on its use in the <a href="https://magazine.franciscan.edu/articles/artificial-intelligence-in-the-classroom/">classroom</a>.
“The teaching profession has to adapt to these new technologies,” Sadowski said. “We need fair ways to evaluate student learning — more in-class exams, more careful assignments that test student learning beyond what they can do with AI.”
While many students like me largely support a responsible integration of AI into academia, sentiments remain divided among the American public, with 42% believing that it will make life worse, according to an <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/nbc-news-polls/poll-americans-form-views-ai-divided-role-school-everyday-life-rcna212782">NBC News poll</a>.
Some have a far darker view of the technology, with a new <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/news/article/poll-most-americans-think-ai-will-destroy-humanity-someday-212132958.html">Yahoo/YouGov poll</a> finding that 53% of the 1,770 individuals polled believe that AI is likely to someday “destroy humanity.”
“It&#8217;s become so easy and free for students to do this that it&#8217;s just shaken up education,” Sadowski said. &#8220;In computer science, the process of building something yourself helps you learn to think clearly and break down problems. If you let AI do all your homework, you will miss out on important learning opportunities, and when the AI fails, students get stuck. I see that happening in the classroom.”
Despite the possibility of cheating and outsourcing labor through AI systems, I’m optimistic — and so is Sadowski.
“In my own field, it takes students a long time to learn these technical skills to make progress on the research side,&#8221; he said. “I’m excited about the ability of AI to help student scientists accelerate research. That’s the hope.”
* * *
Simon Olech is a reporter studying journalism at the National Journalism Center in Washington, D.C.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

High school students e-learning over computers in the classroom.

I’m A College Student. Here’s Why I’m Cautiously Optimistic About AI.

Artificial Intelligence

ChatGPT

Gen Z

interview

OpenAI

Students

Teenagers

Grab your best red, white, and blue, and get ready for some patriotism, because The Daily Wire and Young America’s Foundation are coming together for an epic celebration of freedom in honor of America’s 250th birthday.
Your favorite Daily Wire hosts are hitting the road for “Freedom at 250,” a series of rallies throughout America’s semiquincentennial year meant to coincide with YAF’s legendary student conferences. Governor Scott Walker, YAF’s president, said the group’s partnership with The Daily Wire will help reach more students than ever before.
“While the radical Left continues its attempts to demonize and undermine our nation’s heritage and values, it is more important than ever to inspire and equip the rising generation with the ‘informed patriotism’ President Reagan called for in his farewell address,” Walker said. “Freedom that allowed America to flourish is special and rare, and its defense requires bold action.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
🚨 Young America’s Foundation is excited to announce a new expanded partnership with <a href="https://twitter.com/realDailyWire?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@realdailywire</a> to celebrate the 250th anniversary of America’s independence: Freedom at 250.
Coinciding with YAF&#8217;s life-changing student conferences in 2026, a series of Freedom at 250 rallies… <a href="https://t.co/CDA5C0QFqD">pic.twitter.com/CDA5C0QFqD</a>
— YAF (@yaf) <a href="https://twitter.com/yaf/status/1998422600700080255?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 9, 2025</a></blockquote>
Freedom at 250 will focus on our founders’ revolutionary bid for independence, grounded in the belief that all people are created equal, with their rights coming from God rather than from government. Those beliefs survived a civil war, making the United States a more perfect union, liberating Europe from tyranny, and taking down the Soviet Union’s “Evil Empire.”
The freedom so many before us fought for and defended has guided the United States for 250 years. That freedom is worth celebrating all year long!
Michael Knowles, Cabot Phillips, Mary Margaret Olohan, and Reagan Conrad are already booked for Nashville’s Freedom at 250 rally in February at the historic Country Music Hall of Fame.
After the tour kicks off in Music City, Freedom at 250 will make stops in Santa Barbara, California; Washington, D.C.; Philadelphia; and more cities will be announced!
Freedom at 250 builds on The Daily Wire and YAF’s years-long collaboration to bring bold voices to students nationwide at YAF’s student conferences. The always anticipated narrative-disrupting campus lectures will continue as part of Freedom at 250.
Our country’s milestone 250th birthday is a perfect time to remember President Ronald Reagan’s challenge to Americans.
“We’ve got to do a better job of getting across that America is freedom — freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of enterprise. And freedom is special and rare. It’s fragile; it needs protection.”
Freedom will be protected and celebrated throughout 2026.
To secure your spot at a rally, click <a href="http://yaf250.com/">here</a>. We will see all you patriots in the new year.

BenYAF

The Daily Wire And Young America’s Foundation Announce America 250 Celebration

Declaration of Independence

Michael Knowles

The Daily Wire

Young America's Foundation

Many detransitioners who speak out receive death threats. I know, because my son, Simon, is a gender apostate, and people call for his death all the time.
Gender ideologues become terrified when people like Simon prove there is life after trans identification. It turns out delusions can pass; people and families can heal. I knew this, which is why I stood up and spoke out when my son was in the throes of trans identification. When his doctor, right in front of my son, asked me, &#8220;Do you want a living daughter or a dead son?”, I told him it was the most shocking display of malpractice I had ever seen.
In college, my son’s classmates called for his death, yet they were allowed to remain on campus. My son was the one they wouldn&#8217;t allow to speak. He just wanted to tell people he had stopped believing he was trans, but the dean bellowed that he would never be allowed to speak on campus. They tried to get him expelled, his classmates screamed at him in the street, and he received threatening emails.
The gender ideologues want families like ours silenced. I&#8217;ve had a mob of trans activists scream at me, in my face, saying that I was evil and did conversion therapy on my son. I was surprised to feel calm — I knew there was nothing I had ever done in my life that was more right than helping my son find the way out of this delusion.
I loved my son then — as I love my son now — enough to tell him the truth. He was born a boy, he is a man now, and he has been male every day in between. For a while, he was angry I didn&#8217;t see it his way, but now he is thankful I held to the truth.
Puberty is hard for most kids, but it seems especially traumatic for autistic kids. When Simon was young, he would cry when anything changed — even when a restaurant or a gas station closed. When his voice began changing, he bawled abjectly — his own body had betrayed him from the inside.
Likewise, trying to find acceptance among peers is a challenge for all teenagers; try it when you can&#8217;t read nonverbal social cues or interpret your own feelings. As a child, a preteen, or a teenager, my son never knew when somebody was going to bully him. In the case of boys, he was surprised every time he was punched or threatened; in the case of girls, he was surprised to be the target of vicious rumors or a group shunning. He didn&#8217;t know how to handle it, and I couldn&#8217;t teach him. I didn&#8217;t know how to teach social skills to a kid I didn&#8217;t even know was autistic.
All of this contributed to Simon’s trans identification. My son was 14 years old when he called his mother and me into the dining room and played us a song on the piano about how he thought he was a girl inside. It was clear he didn&#8217;t want to be himself at that point. He was experiencing real distress, but he had been taught an escape rather than a solution.
I wanted to get him help for his discomfort, his sadness, his worry. It&#8217;s hard to get mental health support for a kid. Once a kid says he&#8217;s trans, though, it becomes almost impossible. You enter an upside-down world, where they believe parents hate their children, and the child tells the doctor the diagnosis. If you&#8217;re a parent who wants a therapist to help your autistic teen learn about how to perceive social and internal cues, that can all be derailed when he says he&#8217;s trans. They may want to wash their hands of him and send him to the gender center (where all patients are trans as a matter of policy). They may demand you get on board the trans train — or else.
This could be a kid who can&#8217;t tell whether he&#8217;s hungry or he&#8217;s angry. He needs help to distinguish those feelings. But if he says he feels like a woman, a therapist can&#8217;t even ask him what he means by that. Activists have gotten laws passed that can take a therapist&#8217;s license away if he doesn&#8217;t agree kids are trans whenever they say so. And if you, as a parent, aren’t careful, they could even take your kid away from you.
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Identity Crisis: Defying the Transgender Lobby to Save His Son" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Nk6GxP1jR-E?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Trans-identifying boys have cheerleaders everywhere. It&#8217;s not just the therapists, or the girls who will take your boy shopping and buy him women&#8217;s clothes. There are the school groups like GSA, which used to stand for &#8220;Gay-Straight Alliance,&#8221; but now stands for &#8220;Gender and Sexuality Alliance.&#8221; These groups preach the religion of gender. Our kids are taught about gender identities in health class as if they&#8217;re as real as chromosomes or conception. Online, kids can meet people of all ages with sometimes prurient enthusiasm for their gender identification. What&#8217;s one father against all of that?
One father can be a start. I taught my son that lots of people believing an idea doesn&#8217;t make it true, it just makes it popular. Reality is what&#8217;s still there when you stop believing in it. Right now, trans ideology is popular. But sex is real, and it&#8217;s still going to be here when the trans fad passes or your kid overcomes his delusions. If you succeed in holding the line against medicalization, he may be healthy and whole when that happens.
Parents have so many roles. Sometimes you&#8217;re a guide, walking in front of your children and showing them the way. Sometimes you teach, sometimes comfort, sometimes inspire. Sometimes a father is just a lighthouse keeper, maintaining a beacon so they can find their way back.
My son found his way back from his delusion. I don&#8217;t know all the reasons why, but I know he couldn&#8217;t have done it if I had let my light go out.
* * *
Gareth Amaya Price is the father of <a href="https://www.iwfeatures.com/documentary/how-this-desister-broke-free-from-the-transgender-contagion/">Simon Amaya Price</a>, a desister. Gareth Amaya Price was featured in a <a href="https://www.iwfeatures.com/documentary/how-this-desister-broke-free-from-the-transgender-contagion/">new two-part documentary</a> produced by <a href="https://www.iwfeatures.com/">IW Features</a>, Independent Women’s grassroots storytelling and original journalism arm, as part of its “<a href="https://www.iwfeatures.com/our-stories/reclaiming-biological-reality-stories/">Identity Crisis: Real Stories About Escaping Gender Ideology”</a> series.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
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My Son Thought He Was A Girl. He’s Now A Detransitioner.

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A college president and former chair of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities plagiarized extensively in her doctoral dissertation, a Daily Wire review found.
Heidi M. Anderson is president of the University of Maryland Eastern Shore. For nearly four decades, she has climbed the academic ladder while producing an unremarkable amount of low-quality research.
Now, a lawsuit from a former Eastern Shore professor threatens to cast Anderson&#8217;s career in a startling new light. Donna Satterlee alleges that, under Anderson, low-skilled black faculty were hired based on their race and paid more than white faculty. The suit said whites were forced to do the work that black officials took credit for.
A Daily Wire review suggested that it could be a pattern that began with her 1986 doctoral dissertation for Purdue University, which kicked off her academic career.
Portions of the dissertation, which deal with the use of computers in pharmaceutical education, appear to be a repurposed and uncredited copy of a 1984 paper by Donna E. Larson, a professor of nursing, about the use of computers in nursing education, with simply the name of the field changed. The photos below show just the beginning of a lengthy section where Anderson appears to crib Larson&#8217;s eight points.
<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-980103 size-full" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/advantages.jpg" alt="" width="1812" height="1410" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/advantages.jpg 1812w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/advantages-300x233.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/advantages-740x576.jpg 740w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/advantages-768x598.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/advantages-1536x1195.jpg 1536w" sizes=" (max-width: 1812px) 100vw, 1812px" /></div>
Note at the bottom that Larson cited a number of papers, including her own prior work. Anderson appeared to lift those citations, in order, but remove Larson&#8217;s citation to herself–perhaps to avoid leaving a clue that could unravel an academic crime. Larson&#8217;s name is not mentioned anywhere in Anderson&#8217;s dissertation.
Larson&#8217;s list had eight items on it, but Anderson had 12. The 10th item on the list also copied someone else&#8217;s words verbatim and without quotation marks to make a simple point.
When Anderson summarizes a book by Christopher Evans, she is actually copying someone else&#8217;s summary of Evans&#8217;s work, even though there is no parenthetical attribution in that section of the text indicating it. The summary on the right, by Richard E. Pogue, was from the introduction to the same journal issue where Larson&#8217;s paper appeared.
<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-full wp-image-980105" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/evans.jpg" alt="" width="1812" height="1510" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/evans.jpg 1812w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/evans-300x250.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/evans-691x576.jpg 691w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/evans-768x640.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/evans-1536x1280.jpg 1536w" sizes=" (max-width: 1812px) 100vw, 1812px" /></div>
Likewise, Anderson appears to have simply taken the language of University of Texas medical professor Robert M. Caldwell, writing about computers in medical schools, and changed the name of the field. Caldwell does not appear in the references section of that chapter.
<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-980107" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/caldwell.jpg" alt="" width="1218" height="542" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/caldwell.jpg 1218w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/caldwell-300x133.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/caldwell-1024x456.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/caldwell-768x342.jpg 768w" sizes=" (max-width: 1218px) 100vw, 1218px" /></div>
A significant stretch of Anderson&#8217;s paper is identical to<a href="https://ia601401.us.archive.org/18/items/lb-1043-j-6601978/LB1043J6601978.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> &#8220;Introduction to Instructional Media&#8221;</a> (1978) by David H. Jonassen, even though Jonassen&#8217;s name never appears in her paper. That includes mirroring Jonassen&#8217;s language that something was &#8220;recent&#8221; in the world of computers, without the reader knowing that it was actually new almost a decade prior.
<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-980109" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/jonassen-scaled.jpg" alt="" width="1130" height="2560" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/jonassen-scaled.jpg 1130w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/jonassen-132x300.jpg 132w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/jonassen-254x576.jpg 254w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/jonassen-768x1740.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/jonassen-678x1536.jpg 678w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/jonassen-904x2048.jpg 904w" sizes=" (max-width: 1130px) 100vw, 1130px" /></div>
Anderson&#8217;s personal touches consisted of adding woke language and grammatical errors. For example, a 1,000-word stretch appears copied directly from a paper by Robert M. Caldwell (1984) and an introduction to another paper by Christopher R. Brigham and Martin Kamp in 1973. The primary difference is that Anderson changed &#8220;his&#8221; to &#8220;his/her,&#8221; and the correctly-spelled &#8220;judgment&#8221; to the incorrect &#8220;judgement.&#8221;
<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-980111" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/caldwell-kamp-scaled.jpg" alt="" width="638" height="2560" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/caldwell-kamp-scaled.jpg 638w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/caldwell-kamp-75x300.jpg 75w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/caldwell-kamp-768x3083.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/caldwell-kamp-383x1536.jpg 383w" sizes=" (max-width: 638px) 100vw, 638px" /></div>
Anderson&#8217;s paper proposed using computers to administer quizzes to pharmacy students, but she cribbed information about computers from papers that were woefully out of date even in 1986. One sentence said &#8220;Review of the literature demonstrates that there are relatively few methodologically sound evaluations of the effectiveness of computer assisted instruction (Atkinson, 1968).&#8221;
By the time of her writing, Apple II computers were widely available, and the sort of interactive tests her paper focused on were technically trivial. Yet with her experience with computers seemingly consisting only of reading old papers about them, her paper went on at length about topics like the comparative advantages of mainframes versus terminals. She copied older scholars&#8217; exact language even when explaining such obvious concepts as why it&#8217;s better for a computer to be small than big (&#8220;microcomputer units may be transported into the environment of the subject&#8221;).
The portion of Anderson&#8217;s dissertation designed to drive the field forward consisted of showing a computer program to students and then asking them questions about their opinions about computers. But the interactive activity was programmed by someone else, and the questions were also written by another researcher.
Startlingly, the conclusion of her original research also appeared to be copied from someone else. &#8220;These findings suggest that CAI can be as effective and efficient as a more traditional instructional modality in teaching both factual content and application of learned material when both methods use the same instructional content,&#8221; she wrote. That was virtually identical to a sentence that Elaine G. Boettcher wrote five years prior.
<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-980113" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/findings.jpg" alt="" width="1096" height="298" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/findings.jpg 1096w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/findings-300x82.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/findings-1024x278.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/findings-768x209.jpg 768w" sizes=" (max-width: 1096px) 100vw, 1096px" /></div>
Anderson&#8217;s dissertation says that &#8220;financial assistance was provided to the author by the Purdue University Black Doctoral Fellowship.&#8221;
<h4>&#8216;Posture towards non-Black faculty and staff was barely concealed hostility.&#8217;</h4>
In July, Satterlee sued the University of Maryland Eastern Shore and Anderson, saying, &#8220;Black faculty and administrators are paid vastly higher than others of similar or better qualifications. Heidi Anderson has instituted a two-tier system of racial preferences discriminating against White and Asian faculty who are given more and less-desirable work but significantly lower pay.&#8221;
&#8220;The Heidi Anderson Administration’s posture towards non-Black faculty and staff was barely concealed hostility. It was an established practice to pay non-Blacks less than Blacks, not include them in valuable opportunities, and only exploit their work for personal gain of the select few who were close to the university administration,&#8221;<a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mdd.586969/gov.uscourts.mdd.586969.1.0.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> the federal lawsuit said</a>.
&#8220;Moses Kairo, a former Kenyan national, became the dean of the School of Agricultural and Natural Sciences at UMES in 2012. He exhibited a distinct preference for African nationals in hiring for positions within the school,&#8221; the lawsuit said. Another Kenyan and apparent former schoolmate of Kairo&#8217;s, Grace Namwamba, was hired as department chair and Satterlee&#8217;s boss, even though &#8220;Namwamba had extremely poor work competencies and skills and appeared incapable of writing in English at the level required of a university professor,&#8221; it said.
Satterlee, the lowest-paid faculty member in her department, &#8220;was assigned double the work of African or African-American faculty. In one instance, Dr. Satterlee was instructed by Dr. Namwamba to create a master’s degree program in two days&#8230; after Dr. Satterlee worked without rest to complete the assignment, Dr. Namwamba took her work product and stole the credit,&#8221; the suit said.
Satterlee said she earned the ire of Anderson and Namwamba after she called for a salary study that would publish faculty pay broken down by race, and by correcting sloppy work by Namwamba in an attempt to save the department from embarrassment. She was the only faculty member to be denied a request for a promotion that year, she said — with the denial letter misspelling her name as &#8220;Dr. Scatterlee.&#8221;
She said she was disciplined by the school&#8217;s DEI office, called the Office of Institutional Equity. The office is led by Jason Casares, who was hired after resigning from his job at a different university amid allegations that he <a href="https://www.wthr.com/article/news/local/update-iu-administrator-casares-resigns-amid-sexual-assault-claim/531-610f5e2c-e658-4b3b-a008-e7d1df4b7e4c" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sexually assaulted a college administrator</a>. Casares&#8217; claim was that Satterlee had &#8220;bullied&#8221; her boss.
He also accused her of insubordination, to which Satterlee replied: “If a written communication from a department chair is &#8216;riddled with grammatical errors and misspellings&#8217;, I have an obligation to call that to her attention and may do so without fear of reprisal, because, ultimately, we seek to teach students how to communicate.&#8221;
She was placed on &#8220;Transitional Terminal Leave.&#8221; The lawsuit said the Office of Institutional Equity has no authority to terminate the employment of a tenured professor, and that &#8220;insubordination&#8221; is not grounds for any university office to terminate a tenured professor.
The lawsuit also said that the University of Maryland Eastern Shore has declined sharply under Anderson&#8217;s leadership,<a href="https://carnegieclassifications.acenet.edu/institution/university-of-maryland-eastern-shore/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> losing the prized R2 research designation</a>.
The university is required to submit a response to the lawsuit by October 10.
Anderson declined to comment for this story. After publication, she put out a public statement saying “Recent allegations of plagiarism have been raised regarding my 1986 doctoral dissertation. Integrity, accountability, and trust are the foundations of my leadership and I take these concerns with the utmost seriousness. Consistent with University System of Maryland policy, there will be an assessment of these allegations… I am deeply grateful for the support of the UMES family during this period.”
Anderson&#8217;s published research in the decades since defending her dissertation has been short and of low quality, often published in obscure journals. For one paper, she had students ask 89 people who was their &#8220;primary source of prescription medicine information.&#8221; Most said their doctors, so she concluded that &#8220;pharmacists should consider providing more information.&#8221;
In another, she claimed that an unnamed minority faculty member had students repeatedly subject her to racial slurs in class and over the phone, and that this research discovered that colleges should create a &#8220;grievance process&#8221; for &#8220;student-faculty conflicts.&#8221;
Anderson repeatedly attained high academic positions. &#8220;I was the first African American to serve as President  [of] the Accreditation Council on Pharmaceutical Education, the national accrediting body,&#8221; she<a href="https://agriculture.house.gov/uploadedfiles/anderson_testimony_package.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> testified to Congress</a> in 2021, and &#8220;The Chronicle of Higher Education also recognized UMES as having the second most diverse faculty.&#8221;
&#8220;Allow me to say, that because we launched this program during the COVID pandemic, our efforts were not as robust or as smooth as it [sic] otherwise might have been,&#8221; she acknowledged to lawmakers in written remarks about her school&#8217;s use of federal funds. &#8220;One of the important issues we face as a nation and world are [sic] the challenges brought about by climate change.&#8221;
She told Congress that the university, which is both a historically black college and an agricultural college, would focus on &#8220;creating safe spaces where farmers can meet monthly.&#8221;
In 2023, Anderson served as president of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities, making her the face of public universities.
Satterlee, the professor who was forced out, said that Anderson&#8217;s alleged pattern of forcing white professors to do the work, while black faculty take credit, mirrors the apparent deception that began her academic career.
&#8220;Heidi&#8217;s PhD has been obtained by fraud and by her passing off the work of other scholars as her own work. How can a university tell its students to be honest if its president is herself dishonest?&#8221; she told The Daily Wire. She called on Jay Perman, chancellor of the University System of Maryland, to fire Anderson.
Michael Sandler, a spokesman for the University System of Maryland, told The Daily Wire: &#8220;We are aware of the allegations raised against President Anderson and are reviewing them with our policies. We will determine the next steps once that process is complete.&#8221;
In September 2024, The Daily Wire revealed that a 5,000-word paper on rocket science by Darryll Pines, the president of the Maryland&#8217;s flagship campus at College Park,<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/university-of-maryland-president-copied-rocket-science-paper-from-aussie-student" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> copied a 1,500 word stretch from a tutorial website</a> by an Australian student. The paper, by Pines and a co-author, did not mention or cite the student anywhere, and attempted to change his British spellings to American ones–potentially a telltale sign that Pines knew he had not written the material, and was attempting to deceive readers.
In response, Pines wrote that &#8220;I<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/university-of-maryland-president-acknowledges-recurrent-language-submits-to-plagiarism-review" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> acknowledge recurrent language</a>,&#8221; and said an investigation would begin. Perman&#8217;s office said the review would be conducted jointly by the College Park campus and the statewide system, and &#8220;the two parties will use an expert consultant at an external law firm to lead the review&#8230; the consultant will determine who will serve on the review panel.&#8221;
A month later, the Australian student, who said it was &#8220;clearly plagiarism&#8230;not worthy of an academic,&#8221; said the panel<a href="https://www.insidehighered.com/news/governance/executive-leadership/2024/10/24/author-argues-maryland-president-clearly" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> hadn&#8217;t contacted him</a>. More than a year later, that panel has said nothing publicly, and Perman&#8217;s office has declined to share updates.
&#8220;It just feels like something weird is going on,&#8221; Professor Nick Seybert told the<a href="https://www.thebanner.com/education/higher-education/university-of-maryland-darryll-pines-plagiarism-AHZESFHKN5HA5DLTEF32CER46E/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> Baltimore Banner</a> in July. &#8220;It doesn&#8217;t feel like they&#8217;re taking it very seriously.&#8221;
<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-980185" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/boettcher.jpg" alt="" width="1218" height="720" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/boettcher.jpg 1218w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/boettcher-300x177.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/boettcher-974x576.jpg 974w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/boettcher-768x454.jpg 768w" sizes=" (max-width: 1218px) 100vw, 1218px" /></div>
<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-980187" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/ploeger.jpg" alt="" width="1218" height="1402" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/ploeger.jpg 1218w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/ploeger-261x300.jpg 261w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/ploeger-500x576.jpg 500w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/ploeger-768x884.jpg 768w" sizes=" (max-width: 1218px) 100vw, 1218px" /></div>
This story has been updated with a statement from Anderson.

Heidi Anderson / University of Maryland Eastern Shore

Another College President Plagiarized Her Dissertation. That’s Just The Tip Of The Iceberg.

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Harvard University is set to host a drag performer who calls himself “LaWhore Vagistan” as a visiting professor at the Ivy League institution.
Kareem Khubchandani will teach in the Studies of Gender and Sexuality program, per <a href="https://nypost.com/2025/10/01/us-news/harvard-hires-drag-queen-named-lawhore-vagistan-as-visiting-professor/">The New York Post</a>. The classes offered will be “Queer Ethnography” in the fall and “RuPaulitics: Drag, Race, and Desire” in the spring semester, according to Harvard’s announcement.
Khubchandani did an “<a href="https://muse.jhu.edu/article/595546">interview</a>” with his own drag persona for Johns Hopkins University Press in 2015, during which he discussed his provocative stage name.
“My name is LaWhore Vagistan, my preferred pronouns are ‘she’ or ‘aunty.’ I chose ‘LaWhore’ because my family traces its origins to Pakistan: Lahore is an important city in Pakistan, and well, I’m a bit of a whore,” he said at the time. “And Vagistan because I see the subcontinent as one, big, beautiful Vag … istan.”
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Harvard isn’t the only place LaWhore worked as a professor. The drag performer has a bachelor’s degree in sociology and anthropology, as well as a Master’s degree and a PhD in performance studies from Northwestern University. His work has been published in several academic journals.
&nbsp;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Harvard hires drag queen named ‘LaWhore Vagistan’ as visiting professor <a href="https://t.co/2vL0LziK6T">https://t.co/2vL0LziK6T</a> <a href="https://t.co/YkNA4cA11f">pic.twitter.com/YkNA4cA11f</a>
— New York Post (@nypost) <a href="https://twitter.com/nypost/status/1973569177194492290?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 2, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
He is listed as an Associate Professor for Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies and an Associate Professor in Race, Colonialism, and Diaspora at Tufts University.
Khubchandani is the author of “Ishtyle: Accenting Gay Indian Nightlife” (2020). 
The appointment of drag performer “LaWhore Vagistan” as a visiting professor at one of America’s most prestigious colleges comes as Harvard has become a central target of the Trump administration’s push to use federal funding to force change at U.S. universities, which Trump says are overrun with antisemitism.
Trump’s administration cracked down on Harvard for anti-Israel protests that followed Hamas’s October 7, 2023, terror attack.

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Ivy League Insanity: Harvard Taps Drag Queen ‘LaWhore Vagistan’ As Visiting Gender Studies Professor

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Daily Wire host Michael Knowles has joined the lineup as Turning Point USA announced plans to forge ahead with the campus tour begun by founder Charlie Kirk before his assassination at Utah Valley University on September 10.
The amended schedule was released on Monday, just hours before the first event was to kick off at Minnesota State University with Knowles stepping into the debate tent in Kirk&#8217;s place.
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<a href="https://t.co/zY8m5pkx9v">https://t.co/zY8m5pkx9v</a> <a href="https://t.co/BFpqmZsVVl">pic.twitter.com/BFpqmZsVVl</a>
— Turning Point USA (@TPUSA) <a href="https://twitter.com/TPUSA/status/1970187456185278978?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 22, 2025</a></blockquote>
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The next event, scheduled for Wednesday, will feature Sirius XM podcast host Megyn Kelly and Governor Glenn Youngkin (R-VA). TPUSA will return to Utah with a September 30 visit to Utah State University, and speakers there will include TPUSA&#8217;s Alex Clark alongside Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT), Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ), and former Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT).
More events are scheduled to follow, with speakers including entrepreneur and former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, Governor Greg Gianforte (R-MT), radio host Glenn Beck, former Fox News personality Tucker Carlson, Allie Beth Stuckey, Governor Jeff Landry (R-LA), actor Rob Schneider, and Frank Turek.
Knowles spoke about his imminent appearance at University of Minnesota during an appearance on &#8220;Fox &amp; Friends First&#8221; on Monday.
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THAT WILL CONTINUE: Over 90,000 Mourners Gathered In Arizona To Remember The Life Of Charlie Kirk As A New Chapter of TPUSA Has Just Begun. 
Host Of ‘The Michael Knowles Show’ And Host Of Today&#8217;s University Of Minnesota TPUSA Event <a href="https://twitter.com/michaeljknowles?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@michaeljknowles</a> Joined F&amp;F First This Morning. <a href="https://t.co/YtjLYQ0lGE">pic.twitter.com/YtjLYQ0lGE</a>
— Fox &amp; Friends First (@FoxFriendsFirst) <a href="https://twitter.com/FoxFriendsFirst/status/1970082346973180144?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 22, 2025</a></blockquote>
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“I will appear tonight. There will be an empty chair on stage. I will give a tribute to Charlie and then we will open up the floor to an open conversation,” Knowles said of his plans for the event.
“Charlie’s enemies will not have stopped that. People who disagree can, like at all of his events, cut to the front of the line and we will continue to have a healthy debate,” he added. “I think that Charlie’s enemies thought that they could not only silence him, but, in fact, silence his whole movement. That will not happen. In fact, they will not even silence his speaking tour.”

‘Carrying Charlie’s Torch’: Michael Knowles Joins TPUSA Campus Tour

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Erika Kirk was elected by unanimous vote on Thursday to take over her late husband’s role as CEO and Board Chair of the college campus organization he founded, Turning Point USA.
The organization announced the vote in a post shared on X, along with a statement declaring that the move was the fulfillment of wishes previously expressed by Kirk.
“The Turning Point Board has unanimously elected Erika Kirk as the new CEO and Chair of the Board. In prior discussions, Charlie expressed to multiple executives that this is what he wanted in the event of his death,” the post read, and included a photo of the letter announcing the change in leadership.
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The Turning Point Board has unanimously elected Erika Kirk as the new CEO and Chair of the Board.
In prior discussions, Charlie expressed to multiple executives that this is what he wanted in the event of his death. <a href="https://t.co/PazORgiHWP">pic.twitter.com/PazORgiHWP</a>
— Turning Point USA (@TPUSA) <a href="https://twitter.com/TPUSA/status/1968709126202016062?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 18, 2025</a></blockquote>
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“In Ecclesiastes, King Solomon wrote that mankind is to be tested by God. Today we are facing such a test, yet we also know that God has prepared us with everything we need to overcome this ordeal,” TPUSA Board members Doug DeGroote, Mike Miller, Tom Sodeika, and Dave Engelhardt wrote.
“It was the honor of our lives to serve as board members at Charlie’s side,” they continued. “Charlie prepared all of us for a moment like this one. He worked tirelessly to ensure Turning Point USA was built to survive even the greatest tests. And now, it is our great pride to announce Erika Kirk as the new CEO and Chair of the Board for Turning Point USA.”
The letter concluded with the same resolve Erika Kirk showed in her speech shortly after her husband was assassinated at an event at Utah Valley University, promising that TPUSA would continue Charlie Kirk’s mission, no matter the opposition or the challenges.
“All of us at Turning Point USA have a special role in carrying Charlie Kirk’s mantle and completing his vision of bringing us all closer to our Lord and fostering a prosperous country for generations to come. As Charlie always said, ‘We have a country to save,’” they wrote. “We will not surrender or kneel before evil. We will carry on. The attempt to destroy Charlie’s work will become our chance to make it more powerful and enduring than ever before.”

Turning Point Inaugural-Eve Ball Held In Washington, D.C.

Erika Kirk Elected To Lead Turning Point USA As CEO And Board Chair

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Turning Point USA

Editor’s note: The following commentary is an excerpt from remarks presented before the Presidential Religious Liberty Commission on Sept. 8, 2025, with minor edits made for readability.
* * *
I never expected that pursuing my dream to help hurting children would lead to a legal battle for our most basic freedoms.
I graduated from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville with a master’s degree in Art Therapy and Counseling in May 2022. I chose this path because God gave me a passion to fight for and preserve the innocence of children, especially those who’ve experienced deep complex trauma. Through art therapy, I’ve witnessed how expressive means can calm both body and mind and provide a mode of communication when words feel painful and impossible.
But while I was studying how to help others heal, I found myself betrayed by the very institution that was supposed to equip me for that mission.
My program was small — just 10 students—and we became very close. We would talk about being in each other’s weddings and supported each other like family.
But about a year in, something shifted. I came to Southern Illinois University thinking I was there to become a counselor. But I soon realized the university expected me to adopt and promote a specific ideology — one rooted in Marxism and critical race theory, even when it conflicted with my religious and professional beliefs.
When called on in class, I shared my perspective respectfully, asking whether these ideas served the best interests of our future clients.
Instead of respectful dialogue, my Christian and conservative beliefs were met with hostility — not only from classmates but even professors.
But I didn’t expect what came next.
The university issued three no-contact orders against me. You might wonder what a no-contact order is. I did, too. It’s essentially a restraining order, and it applied on and off campus. It meant I couldn’t talk to, sit near, or even be in the same coffee shop with the three classmates who had filed the complaints.
I was shocked. I asked what I’d done. The university said I hadn’t violated any policy. But without any communication or investigation, I received a threat of “disciplinary consequences” if I violated the no-contact orders. And they even copied a university police officer on each order to drive this threat home.
After this, I stopped speaking in class. I was isolated and scared — like I was in a relationship with abusers — trapped in a system that punished me for having different beliefs.
I thought back through every conversation I’d had with my classmates. I couldn’t think of anything I’d done that could be taken as offensive, let alone aggressive. I became afraid.
And with fear came a sense of powerlessness. I started having trouble sleeping. I lost my appetite. And I began to worry what might happen if my professors — who clearly disapproved of my views — decided to block me from graduating or finding a job.
I reached out to Alliance Defending Freedom, and they sent a demand letter to the university. Five days later, the university rescinded the no-contact orders. Two weeks later, it finally told me what the accusations were.
Three classmates had complained about some social media posts where I’d expressed my Christian and conservative views on current events. They claimed the mere expression of my views were “microaggression[s].”
One student said I was “threatening” because I couldn’t embrace critical race theory, which I had said failed to treat people with dignity regardless of race. She told the school I was threatening even though in the same conversation I had praised her for having a “beautiful heart” with a deep “compassion for children.”
Sadly, even after the no-contact orders were lifted, the attacks continued.
University officials refused to tell students that I hadn’t broken any policies. Instead, they e-mailed faculty, students, and alumni, implying that I had engaged in “oppressive acts” and “misconduct.”
The university held a “community meeting” where students publicly attacked my faith and accused me of being racist, oppressive, and creating a toxic learning environment.
Fellow students maligned my name in a school newspaper.
But one of the most painful moments came when a classmate and former friend created an art display titled The Crushing Weight of Microaggressions. It featured a personal text I’d sent her where I shared that, even if we might disagree on some things, I cared about her and that “[M]y personal beliefs are grounded in objective truth by the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”
I was heartbroken to see my words so misunderstood. I loved my classmates, including this girl. To this day, I wish we could have shared our diverse beliefs with mutual respect and kindness. But that was sadly not my experience.
I wasn’t punished for harming anyone; I was punished for having a different perspective, being a Christian, and asking honest questions. At a public university, which is supposed to be a marketplace of ideas, I was silenced for sharing mine.
I knew I couldn’t just walk away. I live by Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s quote: “Silence in the face of evil is evil. God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak, and not to act is to act.”
I could not be silent knowing that what happened to me could happen to future students. Our freedoms are too precious not to defend.
So I filed a <a href="https://adflegal.org/case/dejong-v-pembrook/?utm_source=dailywire&amp;utm_medium=oped">lawsuit</a>.
After the university tried — and failed — to dismiss my case, it agreed to settle. It changed its policies to ensure all students, regardless of political or religious beliefs, are welcome. And it revised how no-contact orders are used so that they can’t be weaponized to punish simple differences of opinion.
But what weighs on my heart to this day: I should never have had to sue. Public universities have a duty to protect open dialogue, not punish it. They should welcome differences, not erase them. And no student should be shamed or silenced for their faith.
Looking back, I can see how what was meant to break me — God used to shape me.
Through the fear and betrayal, He gave me the courage to speak, even when my voice shook. He taught me to love even those who misunderstood or maligned me.
I’m so grateful to President Donald Trump and the Religious Liberty Commission for their bold work to protect our First Amendment freedoms — freedoms that belong to all of us regardless of faith, race, or creed.
The truth is: Freedom is fragile. Silence is costly. But courage is contagious.
* * *
Maggie DeJong obtained her master’s degree in Art Therapy and Counseling from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

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Taking A Stand Against My University Took Courage — But Courage Is Contagious

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A Texas A&amp;M student was told to leave a lecture after pushing back on a professor promoting leftist gender ideas during a children’s literature course. 
Videos shared by Texas Republican State Rep. Brian Harrison on Monday show a student confronting Dr. Melissa McCoul during a children’s literature class, during which McCoul pushed leftist views on sex, gender, and race.
The class, which was aimed at getting students to “think critically about what [children’s literature] can tell us about how we (and others) understand childhood,” devoted considerable attention to sex, gender, and “queerness,” according to slides reviewed by The Daily Wire. One slide titled “Why talk about queerness at all?” denied that the sexual topic was inappropriate for young children. 
The student, who wishes to remain anonymous, told McCoul during one class that the course material went against President Donald Trump’s orders on gender and diversity, equity, and inclusion.
“Thinking that homosexuality or queer people are always ‘x-rated’ is an effect of heteronormativity, the idea that heterosexual or straight is normal as well as normative,” the slide reads. 
“This also goes against, not only myself, but a lot of people’s religious beliefs,” the student added. “And so I am not going to participate in this because it’s not legal.” 
McCoul then asked the student if she was “suggesting” that the teaching on gender and sex was “false.” 
“Yes,” the student said.
“You are under a misconception that what I’m saying is illegal,” the professor replied.
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🚨CAUGHT ON TAPE: TEXAS A&amp;M STUDENT KICKED OUT OF CLASS AFTER OBJECTING TO TRANSGENDER INDOCTRINATION&#8230; and A&amp;M President defends &#8220;LGBTQ Studies.&#8221;
I&#8217;m referring <a href="https://twitter.com/TAMU?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@TAMU</a> to the Trump Administration for investigation&#8230; and asking Gov <a href="https://twitter.com/GregAbbott_TX?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@GregAbbott_TX</a> to fire the A&amp;M officials… <a href="https://t.co/J6IWsfw62I">pic.twitter.com/J6IWsfw62I</a>
— Brian Harrison (@brianeharrison) <a href="https://twitter.com/brianeharrison/status/1965093848520294565?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 8, 2025</a></blockquote>
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McCoul then said that her teachings on gender identity and gender expression are “biologically true,” adding that she did not believe that the student would be able to stop her from teaching those ideas.
“Because I do have the legal and ethical authority [and] professional expertise in this classroom,” McCoul told the student. “It’s time for you to leave.” 
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Video: Texas A&amp;M Professor to student who objected to transgender indoctrination: &#8220;YOU&#8217;RE FREE TO LEAVE!&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/c9eabNdo9X">pic.twitter.com/c9eabNdo9X</a>
— Brian Harrison (@brianeharrison) <a href="https://twitter.com/brianeharrison/status/1965093857466744970?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 8, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Harrison, who served as the chief of staff at the Department of Health and Human Services during Trump’s first term, told The Daily Wire that the videos show the Texas A&amp;M professor is “absolutely engaged in transgender indoctrination.” He argued that McCoul and other A&amp;M officials be fired.
“This is one of the clearest and most disgusting examples of taxpayer abuse and the weaponization of Texans’ tax money against them, against their values, against their children,” Harrison said. 
Trump <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/defending-women-from-gender-ideology-extremism-and-restoring-biological-truth-to-the-federal-government/">signed</a> an executive order on January 20 declaring, “It is the policy of the United States to recognize two sexes, male and female.” In another executive order, Trump called DEI policies “illegal,” and the Trump administration has opened <a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-dei-universities-investigated-f89dc9ec2a98897577ed0a6c446fae7b">investigations</a> into universities that push DEI programs on their students and faculty. Texas A&amp;M has been <a href="https://www.kbtx.com/2024/09/14/texas-am-awarded-16-million-federal-grants-continue-research-forever-chemicals/">awarded</a> federal <a href="https://houston.innovationmap.com/texas-am-university-tech-waste-2670730689.html">grants</a>, including for its research on “forever chemicals” and its efforts to develop clean energy. 
A Texas A&amp;M official told The Daily Wire, “We are aware of an isolated incident in which a summer course’s content was misaligned with the course curriculum. The college took steps in collaboration with faculty to ensure all course content aligns with the course curriculum moving forward.”
While the federal government has pushed back on DEI and radical leftist gender ideology, Republican-led Texas has fallen behind in putting a stop to radical ideas being promoted at universities, Harrison says.
“I have filed legislation for a long time now to stop taxpayer funding of DEI and transgender indoctrination, and every attempt legislatively to end this is killed by nominal Republicans in the Texas government,” the lawmaker added. 
In another clip, the A&amp;M student tells McCoul, “I held my mouth closed this whole semester about my personal beliefs, but part of my rights is [that] this goes against my religion.” 
“So you are very free to leave, and now is the time to do that,” the professor said. After the confrontation, McCoul asked the class, “Are there other questions I can answer about the sex gender system or non-binary identities?” 
One book required in McCoul’s class was “Princess Princess Ever After,” a comic book story about a princess who is rescued from her tower prison by another princess. The two female characters fall in love, and the book ends with a gay wedding. “Princess Princess Ever After” is <a href="https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Princess-Princess-Ever-After/K-ONeill/9781620107140">written</a> for kids between the ages of 9 and 12, according to a review from lesbian culture website AfterEllen. 
Another slide showed a “Gender Unicorn” graph put together by Trans Student Educational Resources. Yet another slide was titled “Let’s talk gender in children’s lit!” and argued that “Childhood is the time for figuring out how to be a boy, girl, man, woman, or another gender.”  
The student who confronted McCoul about the leftist curriculum raised her concerns with the department head and eventually with Texas A&amp;M President Mark Welsh. Texas A&amp;M administrators then met with McCoul to discuss the class and decided to move McCoul to teach young adult literature instead of children’s literature. 
In a recorded phone call between the student and Welsh, the Texas A&amp;M president stated that the university would review the children’s literature course and discuss providing more detailed descriptions of any classes that teach radical gender theory. Welsh told the student that “there’s not a problem” teaching LGBT literature as long as the university makes it clear it will be part of a class. 
When the student asked President Welsh if any more changes would be made, such as firing McCoul, Welsh accused the student of attempting to “pick a fight,” adding that the university would not punish the professor. 
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Audio of student asking Texas A&amp;M President to fire the professor who kicked her out and who was blatantly indoctrinating students in transgender ideology.
A&amp;M President snaps back at student: &#8220;THAT&#8217;S NOT HAPPENING!&#8221;
Listen: <a href="https://t.co/xK8QTrjzEi">pic.twitter.com/xK8QTrjzEi</a>
— Brian Harrison (@brianeharrison) <a href="https://twitter.com/brianeharrison/status/1965093859488399406?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 8, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Harrison sent a letter to Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, along with a separate letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Education Secretary Linda McMahon on Monday, calling on the state and federal government to take action against Texas A&amp;M. 
“I have previously referred Texas A&amp;M to the Trump Administration for investigation into discriminatory DEI practices, and I am now expanding that request,” Harrison wrote. “Since the Texas government has not ended this taxpayer-funded liberal indoctrination, I am writing to respectfully request that you or other relevant divisions or agencies take any appropriate action(s) to ensure that Texas universities receiving federal funds are complying with President Trump’s Executive Orders.”
The Daily Wire has also reached out to the Department of Education, requesting comment.

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WATCH: Texas A&M Student Booted From Lecture After Objecting To Professor Pushing Radical Gender Theory

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