March Madness quite possibly offers the greatest postseason experience available to sports fans today. In fact, &#8220;<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/show/crain-and-company" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Crain &amp; Company&#8217;s</a>&#8221; Jake Crain goes so far as to say that it is, in fact, the greatest. Unlike other sports, the tournament layout allows for incredible underdog/longshot stories and this year is no exception.
This year’s Final Four consists of some expected teams, including two number one seeds in Purdue and returning champion UConn, a number four seed in Alabama, and is rounded out with the Cinderella 11 seed, North Carolina State — the most unexpected teams to be in this position.
To understand how NC State elbowed its way into this year’s NCAA Final Four, we have to go back a few weeks in the season. NC State plays in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), a basketball division traditionally dominated by blue bloods like UNC and Duke. When the ACC Tournament rolled around at the end of the regular season, the Wolfpack were on a four-game losing streak and head coach Kevin Keatts was in the hot seat.
<div id="attachment_719593" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-719593" decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-large wp-image-719593" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/04/GettyImages-2107862211-864x576.jpg" alt="PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA - MARCH 23: Head coach Kevin Keatts of the North Carolina State Wolfpack looks on during the first half of a game against the Oakland Golden Grizzlies in the second round of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at PPG PAINTS Arena on March 23, 2024 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Joe Sargent/Getty Images)" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/04/GettyImages-2107862211-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/04/GettyImages-2107862211-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/04/GettyImages-2107862211-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/04/GettyImages-2107862211.jpg 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />Joe Sargent/Getty Images</div>
Keatts tenure had been lackluster, with many fans and boosters calling for his head after this season. NC State’s program had a mediocre ceiling that few believed would ever be broken. They hadn’t won an ACC Championship title in 37 years.
Keatts and NC State needed to win their conference tournament to even get into the NCAA tournament and no one believed it would happen. Not only would they have to win out, but they’d have to face Duke and UNC, two storied programs that have plagued the Tobacco Road rivalry.
The Wolfpack went on to win five straight, including a buzzer-beater three that pushed the UVA game into double overtime.
Coach Kevin Keatts not only secured his job, he earned some <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaab/acc/2024/04/01/kevin-keatts-bonuses-nc-state-final-four/73163196007/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sizable bonuses</a>:
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">ACC Championship title: A $400,000 pay increase, a $100,000 bonus, and a 2-year contract extension through April 2030.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">An additional $25,000 bonus for the team’s first victory in the tournament, and $50,000 for each of the next three for a total of $175,000.</li>
</ul>
NC State’s current run as an 11 seed feels a lot like history repeating itself.
Every Wolfpack fan, and likely every college basketball fan, knows the infamous story of the 1983 team and their epic tournament run to win the National Championship under head coach Jim Valvano. The 1983 season was an unbelievable tale of determination and more famously, “never giv[ing] up.”
For those unfamiliar, back in 1983, NC State needed to win an ACC Championship title to get into the NCAA tournament. Sound familiar? They started as a number 6 seed and made their way to the championship game where they faced off against the heavily favored Houston Cougars — who had future Hall of Famers Clyde Drexler and Hakeem Olajuwon.
Thanks to a buzzer-beating dunk by Lorenzo Charles after a missed desperation shot, NC State and coach Valvano defied the odds and pulled off a tremendous upset. That 1983 run gave birth to more than a winning standard, it became a way to see the world and the things around you.
It inspired the infamous “Jimmy V Speech” delivered on March 4, 1993, at the ESPYs and created a culture that continues to invigorate not only Wolfpack fans, but sports fans in general.
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Once again, NC State has given the country something to believe in. Not only has this team re-ignited its fan base, but it has also given the country new heroes and underdogs who inspire them.
One of those heroes, DJ Burns Jr., has played a critical role in the Wolfpack’s success. Burns has proven to be a force on the court, has a contagious personality, and he’s an outright likable guy. Burns has brought a popularity to the team that it hasn’t seen in years.
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Show this to anyone who says men’s college basketball is dead and has no superstars.
This is the line outside of an APPLEBEES! 
Final Four Fever has hit Raleigh. <a href="https://t.co/cB37nNH0rf">pic.twitter.com/cB37nNH0rf</a>
&mdash; Mid-Major Madness (@mid_madness) <a href="https://twitter.com/mid_madness/status/1775531240520597798?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 3, 2024</a></blockquote>
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Burns started his career in the SEC at Tennessee, transferred to Winthrop back in his home state of South Carolina, and finally landed at NC State for the 2022/2023 season. Burns made an immediate impact, but his star really started to rise during the postseason.
He stands at 6’9,” weighs 275 pounds, and after his performance this year he could arguably have a successful career in the NFL. In fact, several reporters have received communications from NFL teams with potential interest in adding Burns as an offensive tackle.
<div id="attachment_719595" style="width: 865px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-719595" decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-large wp-image-719595" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/04/GettyImages-2128465980-855x576.jpg" alt="DALLAS, TEXAS - MARCH 31: DJ Burns Jr. #30 of the North Carolina State Wolfpack controls the ball as Ryan Young #15 of the Duke Blue Devils defends in the Elite 8 round of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at American Airlines Center on March 31, 2024 in Dallas, Texas. (Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images)" width="855" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/04/GettyImages-2128465980-855x576.jpg 855w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/04/GettyImages-2128465980-300x202.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/04/GettyImages-2128465980-768x518.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/04/GettyImages-2128465980.jpg 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 855px) 100vw, 855px" />Carmen Mandato/Getty Images</div>
Against all odds, and 14 regular season losses, this team has continued its incredible postseason run with nine consecutive wins. The Wolfpack will now face off against another Goliath opponent in No. 1 Purdue this Saturday, perhaps the most difficult opponent they’ve faced yet. Purdue’s Zach Edey, standing at 7’4”, has become a standout in his own right, dominating this year’s tournament. The Burns-Edey match up makes this game a must-watch “battle of the bigs.”
NC State faces Purdue on Saturday, April 6, at 6:09 pm ET at The Phoenix Convention Center.
Current head coach Kevin Keatts and this NC State team have done something that hasn’t been done since 1983. It’s a run for the ages and a story of a lifetime. The spirit of that team can be felt in this year’s tournament and has given fans something to celebrate — a true Cinderella story that transcends wins and losses.
Go Pack.

NC State v Duke

Will History Repeat Itself? NC State’s Amazing Race To The Final Four

College basketball

March Madness

NCAA

North Carolina State

Purdue University

Readers Pass

Sports

Daily Wire podcast host <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/michael-knowles" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Michael Knowles</a> said Thursday that America is suffering from an identity crisis.
In a lecture at <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/purdue-university" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Purdue University</a> Thursday evening, entitled “Our National Identity Disorder,” Knowles said that the leftist fascination with liberation from all norms has not transcended societal norms, but replaced them. Liberalism has destroyed the American identity, said Knowles, and America must confront this crisis and assert her identity again.
Knowles began his speech by poking fun at protesters who had assembled outside the room he was speaking in for hours before, noting that there were two planned protests to his speech. “My critics are so confused, they can’t even agree on how to protest me,” he said.
The protesters posted flyers around campus that read, “no fascists on campus.” Knowles held up two of the posters, joking that they were “Italophobic” and remarking that fascism was “far too modern and progressive” an ideology for him.
The protesters were of course referring to Knowles’ <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/knowles-at-cpac-there-is-no-meeting-halfway-between-truth-and-falsehood" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CPAC</a> Speech in which he called for the ideology of transgenderism to be eradicated from public life. Knowles defended his speech again. “We should not delude people who don’t know who they are, we should help them and correct them,” he said.
But the rise of “gender mania” is both a cause and a symptom of the larger problem, he noted. Because of a porous southern border, America “cannot be said to comprise a particular people.” Americans do not worship the same God either, said Knowles, citing a precipitous and continuing decline in religiosity. We no longer salute the same flag: conservatives venerate the Stars and Stripes, but liberals salute the “mitotic rainbow” of the LGBTQ movement. We no longer have a common concept of marriage, nor can we agree on the definition of man and woman, added Knowles.
This crisis of American identity has been “exacerbated by radicals who have exploited Americans’ traditional love of liberty, which they have perverted over time beyond recognition,” Knowles continued. “The early American promise of liberation from injustice today has devolved into a temptation to liberate us from any and all constraints: political, cultural, familial, all the way to liberation from our own selves.” But this is not really what has happened. “The liberals’ project is not really, as they insist, one of liberation, but rather one merely one of resetting standards,” he said. “That’s how it works in practice.”
Knowles then stressed that America must make a decisive choice between visions. “If we get our way, the preposterous ideology of transgenderism will be eradicated from public life,” he said. “If [liberals] get their way, the distinct categories of man and woman will be eradicated from public life.”
<a class="c-link c-link--focus-visible" href="https://onelink.to/dwapp" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-stringify-link="https://onelink.to/dwapp" data-sk="tooltip_parent" aria-describedby="sk-tooltip-441512">CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILY WIRE APP</a>
“Those are the choices,” he added. “There can be no middle ground or simultaneous establishment of opposing premises. We will live according to one view or the other. One view, one identity, must win, the other must lose.”
Unfortunately, for the past few decades, the liberal notion of American identity is winning. “Their vision of national identity is the same vision of total liberation that we see in the claims of transgenderism,” Knowles observed. “It is the claim that America can be anything because America is not really anything at all. It isn’t a people, it isn’t a religion, it isn’t a language. It isn’t even a geographic area hemmed in by a real border. If America is anything at all, it’s just an idea floating out there in the aether somewhere. But really, according to the liberals, it isn’t even that, it’s just nothing.”
Knowles concluded his speech by pointing out the choice that America must make. “Will we continue to rebel against reality?” He asked. “Will we degrade ourselves further into decadence and delusion, and drown out the facts of life by howling into the wind like the poor souls outside? Or, will we open our ears to reason and revelation and the wisdom of the Ages? Will we choose instead obedience to reality, which finds in limits, in duty, in servitude itself, the spirit of an exalted freedom?”

Michael Knowles

Knowles At Purdue: The Left’s Liberation Project Has Cost America Her National Identity

America

Social Issues

Transgender

U.S.

A Purdue University student was found dead inside his dorm room, and his roommate has been arrested in connection with the alleged crime.
The roommate called 911 around 12:44 a.m. local time on Wednesday, according to the university&#8217;s media and publications director Tim Doty. It is uncertain whether the roommate made any confession related to the student&#8217;s death, and it is unclear if there were any weapons present.
&#8220;A suspect is in custody and there is no threat to the community,&#8221; Doty stated, <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/purdue-university-student-killed-roommate-suspect-arrested-officials-say/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according to</a> CBS News, adding that the investigation was ongoing.
Purdue University President Mitch Daniels sent a <a href="https://www.purdue.edu/president/messages/campus-community/2022/President%20Daniels%20on%20tragedy%20in%20residence%20hallcontent.php" target="_blank" rel="noopener">message</a> to members of the school&#8217;s community that was posted online after the incident.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
President Daniels on tragedy in residence hall: <a href="https://t.co/Y6rNl4pTl9">https://t.co/Y6rNl4pTl9</a>
&mdash; Purdue University (@LifeAtPurdue) <a href="https://twitter.com/LifeAtPurdue/status/1577645366572470273?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 5, 2022</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;I write to let you know that early this morning, one of our students was killed in his residence hall room. The suspect, the victim’s roommate, called police to report the incident and is in custody,&#8221; he wrote.
&#8220;This is as tragic an event as we can imagine happening on our campus and our hearts and thoughts go out to all of those affected by this terrible event,&#8221; Daniels added.
The Tippecanoe County Coroner’s Office identified the student who died as Varun Manish Chheda, 20, from Indianapolis, <a href="https://fox59.com/indiana-news/homicide-investigation-underway-at-purdue-university-dorm/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according to</a> Fox 59. He was noted as a senior in data science at the university. An autopsy will be conducted.
Purdue Police Chief Lesley Wiete identified the student taken into custody as 22-year-old Ji Min Sha. He is an international student from Korea.
“Our hearts go out to the victim and his family and friends and anyone who might have known him or anybody who he may have touched in life,” Wiete said. “This is extremely sad and unfortunate, and I can’t imagine what his family is going through at this time.”
Daniels reiterated in his letter to the Purdue community that the campus is safe.
&#8220;I assure you that the safety and security of our students is the single highest priority on our campus. Purdue is an extraordinarily safe place on any given day, and compared with cities of Purdue’s population (approximately 60,000 in all), we experience a tiny fraction of violent and property crime that occurs elsewhere,&#8221; he wrote.
&#8220;Such statistics are of no consolation on a day like this. A death on our campus and among our Purdue family affects each of us deeply,&#8221; he added.
Cheda was a graduate of Park Tudor, a private school in Indianapolis. Park Tudor Interim Head of School Dennis Bisgaard shared a <a href="https://www.wrtv.com/news/local-news/crime/person-killed-by-roommate-in-purdue-university-residence-hall" target="_blank" rel="noopener">statement</a> with WRTV-TV following the report of the graduate&#8217;s death.
&#8220;The entire Park Tudor community is saddened by the tragic loss of Varun Chheda, Park Tudor class of 2020. Our prayers are with his family at this difficult time,&#8221; he stated.

Purdue University Student Found Dead In Dorm Room, Roommate Arrested As Suspect

Crime

Death

Indiana

Caleb Swanigan, a former first-round NBA draft pick and Purdue University first-team consensus All-American, has died at the age of 25.
His family confirmed Swanigan&#8217;s death, which has been attributed to <a href="https://www.wane.com/news/local-news/caleb-swanigan-former-nbaer-dead-at-25/">natural causes</a> according to the Allen County Coroner&#8217;s Office, on Tuesday.
&#8220;The Purdue basketball family is deeply saddened and devastated at the loss of Caleb Swanigan,&#8221; Purdue coach Matt Painter said in a <a href="https://fox59.com/sports/a-gentle-soul-coach-painter-purdue-community-reacts-to-caleb-swanigans-death/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">statement</a>.
&#8220;Caleb was a very thoughtful individual and a gentle soul who excelled both on and off the court. He made a huge difference in everyone&#8217;s lives that he touched and he will be greatly missed,&#8221; he added.
The Purdue Men&#8217;s Basketball Twitter account also expressed its condolences over Swanigan&#8217;s death.
&#8220;Devastated. Our thoughts and prayers to Caleb Swanigan’s family and friends. The world lost a gentle soul last night,&#8221; it noted. &#8220;Love you Biggie.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
💔 Devastated. 
Our thoughts and prayers to Caleb Swanigan’s family and friends. The world lost a gentle soul last night. 
Love you Biggie. <a href="https://t.co/spU2hQtJdi">pic.twitter.com/spU2hQtJdi</a>
&mdash; Purdue Mens Basketball (@BoilerBall) <a href="https://twitter.com/BoilerBall/status/1539248588202692611?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 21, 2022</a></blockquote>
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The young star was drafted in the first round of the 2017 NBA Draft by the Portland Trail Blazers, selected 26th overall. He was named to the First Team during the 2017 NBA Summer League and played two seasons before being traded to the Sacramento Kings.
Swanigan later returned to the Trail Blazers following a January 2020 trade before being released after the 2020 season.
Swanigan previously starred as a top college athlete at Purdue University. Purdue Sports <a href="https://purduesports.com/sports/mens-basketball/roster/caleb-swanigan/564" target="_blank" rel="noopener">noted</a> that during the 2016-2017 season, &#8220;Swanigan had one of the most dominant seasons in college basketball history, earning first-team consensus All-America and Big Ten Player of the Year accolades. He was a finalist for the Wooden, Naismith and Oscar Robertson Player of the Year Awards and was named the recipient of the Pete Newell Big Man of the Year Award.&#8221;
His final season with Purdue also included setting a Big Ten record with 28 double-doubles, the 13th most by a player in NCAA history, Purdue Sports stated. Swanigan was also only the eighth player in Big Ten history to lead the league in both scoring and rebounding.
His college jersey number, 50, was retired by the team following his move to the NBA.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Extremely sad news coming out of Fort Wayne this morning.
Former Purdue All-American Caleb Swanigan has passed away at 25 <a href="https://t.co/odFIkECpds">pic.twitter.com/odFIkECpds</a>
&mdash; ISC Purdue 🚂💨💨💨 (@ISC_PU) <a href="https://twitter.com/ISC_PU/status/1539249594936197122?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 21, 2022</a></blockquote>
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In high school, he was awarded the honor of Indiana&#8217;s Mr. Basketball and led his Homestead team to a 2015 state championship. He left high school ranked ninth among ESPN&#8217;s Top 100 recruits in 2015.
Swanigan&#8217;s personal story was both difficult and inspiring. CBS Sports <a href="https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/10-nba-offseason-questions-russell-westbrook-kyrie-irving-to-be-traded-will-zion-williamson-get-max-deal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> that, &#8220;Swanigan&#8217;s father, Carl, died from diabetes-related causes in 2014, prior to Caleb enrolling at Purdue. Swanigan&#8217;s path to Purdue was carved when former Purdue star Roosevelt Barnes, who coached Swanigan in grassroots basketball, took him in and became his guardian in Fort Wayne, Indiana.&#8221;
The report also noted that Barnes adopted Swanigan during his teen years, claiming the decision &#8220;led Swanigan down a path in basketball that turned him into one of the best high school prospects in the country.&#8221;

Caleb Swanigan

Former NBA Player Caleb Swanigan Dead At 25

Basketball

The president of Purdue University has spoken out against the Chinese Communist Party <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/china-punishing-students-in-u-s-who-speak-out-against-regime">monitoring students’ behavior</a> and attempting to intimidate them and their families back in China.
Purdue President Mitch Daniels sent a letter to students, staff, and faculty explaining that the administration had learned about a recent story revealing that China is attempting to intimidate Chinese students in America who are speaking out against the regime.
‘We regret that we were unaware at the time of these events and had to learn of them from national sources,” Daniels wrote. “That reflects the atmosphere of intimidation that we have discovered surrounds this specific sort of speech.”
“Any such intimidation is unacceptable and unwelcome on our campus. Purdue has punished less personal, direct and threatening conduct. Anyone taking exception to the speech in question had their own right to express their disagreement, but not to engage in the actions of harassment which occurred here,” Daniels continued. “If those students who issued the threats can be identified, they will be subject to appropriate disciplinary action. Likewise, any student found to have reported another student to any foreign entity for exercising their freedom of speech or belief will be subject to significant sanction.”
In addition, Daniels said that “joining the Purdue community requires acceptance of its rules and values, and no value is more central to our institution or to higher education generally than the freedom of inquiry and expression.”
“Those seeking to deny those rights to others, let alone to collude with foreign government sin repressing them, will need to pursue their education elsewhere,” he concluded.
Earlier this month, ProPublica <a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/even-on-us-campuses-china-cracks-down-on-students-who-speak-out?utm_source=sailthru&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=dailynewsletter&amp;utm_content=feature">reported</a> on the story of Zhihao Kong, a student at Purdue University who expressed dissident views about the regime publicly, prompting a backlash against his family back home. As ProPublica explained:
<blockquote>In a rush of adrenaline last year, the graduate student posted an open letter on a dissident website praising the heroism of the students killed in the Tiananmen Square massacre in 1989.
The blowback, he said, was fast and frightening. His parents called from China, crying. Officers of the Ministry of State Security, the feared civilian spy agency, had warned them about his activism in the United States.
“They told us to make you stop or we are all in trouble,” his parents said.
Then other Chinese students at Purdue began hounding him, calling him a CIA agent and threatening to report him to the embassy and the MSS.</blockquote>
When this started, Kong had accepted an invitation to speak at an online commemoration for the Tiananmen massacre. He told ProPublica he was unsure whether he would ultimately participate, but joined in rehearsals on Zoom anyway. Kong told the outlet that within days of him participating that rehearsal, MSS officers went to his family’s door again. His parents then begged him to stop speaking out against the regime or attending any rallies.
“I think that the Zoom rehearsals were known by the Chinese Communist Party,” Kong told the outlet. “I think some of the Chinese students in my school are CCP members. I can tell they are not simply students. They could be spies or informants.”
As ProPublica reported: “As the regime of Chinese President Xi Jinping reaches across borders to control its citizens wherever they are, its assaults on academic freedom have intensified, according to U.S. national security officials, academics, dissidents and other experts. Chinese intelligence officers are monitoring campuses across the United States with online surveillance and an array of informants motivated by money, ambition, fear or authentic patriotism. A comment in class about Taiwan or a speech at a rally about Tibet can result in retaliation against students and their relatives back home.”
Mike Orlando, who leads the U.S. National Counterintelligence and Security Center, told the outlet that people who don’t adhere to the Chinese Communist Party’s line “risk being targeted for harassment.”

Vanderbilt v Purdue

Purdue President Condemns China For Intimidating Students, Families Who Speak Out Against Communist Regime

China

Purdue University has reversed course after mandating that students in a choir group complete “antiracist” training before participating after backlash from the students.
Purdue Musical Organizations announced in January that its members would be required to complete six classes on antiracist thought, including “White Privilege, White Supremacy, and White Fragility,” and “White Saviorism and How To Be A Better Ally,” according to emails reviewed by <a href="https://freebeacon.com/campus/purdue-university-music-groups-to-offer-antiracist-training/">the Washington Free Beacon</a>. The courses also featured readings from prominent antiracists such as Ibram X. Kendi and Robin DiAngelo.
The course, originally scheduled to begin in February, was postponed after complaints from students. After being contacted by the Free Beacon, a spokesman for the music group said the plans for mandatory training were scrapped and the classes would be optional for the group’s members.
“Purdue Musical Organizations is committed to inclusive excellence and has created a program, alongside the Purdue Office of Diversity and Inclusion, to create a learning series focused on engaging all of its members, whatever their lived experiences may be,” Purdue Musical Organizations spokesman Tim Doty told the Free Beacon in an email. “The series will be offered beginning in March. Recognizing the stresses presented by COVID, as well as the existing commitments that many students have outside of [Purdue Musical Organizations], the series is not required, but participation is strongly encouraged.”
Kendi, whose2 ideas will be prominently featured in the antiracist courses, has worked to redefine racism in the United States to encompass differences in group outcomes in addition to specific acts. Last year, Kendi launched the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/twitter-ceo-jack-dorsey-donates-10m-to-ibram-kendis-center-for-antiracist-research">Center for Antiracist Research</a> at Boston University to address the “seemingly intractable problems of racial inequity and injustice,” according to the group’s website.
“We foster exhaustive racial research, research-based policy innovation, data-driven educational and advocacy campaigns, and narrative-change initiatives. We are working toward building an antiracist society that ensures equity and justice for all,” the website continues.
In August, Kendi was invited to give a lecture at <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/nasa-invites-far-left-antiracism-professor-ibram-x-kendi-to-speak-to-workforce">NASA</a> titled “Understand Anti-racism by Understanding What it Means to be Racist.” The agency told The Daily Wire in a statement at the time that the event was aimed at getting employees “to engage in a dialogue about diversity and inclusion and follows the recent announcement of inclusion as one of NASA’s core values, which will enable NASA to attract the best talent, grow the capabilities of the entire workforce, and empower everyone to fully contribute.”
DiAngelo, whose work is also to be touted during the classes, has been paid thousands to give similar lectures. The University of Connecticut offered to pay DiAngelo $20,000 to train its administrators on antiracism before canceling the training, a university spokesman told The Daily Wire.
As <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/uconn-reportedly-paying-white-fragility-author-robin-diangelo-20000-to-train-administrators-in-anti-racism">The Daily Wire</a> reported:
<blockquote>According to her <a href="https://robindiangelo.com/about-me/">website</a>, DiAngelo holds a PhD in Multicultural Education from the University of Washington in Seattle and is currently an Affiliate Associate Professor of Education there. A recipient of two honorary doctorates, she claims her “area of research is in Whiteness Studies and Critical Discourse Analysis, tracing how whiteness is reproduced in everyday narratives.”
In a statement announcing DiAngelo’s lecture, as well as their “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion initiatives,” UConn President Thomas Katsouleas commended UConn faculty and students who have engaged in protests in the wake of George Floyd’s death, as well as participated “in innovative online and remote initiatives aimed at righting longstanding wrongs.”</blockquote>
Ed. note: An earlier version of this story noted that Robin DiAngelo was paid by the University of Connecticut to provide &#8220;antiracism&#8221; training. A university spokesperson indicated that the school offered to pay DiAngelo for the event but then canceled the training. The story has been updated to note this change. We apologize for the error.

Purdue University Backtracks On Mandatory ‘White Privilege’ Class For Music Students After Outcry

Education

Ibram X. Kendi

Two Purdue University students engaged in sexual activity one night in July 2019, both cheating on their significant other in the process. While the male student felt guilty about cheating on his girlfriend, the female student decided to claim the encounter was sexual assault in an apparent effort to keep her boyfriend from thinking she cheated on him for a second time.
In court documents reviewed by The Daily Wire, the male student, referred to as John, engaged in sexual activity with the female student, Jane, after the two sent some flirtatious messages and agreed to meet up to drink and watch a movie at John’s apartment while his roommates &#8212; including his girlfriend, referred to as Mary &#8212; were out of town. Jane had been drinking before John picked her up from work but showed no signs of intoxication. She also knew John’s roommates would be out of town and brought an overnight bag along with her.
The two started drinking and watching the movie. Jane, according to John’s lawsuit, became “increasingly flirtatious and suggestive” and moved closer to John. John asked if she wanted to kiss and she grabbed him to begin making out with him in response. John then asked if she wanted to move into the bedroom and she said yes. Once inside the bedroom, they each began undressing and continued to engage in sexual activity. Jane quickly began having second thoughts, according to John’s lawsuit. She claimed she was on her period and said, “We shouldn’t do this” when John offered to put a towel down on the bed.
John agreed to stop and the two put their clothes back on and laid down together on the bed to cuddle. At some point thereafter, John says, Jane began rubbing her buttocks against John’s groin and making sexually suggestive moans. John asked Jane if she wanted to have sex, and this time she said “yes,” without hesitating.
John grabbed a condom, and Jane put it on him before straddling him and inserting his penis into her vagina while holding his arms down. They changed positions, with John in a dominant position, before he started feeling guilty about cheating on Mary. He stopped the sexual intercourse, and the two agreed not to tell anyone what happened.
The two fell asleep in each other’s arms. The next morning the two had breakfast together, and Jane returned with John to his apartment. Instead of going home, she spent more time at John’s apartment, watching a movie, and even asked to take a nap with him when he offered to drive her home. Jane also told John at some point that she had fun with him the night before.
That same morning, Jane texted her friend, referred to as Jill in court records, making no mention of an alleged assault or giving any indication she had been forced to have sex. Instead, Jane made clear that she needed to talk to someone because she “felt awful” about cheating on her boyfriend and claimed “she wasn’t straight forward enough to say no.”
John wrote in his lawsuit that Jane’s “lament is that of a young woman who wakes up regretting her infidelity, troubled that she gave in to her own sexual desire, and worried that if discovered, it will ruin her relationship with her boyfriend,” referred to in court documents as Paul.
Within days, Jane began claiming she was sexually assaulted and reported John to Purdue, though her story differed depending on who she was telling. Jane told her friend Jill the day after her night with John merely that she worried her boyfriend would be mad at her for cheating on him a second time (it was general knowledge among the group that Jane had previously cheated on Paul with her ex-fiancé). Later, Jane would tell others that she begged John to stop and that she had been in tears during the alleged assault, despite evidence to the contrary.
Jane even talked to John a week after their encounter, without making any accusations against him, simply saying she felt guilty about cheating. She then told John she felt “violated,” which began what John said was her orchestrated lies against him.
Jane spoke to John’s girlfriend, Mary, about the alleged incident, claiming she only planned that night “to drink and go home,” even though she brought an overnight bag with her. Jane admitted she had brought the bag and planned to spend the night to her friend Jill and campus investigators.
Yet with Mary, Jane claimed she thought John’s roommates would be home, even though Mary told investigators that Jane knew the roommates would be out of town prior to her going to hang out with John.
Jane also initially told investigators that John “grabbed her arm,” forcing her into the bedroom. She later admitted that wasn’t the truth. As the investigation continued, Jane claimed she was too drunk to consent and didn’t remember many details of the encounter, though she admitted to many specific details at certain times. She admitted to Purdue investigators that she put the condom on John and straddled him, though she didn’t admit this to Mary or Paul. She told Paul she was assaulted and didn’t know if protection was used. She also omitted the fact that she kissed and fondled John willingly on the couch when confessing the encounter to Paul.
Mary and another of Jane’s friends, referred to as Ruth, said Paul and others knew that Jane had previously cheated on him with her ex-fiancé. Mary also told Purdue investigators that Jane “has been known to dramatize and over exaggerate any slight inconvenience in her life. On numerous occasions, she refuses to take responsibility of her actions and blames others for any complications she experiences.” Ruth said something similar, noting Jane “constantly acted like the world was ending.”
Purdue seemingly ignored Jane’s inconsistencies and what her own friends said, deeming Jane’s claims to be credible while insisting John’s defense, which was consistent and backed up by evidence, was not credible.
John was only allowed to view Purdue’s preliminary investigative report, which seemed to ignore Jane’s inconsistent statements and the fact that much of what Jane and the witnesses said actually supported John’s version of events.
“The report indicates that the complainant told a variety of different stories, with little detail, to multiple people including the investigators. Many of the details that were provided by the complainant to the investigators support my version of what happened. Contrary to the complainant, my version of events has remained consistent and detailed throughout this investigation,” John wrote to Purdue.
The university held a hearing, which John says assumed Jane was telling the truth based on the pseudo-scientific “trauma-informed” policies Purdue follows, which insist that any inconsistency, lie, or statement contradicted by evidence is merely the result of the trauma resulting from the assault. Under “trauma-informed” investigations, there is no such thing as evidence that a woman made up her allegations. Guilt of the accused is assumed from the outset.
John said in his lawsuit that Purdue investigators didn’t even bother to properly attribute claims made in their preliminary report, several times attributing statements about John as statements about Jane. John said in his lawsuit that these errors made Jane seem more credible by making it seem like his testimony was inconsistent.
John informed Purdue investigators why Jane would lie about their encounter and suggested they talk to certain witnesses who could back him up, but it appears they didn’t contact those witnesses to ask.
John was not given access to the final investigative report and was not able to question its findings or witness statements therein, even though the report was used by adjudicators to find John responsible for sexual assault. John also wasn’t allowed to question Jane at the hearing, nor were witnesses allowed at the hearing, so John couldn’t question them or present exculpatory evidence from witnesses who backed up his story. At the hearing, Jane was allowed to give live testimony, but John wasn’t allowed to listen to what she said. John was also denied access to recorded interview with Jane and other witnesses. Further, John wasn’t informed of the identity of the three adjudicators to see if there were any conflicts of interest or bias prior to his hearing.
John was found responsible and Purdue expelled him. He appealed, and his sentence was inexplicably reduced to a one-year suspension. He sued late last year, following several other lawsuits against Purdue for violating male students’ due process rights. One of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/she-accused-her-ex-boyfriend-sexual-assault-after-ashe-schow">those lawsuits</a> reached the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit while now-Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett was still a member. Barrett found that a magistrate judge should not have dismissed the student’s lawsuit and that gender bias was an issue.
John’s lawsuit did not need to go that far. On January 11, 2020, John filed notice to dismiss the case after agreeing to an undisclosed settlement with Purdue.
John’s attorney, Eric Rosenberg, would not tell The Daily Wire what the settlement included but insisted that his “clients are able to move on academically and professionally,” after agreeing to settle with their universities. On Twitter, author and professor K.C. Johnson noted that John’s settlement <a href="https://twitter.com/kcjohnson9/status/1348715211830800387">was the 100th federal lawsuit</a> since the Obama administration’s 2011 “Dear Colleague Letter” &#8211; which instructed schools to find more students responsible for sexual assault and led to the evisceration of due process rights for college students – to settle before any court decision was made in the case.

woman on bed

She Accused Him Of Sexual Assault So Her Boyfriend Wouldn’t Know She Cheated. The School Just Settled With The Accused.

Sexual Assault

Title IX

Purdue University suspended 14 students, 13 of whom were athletes, for holding a party Saturday night in violation of the school’s coronavirus policy.
The suspended athletes are not involved in fall sports, ESPN <a href="https://www.espn.com/college-sports/story/_/id/29997257/purdue-suspends-13-non-fall-sports-residence-hall-party">reported</a>, nor have they been identified. Purdue announced the suspensions on Monday, saying the students violated the “Protect Purdue Pledge” against on-campus parties that violate social distancing guidelines. ESPN reported that the suspended athletes are not on the men’s or women’s basketball teams, suggesting they could be members of the “men&#8217;s and women&#8217;s golf, men&#8217;s and women&#8217;s swimming and diving, men&#8217;s and women&#8217;s tennis, track and field, softball, baseball and wrestling.”
The affected students are required to leave their residence hall by Wednesday but can appeal the suspensions. In a statement to ESPN, Purdue said:
<blockquote>The university will process the appeals of the summary suspensions expeditiously. We will not be providing details regarding individual disciplinary outcomes. Each case will be resolved in a manner that meets the objectives of (1) protecting the health &amp; safety of the campus community and (2) educating students on how to effectively adhere to the Protect Purdue Pledge.</blockquote>
The suspensions were issued by associate vice provost and dean of students Katie Sermersheim after university residence staff learned of the party.
In a separate statement, Purdue’s athletic department said it was aware of the situation “involving 13 out-of-season student-athletes.”
&#8220;Our student-athletes, coaches and staff remain committed to following the guidelines of the Protect Purdue Pledge, and have been working with the university throughout this process,&#8221; the statement said. &#8220;While this is an unfortunate occurrence, we hope it&#8217;s instructive for all Boilermaker students and reinforces the importance of protecting everyone on campus during this time.&#8221;
Purdue president Mitch Daniels also released a statement.
&#8220;On one hand, we are glad to have had only two of this type of incident in six weeks,&#8221; Daniels said, &#8220;but we will deal with any such violation with firmness. The fact that this episode involved student-athletes can make no difference. At Purdue, we have one set of rules for everyone.&#8221;
Daniels was referring to a second incident in August in which 36 people were suspended for attending a large party.
As The Daily Wire previously <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/the-ohio-state-university-suspends-228-students-for-violating-social-distancing-guidelines">reported</a>, other colleges and universities across the country are punishing students for throwing parties during the coronavirus pandemic. In August, The Ohio State University suspended 228 students for violating the school’s social distancing guidelines before classes even started.
“OSU sent a message informing them of the school’s coronavirus guidelines, such as wearing a mask, keeping at least six feet apart (social distancing), and limiting gatherings to 10 or fewer people. Students were also warned by Vice President of Student Life Melissa S. Shivers that the university was already opening investigations into student gatherings that would likely result in suspensions. Student organizations were warned they could lose recognition and funding if they held gatherings that violated the school’s coronavirus guidelines,” The Daily Wire reported.
Florida State University also arrested seven men in connection with a house party that violated the state’s open house part law where alcohol was served to underage people.

Group of people hands toasting

Purdue Suspends 14 For Holding Party During Coronavirus Pandemic

COVID

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