Liberty University, an evangelical Christian liberal arts institution founded by televangelist and conservative commentator Jerry Falwell, has banned its College Democrats organization from participating in campus activities, The New York Times reported. Mark Hine, the university's vice president for student affairs, said that the College Democrats violated the university's main principles by advocating for pro-choice legislation and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights. The organization's initial recognition was couched as an oversight by the university's administration, according to The New York Times.
Budget concerns dominated U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan's day-long visit to California on Friday, which was intended to be part of an effort to solicit input on President Barack Obama's No Child Left Behind Reform law, according to the Los Angeles Times. The California school system is facing $5.3 billion in budget cuts over the next 13 months due to the economic crisis, the Times reported. The U.S. Education Department has given California $4.3 billion of the $100 billion in federal education funds allocated by the economic stimulus package. Duncan said that the funding should help promote reforms, such as improving under-performing schools, the Times reported.
The Dalai Lama has offered to donate $100,000 to Florida International University to prevent the closing of its religion department, The Miami Herald reported on Monday. The department was slated to close as a result of the university's $27 million in budget cuts, according to The Herald. Closing the department would save the university approximately $600,000 a year, which includes the salaries of 12 full-time faculty members. The Dalai Lama visited FIU in 1999 and 2004, and later became involved in the campaign to save the department when friend and FIU religion professor Nathan Katz wrote him a letter about the department's closure, according to The Herald.
