Two Nebraska lawmakers call for resignation of UNL Chancellor Ronnie Green
State senators want Green to step down over his diversity plan
State senators want Green to step down over his diversity plan
State senators want Green to step down over his diversity plan
Two Nebraska senators called for the resignation of University of Nebraska-Lincoln Chancellor Ronnie Green, following the release of the university's diversity plan.
The plan, Journey for Anti-Racism and Racial Equity, focuses on five themes:
Advancing diversity, positioning learning through diversity, promoting an inclusive community, building an anti-racist infrastructure and acknowledging the impact of COVID-19 on minorities.
In a joint letter, Senators Steve Erdman and Steve Halloran said Nebraska's state colleges and universities are "devolving at an alarming rate" and "despite University President Ted Carter insisting critical race theory is not being taught on campus, they believe it's become normalized and standardized throughout the NU system.
The letter follows Gov. Pete Ricketts' remarks in a news conference last week where he said he lost faith in Green and felt misled by his plans.
Board of Regents Chair Paul Kenney said in a phone interview, he also feels he wasn't informed of all aspects of the plan.
"I know some of the lawmakers are not happy and the governor is not happy, but I probably would fall into that category," Kenney said. "I was one of the last ones to know about the journey."
Ricketts again talked about his disappointment with the diversity proposal Monday on his statewide radio show. He said he thinks it includes critical race theory, something he is against. But he stopped short of calling for Green to step down.
"This really makes it obvious why the administration was opposing Regent Jim Pillen's resolution to ban critical race theory on the campus of University of Nebraska because they were planning on doing it, which is really kind of shocking to me about this or one of the shocking things," Ricketts said.
Ricketts took issue with the inclusion of language from author and professor Ibram X. Kendi, whose 2019 book 'How to be an Anti-Racist' became a best-seller.
He called the plan a terrible director for the University.
"We have unequal outcomes, and that's true and we need to address them. We need to make sure that minority students have the same opportunities to get the right education to get the right jobs, all that sort of thing. So helping and getting more engagement from minorities to be able to accomplish those things is a great goal. However, when you say we're going to make it all equal, or make it all equal outcomes, what you're talking about is that some Marxist philosophy," Ricketts said.
The governor didn't say if he thinks Green should resign. Kenney wouldn't discuss that either.
"I don't really have an opinion of that right now. For sure, I'm not very happy with the way things came about," Kenney said.
KETV Newswatch 7 reached out to Green for an interview, but his office denied the request. Ricketts encouraged Nebraskans to reach out to the regents either by email, phone calls or attending Friday's meeting.
Nebraska State Senator Michaela Cavanaugh responded to the governor with a letter of her own last week, saying he is attacking education institutions and attempting to create division among Nebraskans based on the color of their skin.
Student regent Maeve Hemmer also responded, saying in a statement:
“Many students I talk to love the University of Nebraska and our state, but at the same time want us to be doing more to be welcoming and inclusive of everyone. While I wasn’t involved in the development of the plan, its goal of ensuring that opportunity is extended to everyone is clear. I think that is a goal that all Nebraskans can and should get behind. The workforce numbers speak for themselves - we must foster opportunities for everyone to go to college, get a good job, and stay in Nebraska to live and work. I admire Chancellor Green for leading a critical dialogue on UNL’s campus that will make those things happen.”
Read the lawmakers' full letter here:
What value is there in a college education today? Where can a student go today for higher education which isn’t laced with Left-wing propaganda such as Critical Race Theory? Nebraska’s state’s colleges and universities are now devolving at an alarming rate. Many Nebraskans now believe there may be more hope for the Cornhuskers to play in a bowl game this year than for our own colleges and universities to recover their good names and reputations.
Last week Gov. Pete Ricketts announced publicly that he has lost all faith in UNL Chancellor, Ronnie Green. Gov. Ricketts drew this conclusion after he was misled by the Chancellor about a document that emerged at the University flowing out of an 18-month long equity and diversity study conducted by students and faculty at UNL. After the Chancellor reported how the Governor supported the study, Gov. Ricketts responded at a press conference saying, “What the University is talking about is giving unqualified people jobs based on their skin color…and [Ronnie Green] did not tell me those things when we were talking about that last week. I was misled by Ronnie Green. I have lost all faith in Ronnie Green and don’t believe anything he says anymore”.
Gov. Ricketts has now come to the same conclusion that we, Sen. Steve Erdman of Bayard and Sen. Steve Halloran of Hastings, reached four years ago. On November 16, 2017 we met with both UNL Chancellor, Ronnie Green and UNL President, Hank Bounds. They were not truthful with us at that time about how conservatives were being treated at UNL. They assured us that conservatives were being treated fairly on campus, but the very next day at 4:55 p.m. they released a letter to the Governor and to the members of the Legislature apologizing for the way conservatives were being treated a UNL. So, which is it? Because of these kinds of untruths, we believe it would be in the best interest of the University and the people of Nebraska for Ronnie Green to resign as Chancellor of the University of Nebraska.
The Board of Regents aren’t any better. When we elect Regents, we expect them to be guardians of truth and to protect the University from corrosive ideas. Instead, they have allowed Critical Race Theory to invade our university system and to fester into the academic cancer that it is today. When the Board of Regents had the opportunity to correct this situation back in August, they failed to pass a resolution which would have helped to resolve this problem. As the result, Critical Race Theory has now become normalized and standardized throughout the University of Nebraska System. Although University President Ted Carter continues to insist that Critical Race Theory is not being taught at the University of Nebraska, one needs look no further than the University’s own “Journey for Anti-Racism and Racial Equality,” where the stated philosophy is, “A reckoning with history and its impact on the present” coupled with their false accusation that opponents of Critical Race Theory aid the Klu Klux Klan.
The situation isn’t any better regarding our state college system. One would think that after countless numbers of parents and concerned citizens came out to testify against gender identity and sexual orientation being taught in our K-12 public schools that those running our state college system would have concluded that these are things that the people of Nebraska don’t want taught to students in our State College system as well. Regardless of the viewpoints of parents and the concerns of our citizens, the trustees (board members) who run our State College system voted earlier this month in favor of a new policy for gender identity and sexual orientation.
Much like when no one at the University of Nebraska could give a straight answer about the existence of free speech zones, no one at the State College System can give a straight answer today about gender identity and sexual orientation. So, when we asked Chancellor Paul Turman if the State College System’s new policy would allow biological males to access women’s restrooms and locker rooms, he replied in double-speak, saying, “[They] do NOT allow men access to women’s restrooms or locker rooms. Individuals can access restrooms consistent with their gender identity.” So, which is it? Make no mistake about it, though: Biological males who self-identify as females may now use women’s restrooms and locker rooms, but the political correctness of the Woke Left will no longer permit the Chancellor to give anyone a straight answer, and that is exactly what our colleges and universities are now teaching our students to do.
Going forward, defunding our state’s colleges and universities may be the only way we can get the attention of those who have been charged with running them. So let us end this article by simply reminding those who run our public colleges and universities about who they really work for. If there is any good thing which comes from this report today on the state of our colleges and universities, it is that parents and students should now be better informed and better equipped for making decisions about where to go for higher education.