So, it looks like some students here made the news by re-enacting the Jena 6. *sigh*

Update: A letter from ULM’s President was sent out today, and apparently, we’re going to have a forum on diversity tonight, followed by “educational opportunities focusing on cultural diversity and racial sensitivity, including special programs that will be included in the freshmen orientation process.”

Of course, I teach first-year orientation, so that will be a fun, late-term addition. Oddly, the first-year orientation course is the least diverse class I teach.

I have to wonder if we want all this negative publicity. Are we trying to send a message, “Hey, we’re ignorant racists; don’t come here!”

First, the Jena 6 debacle. Then, the Jena 6 re-enactment. Then yesterday, a first-grade teacher decides to demonstrate how to use a noose on a student to teach the class about “black history.”

Are we brain dead down here?