Harvard Gym Bans Men to Accommodate Muslim Women
Compiled by the DiversityInc staff
March 10, 2008
Harvard Gym Bans Men to Accommodate Muslim Women
Harvard University's decision to ban male students for a few hours a week from a school gym to accommodate female Muslim students has angered some members of the student body, reports USA Today. The change in hours came at the behest of several female Muslim students on campus who, because of religious or cultural reasons, preferred to exercise in a female-only environment.
Currently, no men are allowed in the gym between 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. on Mondays, and between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. on Tuesday and Thursdays. The hours affect six of the 70 hours the gym is open for students. But Harvard student Lucy Caldwell, a columnist for student newspaper The Harvard Crimson, called the change in policy misguided, saying it "shows a readiness to put minority interests ahead of the entire community."
Read Christian, Muslim & Hindu: How Will Your Company Manage Religion at Work to get best practices from companies that get it right.
Teacher Segregation Widespread
America's public schools are more segregated than is commonly thought, reports Wendy Parker, a member of the Law Professors Blog Network. Parker posted findings from her study of 157 school districts across the country. "The re-segregation of teachers exposes the truth of segregation--it continues to impede structural equality and helps to perpetuate white supremacy," Parker writes. This latest trend mirrors the re-segregation of American schools. Read Want Your Kids to Succeed? Send Them to a 'White' High School to learn more about the devastating impact this is having on educational opportunity.
Obama/Clinton Battle Shows Tribalism Still in Play
Are we beyond tribalism? No, says New York columnist Roger Cohen, who writes that the ongoing battle between Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination illustrates that tribalism is still clearly at play in 2008. "We have the black vote, and the Latino vote, and the women-over-50 vote, and the Volvo-driving liberal-intellectual vote, and the white blue-collar vote, and the urban vote, and the rural vote, and the under-30s vote--sub-groups with shared social, cultural, linguistic or other traits and interest." The candidate who can appeal most effectively to today's increasingly fragmented marketplace will win. Get all the latest Election '08 news on DiversityInc.com.
Why Is 'Muslim' a Bad Word in This Year's Election?
The most monstrous form of bigotry on display in this year's election campaign isn't about race or sex but about religion, writes New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof.
"The whispering campaigns allege that Mr. Obama is a secret Muslim planning to impose Islamic law on the country. Incredible, he is even accused -- in earnest! -- of being the Antichrist." Read Is Obama a Muslim? Debunking an Urban Legend.
Comedians Gather for Autism Benefit
"The Daily Show" host Jon Stewart has been tapped to host the second biannual "Night of Too Many Stars: An Overbooked Benefit for Autism Education" on April 13 at the Beacon Theater in New York. The show is scheduled to air live on Comedy Central at 8 p.m. The event will raise funds for schools and education programs for autistic children and adults. The first "Night of Too Many Stars," held in October 2006, raised more than $2.6 million, reports The Associated Press.
First Muslim Sorority Sparks Interest
Gamma Gamma Chi, the first Muslim-oriented sorority, is looking to drum up interest by holding a series of informational meetings across the nation, reports USA Today.
The sorority, which formed last year, currently has no campus chapters. But Muslim women from MIT, the University of Kentucky, Rutgers, The University of Maryland-Baltimore and the University of Southern California have expressed interest in forming chapters.
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