quo vadis
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RE: If the AAC drops one member
(04-07-2021 04:43 PM)mturn017 Wrote: (04-07-2021 04:23 PM)quo vadis Wrote: (04-07-2021 02:07 PM)mturn017 Wrote: (04-07-2021 01:58 PM)quo vadis Wrote: (04-07-2021 11:02 AM)Frank the Tank Wrote: They’re not discriminating against Liberty based on their religion. Look at Notre Dame, Baylor and most of the Big East. The issue is that Liberty has an open (not even veiled) discriminatory policy against LGBTQ+ students. This is something that places like ND and Baylor *don’t* have even though they still adhere to their religious teachings. That’s not about politics or religion, but rather straight up discrimination. That has no place on society and people can’t hide behind a “religious freedom” argument to justify it. LIBERTY is the school that has chosen to take this type of stance, NOT the other universities. It’s completely on them that other conferences don’t want to associate with them, just as people with discriminatory viewpoints shouldn’t expect companies and institutions to hire them in positions of authority (or any positions at all). The world has irreversibly moved into this issue and if they want to think like a dinosaur, then they’ll be treated like a dinosaur.
Eh, I think history has shown that even within Christianity, different sects can have different beliefs about some things. For example, IIRC, Presbyterians believe that elective abortion is morally acceptable, whereas the Catholic church does not. In this case, Baylor and Notre Dame seem have what we might call more liberal views on gay rights than does Liberty, but IMO Liberty's view is rooted in their interpretation of the Bible, so it does have something to do with religion.
Also, given the political battles over the past decades over gay marriage, transgender athletes and many other issues involving LBGTQ rights, I don't agree that these issues are non-political. IMO they clearly are political, in the sense that they have been and are the subject of political debates, etc.
That said, I agree with your earlier posts about why many conferences and universities might not want to affiliate with Liberty. Administrators in academia tend to have very liberal views on gay rights, so are unlikely to want to affiliate with Liberty. And that's their decision to make.
I think you're still missing the point here. It's less to do about liberalism/conservatism as it does academia itself. When you're pumping out 75-100K online diplomas and have a Biology professor that has published books refuting evolution in favor of creationism then you're not going to be taken seriously by your peers. In fact they won't even look at you as a peer. Call it elitism if you want but it's goes well beyond political stances.
Um, no, I don't think I'm missing the point. Last time I checked, Liberty was accredited by SACS, which is the same agency that accredits Duke, North Carolina and the University of Virginia.
Now Liberty isn't in their class, it's US News ranking is in the 289 - 389 national university range, but that's the same range as schools like Louisiana-Lafayette, Western Kentucky, Georgia Southern and South Alabama, all schools that are in G5 conferences.
So ... Any animus towards Liberty among conference and universities probably does boil down to the liberal politics of the leaders of these other conferences and institutions rather than academic qualifications.
So you think these are the measures that people that have spent their entire careers as academics use? US News rankings? That's a joke. 8/10 Liberty students only needed a high school equivalent and their check to clear to be accepted as their online program has little to no standards. It's a nonprofit Devry. Now each University plays a role and serves a niche and they're not all Ivy League schools but they all look down on Liberty, especially the online program which cheapens the degree and the entire University. In 10-20 years that may change as they've made a butt load of money and have poured it into their Lynchburg campus. But as long as creationism isn't restricted to their Divinity school they're not going to be taken seriously among other academics, is that a liberal stance? I would say not.
I've spent my entire career in academia and, whatever any particular person may think about US News, the rankings do have an impact. They are taken pretty seriously because the public takes them seriously. FWIW, I just looked at the Forbes rankings, and they have Liberty in the 500s, in the same range as ULL, Western Kentucky, South Alabama and Texas State.
But set US News aside - Liberty is accredited by SACS, the same agency that accredits other schools in the south. Very similar to your typical CUSA or Sun Belt school.
From what I can see, Liberty's academic profile is a clear fit for the G5.
(This post was last modified: 04-07-2021 06:22 PM by quo vadis.)
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