#347: The End of Equity

Conservative law student Tal Fortgang believes at least two things are wrong with the progressive goal of equity, or common outcomes. First, notions of equality are too deeply rooted in American culture that seeking equity comes across as unfair. Equally as important, Mr. Fortang argues, Democratic leaders have hedged, not going all in on equity, afraid to be upfront with the American people on the true definition of equity for fear of losing the upcoming election. Besides, Americans like the idea of “equal opportunity.” But equity? That’s socialist. (14 min)

Up until this year, Nicolette Solomon taught fourth graders in Key Biscayne, Florida, with boundless joy. She was good, too – nominated teacher of the year. Then came HB 1557, dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” law, which emboldened Ms. Solomon’s colleagues to explain that being gay is against God’s rules and that she should not be teaching young children. One said, “I like you as a person, but I don’t support gay marriage.” Even though she loved the kids, Ms. Solomon decided she couldn’t work at a school if she couldn’t wear her wedding ring. (20 min)

Matthew Crump teaches psychology at the Brooklyn College of CUNY. He wants the best for his students – even when they cheat. This is Prof. Crump’s account of last semester’s class, in which many of his students cheated (via a group chat), how much they cheated (a lot), and how well they cheated (they didn’t know Prof. Crump was also on the group chat). What could easily be a gossipy gotcha story turns out to be a tale of redemption, thanks to Prof. Crump’s empathy and desire to improve as an educator. (He’s also pretty good at the programming language R.) (48 min)

It’s not a secret that medical students spend most of their time learning about anatomy and diseases and very little time learning about how to interact with people. That’s why Meg Senuta volunteers as a mock cancer patient and participates in role plays with medical students practicing how to deliver bad news. Why does she do it? She’s a cancer survivor herself. “I’m still figuring out how to live with uncertainty and fear. I am still figuring out what happened to me,” she writes. “How to make use of it. Not meaning, but use.” (17 min)