The FBI Has Closed Its DEI Office

 

 

Daily Wire

The Federal Bureau of Investigation closed its Office of Diversity and Inclusion last month ahead of President-elect Donald Trump’s entry into the White House.

The announcement comes as Trump and his allies have pledged to purge the diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) agenda from the federal government and military.

“In recent weeks, the FBI took steps to close the Office of Diversity and Inclusion (ODI), effective by December 2024,” the federal agency said in a statement to Fox News, though it did not provide any additional information as to why it made the decision to close the office.

"Scholars are divided."

***

GJ - I refused to echo the DEI fetish at the University of Phoenix. I told them I would not help them destroy the English language. Not long after, they increased their tumbling around and now have something cooking, either with or without the University of Idaho.

At almost the same time as UOP's foolishness, Augustana College in Rock Island, second cousin to the same name in Sioux Falls, went all out for DEI, even hiring a new president who was soaked and sugar-coated with DEI. Their board of directors was "blown away" by this great effort. I too dabbed tears from my eyes, but they were tears of laughter rather than blown-away-ness.

I only mention this because I fear the Boomers are too lax to object to anything. How else can one explain the downhill slide of so many basics of Western culture?

This is a reference to Planet of the Apes, where Taylor realized he had returned to the once great planet, which was blown up by DEI, weed, coke, gummies, and other improvements.

The View from Google Earth

 

Christmas Day is bound to unleash many memories. I enjoy using  Google Earth because the nosy satellite captures every place I have been, zooming down to observe the present state of various places called home for a period of time.

My earliest memory is living in Moline, Illinois, once a John Deere city.  I walked to Garfield Elementary and to John Deere Junior High. When I went out to the parking lot of the Melo Cream Donut Shop downtown, there was the emblem of John Deere facing me, painted on the back of one Deere building. I even walked to Moline Senior High, which always elicited reasons why the long walk was good for me and a lot shorter than when my parents trekked to their country schools. I even walked to Augustana College, not too far away. "It's good for what ales ya."

The old high school was converted into the community college, mocked as S.S.U. - Sixteenth Street University. We had the old high school albums and went over them at times. The names gave away the Swedish origins - John Johnson, Sven Svenson, John Svenson and Sven Johnson, etc. 

The newer Moline High is almost the same, but Augustana College has built many more buildings and lavish sports facilities, completely distancing itself from its origins and values. But I remember the Augustana College named from the Latin name for the Augsburg Confession. They bragged about their new college president being a DEI expert. Maybe they will scratch a dust pile over their mistake, the way a dog covers up his accident.

Christina and I met on the first day of class. I have her ID badge posted on my happy corner picture gallery. Also - a photo of us is kept of early graduation day, early to have a November wedding and trip to Canada.

St. Peter Lutheran Church in Kitchener, Ontario, where I vicared, is now being carved up as low cost housing.

 The once great library at Augustana was replaced by The Tredway.

Yale Divinity School worships ecology. 

Christina had lots of relatives in Southern Ontario, and I got to practice German with them and many members of St. Peter's in Kitchener. Christina started as a librarian at the nearby University of Waterloo, then upgraded by earning an MA in German at that school. As some are beginning to think, "They could walk from one school (Waterloo Lutheran Seminary and apartments) to another - UniWat," famous for computer innovations."

Long ago, Canadians asked for help in establishing Waterloo Lutheran Seminary. It now has almost no seminarians with a much bigger name - Martin Luther University Library.

The Waterloo Lutheran Seminary chapel has doggie time for the students. Aww.

 Why didn't we think of that, instead of a pipe organ, worship, and hymns?

We graduated from Kitchener-Waterloo quickly enough, which meant college degrees and master's degrees were completed between 1966 and 1972. Christina always enjoyed getting done early. She got a research job at Yale Medical School, where I also worked - as a lowly librarian assistant. I xeroxed, she researched. I tell MDs that I worked at Yale Medical Library, and that wakes them up.

Christina's family lived in South Bend, Indiana, after starting out with two daughters in post WWII camps in Germany. They found a small house - definitely a trend - within walking distance of Notre Dame. The professor Augustana kicked out of their school (non-renewal of his contract) was accepted by Notre Dame - Stanley Hauerwas. Hauerwas has his own website, and he was once brought back to Augustana for a lecture. He is 84.

Hauerwas was instrumental in moving me into the pastoral theology program for a PhD at Notre Dame, which I completed in 1982 . I never longed for cozy academic positions but pursued publishing instead. 

Be Prepared To DIE - Diversity, Inclusion, Equity - The Slogan Is a University Demand, Almost Everywhere

 

St. Vincent College, Latrobe, Pa.

I first saw the three words together as a slogan, and higher education is full of those tidy packages of current thought. 

This is a Spectator.org essay from the leader of the political science department at St. Vincent Collegte in Latrobe, PA. I never heard of the college either, but the description is similar to what happened at the LCMS college in Mequon, Wisconsin, a campus formerly Roman Catholic and offered at first to WELS, so I heard. 

In an essay that was published on Feb. 14 in the Christian News Missouri, Dr. Gregory Schulz wrote the search criteria for a new university president include someone who exhibits a "demonstrated belief in and commitment to equity and inclusion and who promotes racialized diversity in all its myriad forms."

I paid little attention to the slogan because the cause appeared won some time ago. I attended an elementary school, Garfield (now a condo) in Moline, Illinois. The school was diverse because its neighborhood was, from welfare housing to a large Black section to the more affluent who worked for the farm equipment companies, namely John Deere.

In the last few years, the three-word combination has been used to baptize a new department (and staff) in as many schools of higher education as possible. 

Augustana College in Rock Island has its own DIE office and the new president was already in charge of the same thing at a previous school - so qualified! The Augustana DIE page has a calendar, a DIE VP and student staff, reporting standards! and everything except theme cookies for sale. Say goodbye to original research and hello to Woke.

Trustees of Augustana

Denise Garrett, associate general counsel, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Bettendorf, Iowa.

Dr. Ann Die Hasselmo, higher education consultant in executive search, Academic Search, Inc., Seabrook, Texas.

Doug Hultquist, co-founder (retired), QCR Holdings, Moline, Ill.

Christina Garrett Klein, pastor, Edgebrook Lutheran Church, Chicago.

Peter Simshauser, chief legal officer, Motional AD Inc., Boston.

Purdue University President Retires - He Kept Tuition Low. One of the Few

 Salute - Purdue University president retires.

Someone wisecracked that most universities are investment companies with a college attached. The endowments - permanent piggy-banks - keep expanding while the school and tuition grows.

Augustana College in Rock Island now has tuition, board, books, and et-ceteras at $62,000 a year. They also bragged about endowment gifts, not giving the total, which is listed at $166 million.

Yale's endowment is $42 billion.

We met a Notre Dame mother who said her daughter was accepted because the family did not request any tuition help.

Notre Dame annual cost is now at $76,000.

Yale is $80,000 so ND is a bargain!

Grand Canyon University has kept tuition down, in part by becoming non-profit and no longer paying $300 million a year in taxes. They are way below Augustana, Yale, and Notre Dame.

 Sterling is the main library at Yale University. We went to see Roland Bainton there, where he had an office. He helped me with my dissertation and offered to do some xeroxing for me!

 The interior of Sterling boasted one of the largest card catalogs ever. Computers replaced them.

Augustana College Graduate the New Bishop for Northern Illinois

New President of Augustana College, Rock Island, Illinois

By KWQC Staff

Published: Jun. 20, 2022 at 2:31 PM CDT|Updated: 11 hours ago

ROCK ISLAND, Ill. (KWQC) - A Rock Island pastor was elected Saturday to serve as bishop of the Northern Illinois Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

The Rev. Stacie Fidlar will serve a six-year term as bishop, the Northern Illinois Synod of ELCA said in a media release.

The election took place during a synod assembly online on June 5 and 12 and then in person at Augustana College on June 17 and 18.

Fidlar was elected on the fifth ballot with 219 votes to 111 votes for the Rev. Dr. Janet Hunt, pastor of First Lutheran Church in DeKalb. A total of 166 votes was needed for the election.

The bishop-elect, Fidlar has served as pastor of St. John’s Lutheran Church in Rock Island since 1999. She served as pastor of Our Savior’s Lutheran Church in Seneca from 1995 to 1999 and as interim pastor of St. James Lutheran Church in Forreston in 1995, the ELCA said.

Fidlar earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Religion with Asian Studies concentration from Augustana College in Rock Island in 1991 and her Master of Divinity degree from Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago in 1995, ELCA said. She completed the Shalem Institute Group Leaders Program in 2002 and participates in ongoing continuing education with foci on leadership, spirituality, and foundation management.

Cerberus Is the Three-Headed Dog - Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion - Guarding People So They Don't Leave This Hell of Political Language Corruption

The new president of Augustana College, Rock Island, belongs to the new politics of language.

Augustana's Cerberus Scholar, with a post-doc from Princeton.

“Dr. Talentino is a scholar, a teacher and mentor for students; an advocate for diversity, equity and inclusion; and an innovator and engaged citizen. She is looking forward to connecting with the Augustana community, including alumni around the world.” 

“Augustana’s mission and vision reflect what I most care about,” Dr. Talentino said. “I’ve focused on creating an inclusive, holistic, challenging, integrated student experience that offers a real transformational opportunity. Any institution can have internships, study abroad, opportunities for research, but it’s how you put them together, how you create natural connections and meaning between all of them that makes the difference in what’s outstanding and what is ‘just fine,’ and Augustana is committed to being outstanding."

A few years ago, micro-aggressions were the big deal. The most innocuous gestures and words can be labeled micro-aggressions. Corporations required tests and lectures on the topic, as silly as it sounded. Now American higher education and many corporations are in the Cerberus stage. The offices have been set up, and are running at top speed. Like Church Growth, this is a top down invasion aimed at bullying people into submission. The guardians are thought-and-language police, ready to jump into action when they imagine some terrible injustice has been implied (not stated). 

The litmus test is promoting the use of self-selected pronouns. Check for Cerberus scats - he is at work. One minor rock singer refers to himself as "they," to eliminate gender. Once students begin to insist on their own pronouns, the instructor who balks will beaten like a rented mule.

This issue seems to be central at Concordia, Mequon, where the acting president Cario fired Schulz for publicly complaining. 

 Mom graduated from Augustana in 1943, taking 10 years to complete her degree. Christina and I and her sister graduated from this school named to honor the Augsburg Confession. I had my name removed from their mailing list about 30 years ago. I wrote then, "You no longer represent the name. Drop all mailings and alumni funds requests." They kept asking me later to send all the books I wrote, and they would pay for them, for the alumni library. I sent a few.

Speaking of Universities - University of Austin

 

I saw several notices about a newly forming university that will try to be more conservative - the University of Austin, Texas. The ALPB Online Forum principals looked up from their Ovaltine to discuss the possibilities there. One the most liberal college presidents, Nunes, came from the LCMS or ELCA, or both. You can tell where that is going if he is going to be a leader there.

Grand Canyon University has shown that a tiny school, mired in debt, can steal a march on established institutions by breaking with all the assumptions of modern education - by being Christian, retro, and not saddling students with enormous loans to pay for a country club campus. School spirit comes from an accepting and inviting student body, great leadership, and an attitude about doing things a new way.

My sister-in-law almost fainted when she heard Augustana College in Rock Island is now charging about $55,000 a year for room, board, and tuition. The tuition fee was about $1,000 per year when we were all there (Christina, Maria, and I) 50 years ago.

The mainline denominations (which include LCMS-WELS) have made the same mistake as the old universities. They have invested far too much money in buildings while expecting students to pay for elegance and comfort through outrageous, constantly increasing tuition costs.

WELS' Martin Luther College currently has basic costs of $27,000 per year. The 2022-23 year will be closer to $30,000. That makes people wonder whether they want to invest their loan money in a school that may not last.

The variables include the net cost with scholarships. One young lady turned down the $100,000 sports scholarship she was offered at GCU because her "friends" wanted her to go to "their" school. No, she did not tell her parents before sending the rejection letter. 

Everything is political and based on family ties in WELS, so the right last name is the key to scholarships and perks, not to mention immunity from discipline. 

Mirtrhless Mark the Mendicant Has a New Campaign for the Shrinking WELS College

 

"Throw us a lifeline, eh?"

How is a field house a mile away from campus going to help in the middle of winter when most students don't have cars?

They forgot to mention that part... It isn't ON CAMPUS, it's OFF CAMPUS at the Athletic Fields site.

"Sports Complex

• Shared locker rooms for field sports - home & visitor

• Indoor practice turf

• Game day support - concessions, restrooms, coaches,

and officials

• Team rooms

• Satellite training room"

Martin Luther College now costs over $30,000 a year, and the average student leaves with more than $50,000 in debt. That may be a reason why students pick Granger Community College instead. Another reason is WELS protecting felons, denying anything happened, and treating so many students like dirt under their Stormtrooper boots.

WELS stole a march on ELCA, doubling down with Satanism and gender bending.

When Dr. Martin Luther College in New Ulm absorbed Northwestern College in Watertown, everything was supposed to be glorious:

1. Men and women together
2. Separate tracks for teachers and future pastors
3. Decreased alcoholism
4. No more Cattle Crossing signs popping up when the NWC students were visiting.

I have been reading Augustana College (Rock Island) history lately. The Swedish Augustana Synod, after some years of doctrinal difficulties, established their synod and college in 1860. Northwestern College began in 1865. 

The differences are enormous today, because the Swedes took higher education seriously, instead of putting incompetents in teaching roles. Andreen, an early Augustana College president, left his comfortable job as head of a language department at Yale University to get the Rock Island campus on solid ground. He was pummeled in Sweden for asking for funds and succeeded in winning over the opposition. He cultivated the prosperous Swedes in the Midwest and strengthened the faculty. 

"Augustana ranks among the top 40 U.S. liberal arts colleges in the sciences, based on the number of graduates earning Ph.D.s. Students accepted to Augustana typically rank in the top 20% of their high school classes." (Wiki)

Similarly, Gustavus Adolphus in Minnesota is one of the top music schools in America. I remember when a prominent ELS pastor sent his daughter there for music. 

Christina and I graduated early from Augustana, Rock Island, November, 1969. We got married 10 minutes later.

 The Augustana Synod abhorred slavery, unlike Walther's sect, where slavery was practiced from the beginning and supported by CFW Hisself.

So Many Filters - Looking Back at Augustana History

 A. D. Mattson was the subject of my PhD dissertation
at Notre Dame.

I was looking for information about one of the early feminist radicals in the LCA, because they chose her to give the A. D. Mattson Lectures at the LCA's Chicago Seminary. That led me to a journal article where they talked about the Augustana (Swedish-American) Synod as rather small. It had 600,000 baptized members at the time of the 1962 merger.

I wonder if Lutherans will remember Roland Bainton's
Here I Stand during this year of ignoring the Reformation's 500th.

The YDS chapel rises above the Georgian style campus.

I zoomed around the Net for a time, going from one article to the next, a combination of nostalgia about

• Yale (where A. D. and his brother Karl were), 
• the Quad Cities, where I am from, and 
• various overlapping figures.

The Mattson and Bergendoff families were related. At one point Conrad Bergendoff was president of Augustana College, Karl Mattson was president of Augustana Seminary, and A. D. Mattson taught at the seminary.

Our son posed with the ever-gracious Paul L. Holmer.

Another connection was Gustav Andreen, the Augustana college president who left a full professorship at Yale University to lead their struggling college. His daughter and my mother were friends via the local teachers' network. I met Andreen's daughter at Augustana and she said, "Are you going to be a teacher like your mother?" I said, "No," and now I am teaching at three institutions.

 My dissertation advisor at Notre Dame
had some of the same professors at Yale that I had.
And he taught at Augustana College -
Stan Hauerwas.

I was on the staff at Bethesda Lutheran Church in New Haven, just down the hill from Yale Divinity School. The pastor became the Bishop of the district once it was ELCA. Mattson's brother Karl was the pastor of that congregation. When we were there, all the Lutheran YDS professors worshiped at Bethesda -

1. Paul L. Holmer - Theology and ethics.
2. Nils A. Dahl - New Testament.
3. Sydney Ahlstrom - Church History.
4. George Lindbeck - Theology, Official observer at Vatican II.
5. Jaroslav Pelikan - Church History.

Roland Bainton had an apartment just around the corner from the church, and he was often around the campus. He was dubbed an honorary Lutheran, and we all came to hear him when he gave lectures. The Lutheran divinity students were numerous. My classmate in New Testament, Stan Olson, became a seminary professor, a bishop, one of the top ELCA leaders in NYC, finishing as the president at the failing Luther Seminary in Iowa.

Harvard New Testament scholar Krister Stendahl called
Nils Dahl the best exegete in the world.

I wonder if any of those who established these church and educational institutions would recognize who is currently living off those endowments today. Some of the endowment consists of gifts accumulated over the centuries. Most important is another endowment - the heritage squandered, with all traces expelled. But naturally, they want to be associated with the respect earned in the past. They will drain that away with their hysterical hatred of the past.

ELCA is no different from the LCMS, WELS, or Little Sect on the Prairie. ELCA is just a few years ahead of the rest. I could add details, but I have covered that ground many times before. That is why I write about apostasy rather than the glories of Holy Mother Sect.

The main library at Yale is awe-inspiring,
fashioned like a "temple of wisdom," as Bainton said.
But now, that wisdom is largely repudiated.

Signs of the Times - McCain and Harris, Schroeder and Moldstad Work Happily with ELCA. ELCA's Augustana College to allow same-sex ceremonies

"You have problems with that, No Call Paul?
What about Tim Glende training with gay advocate Andy Stanley?
Or you and Matt Harris working with ELCA?
Or Thrivent funding this advocacy?

Augustana College to allow same-sex ceremonies:

Augustana College to allow same-sex ceremonies

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ROCK ISLAND — Augustana College in Rock Island will now allow same-sex ceremonies on campus.

President Steven Bahls has sent out an email announcing his decision to allow same-gender ceremonies after a recommendation from campus chaplain Richard Priggie.

Priggie tells WNIJ Radio (http://bit.ly/TvIroB ) that several gay couples expressed interest in having a ceremony. He says that led him to request the president's approval.

The school is affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. According to the email, the church left it up to Bahls to decide whether or not to open the campus to same-sex ceremonies.

Couples who wish to have a ceremony at the college's Ascension Chapel must be affiliated with Augustana. Illinois allows civil unions, and couples also can hold ``rites of marriage'' or ``blessings of unions'' by a pastor.

'via Blog this'

http://cyberbrethren.com/2012/11/29/augustana-college-to-permit-same-sex-weddings-in-campus-chapel/

Paul left out a few damning details. If this is so bad, then why is the LCMS working so happily with ELCA? The abortion on demand health policy is far more heinous, but the LCMS convention that voted to elect Harris gave even more votes to working with ELCA.

My wife and I graduated from Augustana College, when that would not have been considered. They expelled a couple (male and female) for living together off campus, in the 1960s.

The chaplain at Augie was the pastor at Salem in Moline, where I was confirmed. I drive by but do not attend there. They had a blessing of the animals when we passed by for my 45th high school reunion.

As long as WELS, Missour, and the Little Sect look down on ELCA while working with ELCA, no one will take them seriously. That the clergy tolerate this situation--involving a lot of Thrivent money--means they never had a real Lutheran education. They are hypocritical Pietists, like Walther.