Tag Archives: College

One student killed, three wounded in University of Texas stabbings

FILE PHOTO: A student walks at the University of Texas campus in Austin, Texas, U.S., on June 23, 2016. REUTERS/Jon Herskovitz/File Photo

AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) – A man enrolled at the University of Texas went on a stabbing spree with a large hunting knife at the school’s Austin campus on Monday, killing one student and wounding three others also believed to be students, police said.

The suspect, identified as Kendrex White, was apprehended about two minutes after campus police received reports of the attack on the school’s main grounds. White was being questioned by police and formal charges related to the attack were likely to come later.

“I don’t know what his motivation is,” University of Texas at Austin Police Chief David Carter told a news conference.

White has been booked by Austin police on a single charge that was not listed in online jail records.

All the victims were found in about a one-block area and were men aged 20 or 21, police said. Their names have not been released.

“There are no words to describe my sense of loss,” University President Greg Fenves told the news conference.

The person killed was found dead at the scene, Austin-Travis County EMS Captain Rick Rutledge said in a telephone interview.

The university canceled classes for the day.

“Our prayers go out to all those affected by today’s tragic events,” Texas Governor Greg Abbott said in a statement.

(Reporting by Jon Herskovitz; Editing by James Dalgleish and Peter Cooney)

U.S. to allocate $10 million to non-profits colleges to fight extremism

Undated combination of undated photos from a social media account of Omar Mateen

y Julia Edwards

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Department of Homeland Security will announce on Wednesday $10 million in grants for non-profit organizations and colleges to develop counseling programs and other services to turn people away from violent extremism, according to a senior DHS official.

The official, who spoke to Reuters on the condition of anonymity before the planned announcement, said the department recognizes law enforcement is limited in its ability to intervene before someone becomes radicalized like Omar Mateen, the gunman who killed 49 people in Orlando last month.

After killings by Muslim extremists in San Bernardino, California, Boston and Garland, Texas, DHS officials found family and community members of the perpetrators suspected their intentions but did not know where to turn.

The grants are designed to support mental health clinics, community groups and other places where someone can be referred for help before they come under the radar of law enforcement.

The $10 million was allocated by Congress in December as part of an effort by the Justice Department and DHS to launch a softer, community-based approach to counter extremist messages like those promoted by the Islamic State militant group online.

The program, known as Countering Violent Extremism, began in three pilot cities last year: Minneapolis, Boston and Los Angeles. The program met some pushback from Muslim groups in those cities who said they were being unfairly targeted by the federal government.

The DHS official said the money could be used to intervene against any type of extremism, but he expected the majority of the grant applications to be aimed at combating Muslim extremism.

After the Boston Marathon bombing in April 2013, the official said, the department began rethinking its approach to fighting extremism that relied mainly on strengthening local law enforcement.

(Reporting by Julia Edwards Editing by W Simon)

Bowdoin College Discriminates Against Christian Group

Bowdoin College of Brunswick, Maine is openly discriminating against a Christian student organization by revoking official school recognition after the group would not allow non-Christians to be voted into leadership.

The college says that as part of their anti-discrimination policy, a group that is founded for and by a certain religion cannot require their leadership to actually be a part of the faith in that group.  The college believes that if someone who hates and wants to undermine the faith of an organization can obtain leadership and destroy the group, they should have the opportunity to do so.

The action by the college is similar to that of other liberal arts colleges and Universities across the country who are seeking to eliminate Christian groups from their campuses.

Members of the group, who will now meet informally wherever they can because the University has revoked their rights to meet on campus, say that it’s a matter of standing up for the Gospel and the faith.

“It would compromise our ability to be who we are as Christians if we can’t hold our leaders to some sort of doctrinal standard,” student Zachary Suhr told reporters.

The national field director for InterVarsity said that the decision shows Bowdoin College believes those of religious faith should be suspect and marginalized.

Court Rules In Favor of Virginia Christian Student Preacher

A federal court has sided with a Christian student who challenged his school’s rules that he could not preach on the campus without prior approval of the administration.

The ruling says that the outdoor areas of the Virginia Community College System as “venues for free expression” and that the school is prohibited from enforcing “speech zones” which would be the only places students could express their views.

The school system has announced they are going to comply with the ruling and change their rules.

“Colleges should support, not censor, student speech,” Alliance Defending Freedom lawyer Travis Barham said.  “We comment the Virginia Community College System for revising its speech policy to align with what a marketplace of ideas should be.”

The previous policy said that no student could make public speeches on campus except in designated areas, and only if they were members of student groups approved by the school and had their message cleared four days in advance.  Christian Parks filed suit after he was twice prevented from preaching last fall in the school’s public courtyard.

Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring had decided not to defend the policy in court.