Professional cancel culture victim Bari Weiss introduced a new grift Monday, announcing that she and a number of other right-wing figures are founding “a new university dedicated to the fearless pursuit of truth.”
The new university is called The University of Austin and if you’re thinking to yourself, “Wait, isn’t there already a University of Austin?”, there is not. You’re thinking of the University of Texas at Austin. But also, this new university isn’t really a university at all, in that it’s not accredited, offers no degrees, and does not have a physical campus. It is seeking accreditation, but apparently it’s doing so from an accreditor that doesn’t operate in Texas.
A sharp-eyed reader notes to me that they are claiming to be seeking accreditation from the Higher Learning Commission, a regional accreditor that . . . doesn’t operate in Texas. (Texas universities are accredited by SACSCOC.) pic.twitter.com/If1WNOipeH
— Jacob Bacharach (@jakebackpack) November 8, 2021
“We think educational standards have dropped so we created an unaccredited university that does not give out degrees.” https://t.co/ClKzaKriVK
— Patton Oswalt (@pattonoswalt) November 8, 2021
What the “university” does offer is a (not for credit) summer program for students currently studying at real schools, exploring what its founders are calling “The Forbidden Courses.”
Thank you for confirming that this is unaccredited, no campus, no degrees, run out of one of those houses-turned-offices that lawyers love on Rio Grande. pic.twitter.com/Sx9oOHaj7r
— Somewhere In ATX (@SomewhereinATX) November 8, 2021
Weiss famously “self-expelled” from the New York Times after spending years complaining about receiving mild pushback for the offensive, oppressive opinions she was able to publish on the world’s most respected platform. She frequently rails against “cancel culture” and loves to complain about how she and other super successful, endlessly platformed conservatives (whom she refers to as the “intellectual dark web”) are being silenced.
Weiss is hardly alone among conservative public figures in turning the stoking fears of “cancel culture” into a full-time grift. Her companions in this latest fundraising-heavy scheme are a motley crew of right-wing intellectuals with careers built on yelling about ideological persecution.
welcome to the university of austin, featuring an all-star board of cancelled heterodox thinkers! which are your faves? here are some of mine:
larry “women aren’t in stem because their brains are bad” summers pic.twitter.com/YhmuuBieTA
— Dr. Green, PhD in not being evil to students (@caitlinmoriah) November 8, 2021
heather “ivermectin is better than that dangerous covid shot” heying
also known as heather “the thought of a trans woman minding her own business sends me into an incoherent rage” heying pic.twitter.com/mrKIgnFHDI
— Dr. Green, PhD in not being evil to students (@caitlinmoriah) November 8, 2021
andrew “i can’t stop thinking about black penises” sullivan pic.twitter.com/8WX0QMwlxD
— Dr. Green, PhD in not being evil to students (@caitlinmoriah) November 8, 2021
Finally got around to reading the “University of Austin” faculty list and…I can only hear it in Stefon’s voice? This University has EVERYTHING. Larry Summers. Steven Pinker. Bari Weiss. Andrew Sullivan. ::extremely low voice:: David Mamet in a darkened seminar room.
— Kathy Cacace (@kathycacace) November 8, 2021
So if you’ve been looking to take unaccredited courses in cancel culture from TERFs, anti-vaxxers, and David Mamet, all while filling Bari Weiss’ pockets, the University of Austin must sound very exciting to you! For everyone else, it’s at least a good (if exasperated) laugh.
(image: www.uaustin.org)
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