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West Virginia is, perhaps, the reddest state in the nation. And so, the state legislature is absolutely dominated by Republicans (the state Senate is currently 31R, 2D; the House of Delegates is currently 91R, 9D, which certainly gives an appreciation for the feats of magick Joe Manchin pulled off in his last two or three elections). The legislature decided they would like to get in on the brainwashing, and so they appropriated $3 million for the creation of the Washington Center at WVU. After all, WVU is the Harvard of... well, West Virginia.
We wonder how the faculty at WVU felt about this money. On one hand, faculties like it when money rolls in. On the other hand, they tend to dislike it when the money is clearly meant to purchase legitimacy for problematic ideas. When (Z) was in grad school, the UCLA Department of History was offered multiple millions to establish a chair in Turkish history, and the faculty rejected it outright, because it was clear the real plan was to promote Armenian Genocide denial.
Whatever the WVU faculty felt about the $3 million, they did not get a vote, since it was an independent center being created, as opposed to an appointment within an existing department. And so, the Washington Center was established, and given office and classroom space, and a director, Dr. Patrick Lee, was hired at the bargain salary of just $300,000 per year. Do you know how far $300,000 goes in West Virginia?
The center announced an ambitious slate of 24 courses, including "Woke," "Nation and Migration" and "The New Right." But then the rubber finally met the road. You can appropriate money, allot space, hire a director, etc. by fiat, but eventually students have to enroll voluntarily. And students tend to avoid classes that won't help them graduate, while they positively loathe anything that has the faintest whiff of "propaganda."
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What's ironic is that Clown cries more than anyone about the lies and unsubstantiated crap people post here.