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> In the UK, student unions have supported the right of Muslims to separate men and women in lectures as long as they are the same distance from the front. I'v

> In the UK, student unions have supported the right of Muslims to separate men and women in lectures as long as they are the same distance from the front. I've just tried to search for this and can't find anything - a bit of help? By "supported", do you mean someone brought it up in a debate or as a suggestion, or do you mean a significant group of people agreed it's a good idea? I also tried to find information on the activists demanding segregated housing. Either nobody's reported on any of this or I suck at googling.

kr7 10y ago
Not OP but this is what I could find: "Universities UK" said gender segregation at lectures on Islam was ok (but withdrew their recommendation after criticism): http://www.theguardian.com/education/2013/dec/13/universities-uk-withdraws-advice-gender-segregation http://www.theguardian.com/education/2013/dec/13/universitie... I couldn't find anything on Missou. But UConn is building black-only housing: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2016/02/02/uconn-building-black-only-living-space-to-promote-scholarship.html http://www.foxnews.com/us/2016/02/02/uconn-building-black-on...
- vertex-four 10y ago
  So Universities UK is not a student union or association - its members are the executive heads of universities. It's very much a political group on the other side from student unions. In response to the report you mention, "the National Union of Students has stopped short of full condemnation but said it does not endorse “enforced segregation” and would take steps to prevent it taking place." UConn are being ridiculous, I'll agree with that.
mikevm 10y ago
For the first - http://www.theguardian.com/education/2013/dec/12/universities-uk-legal-gender-segregation-equality-human-rights http://www.theguardian.com/education/2013/dec/12/universitie... For the second (ignore the fact that the source is a right-wing newspaper, just follow the links to the sources) - http://www.thecollegefix.com/post/25748/ http://www.thecollegefix.com/post/25748/
- vertex-four 10y ago
  So Universities UK is not a student union or association - its members are the executive heads of universities. It's very much a political group on the other side from student unions. In response to the report you mention, "the National Union of Students has stopped short of full condemnation but said it does not endorse “enforced segregation” and would take steps to prevent it taking place." I would agree that segregated housing is ridiculous - I'd happily argue against it, although my subset of the community rarely puts me in contact with people who'd argue for it - although the article mixes that in with safe spaces, which is a separate issue. (I'd also generally disagree with the concept of a permanent physical safe space - a weekly group meeting or similar is a better way to achieve that as a general rule.) Unfortunately, there's a whole lot of us who'll argue for a whole lot of different things and irritatingly, it's usually the most extreme on any given viewpoint who get the news. I'm sure that within your communities, you suffer from the same issues.
nkurz 10y ago
I also tried to find information on the activists demanding segregated housing. I didn't find anything about campus activists in Missouri demanding black-only dorms, but searching for "black-only healing spaces" gives lots results arguing the need for exclusion based on race. Here's a sympathetic explanation by a self-described Chicano journalist: http://www.yesmagazine.org/people-power/black-activists-are-asking-for-black-only-spaces-heres-why-we-should-respect-that-20151218 http://www.yesmagazine.org/people-power/black-activists-are-... The University of Connecticut, though, has proposed a black-only dorm, although they claim it is not "segregated" because participation is optional. According to Dr. Erik Hines, Faculty Director for the initiative: It is a space for African American men to, one, come together, and validate their experiences that they may have on campus," he explained. "Number two, it's also a space where they can have conversation and also talk with individuals who come from the same background who share the same experience." The specialized housing does not—quite—constitute a "segregated" residence, as it is currently optional, much like the "affinity housing" that other schools have put in place to serve as a "safe space" for minority students." I don't know the current status of the proposal, although I'd always presumed that segregation was defined more by racial exclusion than forced participation: http://www.campusreform.org/?ID=7228 http://www.campusreform.org/?ID=7228
- vertex-four 10y ago
  I would generally agree with the need for safe spaces - defined as groups of people of a certain characteristic coming together to rant a bit about their problems without fear of retaliation, and the ability to be heard without being spoken over by people trying to be "helpful" but generally not understanding - though permanent segregated physical spaces is utterly ridiculous. Luckily, my particular communities don't put me in contact with people arguing for segregation very often. A quick poll of mine suggests that all who responded would strongly disagree with the idea of "optional" segregation (as it very rarely actually turns out to be optional due to the power structures involved). And we're radical anarcho-socialists to a large extent.

kr7 10y ago

Not OP but this is what I could find: "Universities UK" said gender segregation at lectures on Islam was ok (but withdrew their recommendation after criticism): http://www.theguardian.com/education/2013/dec/13/universities-uk-withdraws-advice-gender-segregation http://www.theguardian.com/education/2013/dec/13/universitie... I couldn't find anything on Missou. But UConn is building black-only housing: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2016/02/02/uconn-building-black-only-living-space-to-promote-scholarship.html http://www.foxnews.com/us/2016/02/02/uconn-building-black-on...

vertex-four 10y ago
So Universities UK is not a student union or association - its members are the executive heads of universities. It's very much a political group on the other side from student unions. In response to the report you mention, "the National Union of Students has stopped short of full condemnation but said it does not endorse “enforced segregation” and would take steps to prevent it taking place." UConn are being ridiculous, I'll agree with that.

mikevm 10y ago

For the first - http://www.theguardian.com/education/2013/dec/12/universities-uk-legal-gender-segregation-equality-human-rights http://www.theguardian.com/education/2013/dec/12/universitie... For the second (ignore the fact that the source is a right-wing newspaper, just follow the links to the sources) - http://www.thecollegefix.com/post/25748/ http://www.thecollegefix.com/post/25748/

vertex-four 10y ago
So Universities UK is not a student union or association - its members are the executive heads of universities. It's very much a political group on the other side from student unions. In response to the report you mention, "the National Union of Students has stopped short of full condemnation but said it does not endorse “enforced segregation” and would take steps to prevent it taking place." I would agree that segregated housing is ridiculous - I'd happily argue against it, although my subset of the community rarely puts me in contact with people who'd argue for it - although the article mixes that in with safe spaces, which is a separate issue. (I'd also generally disagree with the concept of a permanent physical safe space - a weekly group meeting or similar is a better way to achieve that as a general rule.) Unfortunately, there's a whole lot of us who'll argue for a whole lot of different things and irritatingly, it's usually the most extreme on any given viewpoint who get the news. I'm sure that within your communities, you suffer from the same issues.

nkurz 10y ago

I also tried to find information on the activists demanding segregated housing. I didn't find anything about campus activists in Missouri demanding black-only dorms, but searching for "black-only healing spaces" gives lots results arguing the need for exclusion based on race. Here's a sympathetic explanation by a self-described Chicano journalist: http://www.yesmagazine.org/people-power/black-activists-are-asking-for-black-only-spaces-heres-why-we-should-respect-that-20151218 http://www.yesmagazine.org/people-power/black-activists-are-... The University of Connecticut, though, has proposed a black-only dorm, although they claim it is not "segregated" because participation is optional. According to Dr. Erik Hines, Faculty Director for the initiative: It is a space for African American men to, one, come together, and validate their experiences that they may have on campus," he explained. "Number two, it's also a space where they can have conversation and also talk with individuals who come from the same background who share the same experience." The specialized housing does not—quite—constitute a "segregated" residence, as it is currently optional, much like the "affinity housing" that other schools have put in place to serve as a "safe space" for minority students." I don't know the current status of the proposal, although I'd always presumed that segregation was defined more by racial exclusion than forced participation: http://www.campusreform.org/?ID=7228 http://www.campusreform.org/?ID=7228

vertex-four 10y ago
I would generally agree with the need for safe spaces - defined as groups of people of a certain characteristic coming together to rant a bit about their problems without fear of retaliation, and the ability to be heard without being spoken over by people trying to be "helpful" but generally not understanding - though permanent segregated physical spaces is utterly ridiculous. Luckily, my particular communities don't put me in contact with people arguing for segregation very often. A quick poll of mine suggests that all who responded would strongly disagree with the idea of "optional" segregation (as it very rarely actually turns out to be optional due to the power structures involved). And we're radical anarcho-socialists to a large extent.