Student Reads Out A Homework Assignment To Vivek Ramaswamy During Question About 'Indoctrination'
By Forbes Breaking News
Summary
## Key Takeaways * A student shared a personal experience of being subjected to ideological indoctrination in a college speech class, highlighting a specific homework assignment that framed a character's stance against books with non-cisgendered characters as misinformation (01:09). * The student questioned how political ideologies are being pushed in classrooms and what actions will be taken to ensure schools comply with state and federal laws against indoctrination (01:53). * Vivek Ramaswamy emphasized that combating indoctrination should be done by adhering to existing laws that prohibit profiling and discrimination based on race, gender, or sexual orientation, rather than by mirroring the methods of those pushing the ideology (03:04). * Ramaswamy encouraged students to be courageous voices, to speak their beliefs with conviction and respect, even when they are the only ones in a room holding those views, and assured them that leaders would work to protect their ability to do so without fear of retaliation (04:04). ## Smart Chapters * **00:00 - Introduction to Indoctrination Concerns**: A student addresses Vivek Ramaswamy at a town hall, expressing concerns about ideological indoctrination in schools and the push towards certain political narratives. * **00:35 - Student's Personal Experience**: The student details how teachers at their school have encouraged students to contact representatives on political issues and shares a specific example of a homework assignment from a speech class. * **01:09 - The "Karen" Homework Assignment**: The student reads out a homework question from a speech class that discusses a hypothetical scenario involving a character named Karen wanting to ban books with non-cisgendered characters, framing her reasoning as spreading misinformation. * **01:53 - Student's Question to Ramaswamy**: The student poses a direct question to Ramaswamy about ensuring schools comply with state and federal laws and refrain from pushing ideologies onto students. * **02:15 - Ramaswamy's Response and Analogy**: Ramaswamy acknowledges the student's courage and analyzes the loaded nature of the homework question, drawing an analogy to the war on terror to explain the challenge of fighting intolerance without adopting the same methods. * **03:04 - Legal Framework and Lawful Compliance**: Ramaswamy outlines that the solution lies in enforcing existing laws that prohibit profiling and indoctrination based on protected characteristics, ensuring consequences for violations. * **04:04 - Empowering Student Voices**: Ramaswamy calls on students to be courageous leaders, to speak their beliefs with conviction and respect, and promises that leaders will ensure they can do so without fear of retaliation. ## Key Quotes * "We have had teachers at a school that has state and federal funding send out schoolwide emails encouraging students to reach out to representatives on political issues. They send out template copy and paste emails saying, 'Here's this. Copy and paste it. Put your name on it. Send it to your representatives.'" (00:43) * "Karen wants to ban books with non-cisgendered characters from her local library. She gives a speech claiming that such books may cause her children to be groomed into choosing a non-cisgender identity. Which of the following strategies did Karen use to spread misinformation in this scenario?" (01:21) * "The law has been crystal clear that you cannot profile in our universities or indoctrinate based on discrimination on the basis of race or gender or sexual orientation. The idea that if you break those rules, there are actually consequences." (03:04) * "When you are the only person in a room, including a teacher or a so-called professor, when you're the only person in a room who believes what you do, you have an obligation as a citizen now more than ever to stand up and to say it. Say it with a spine. Say it with conviction as you did today. Say it with respect." (04:04) * "If you step up and you do your part, because none of us can do that part for you, the job of us as leaders is to make sure that you have still the continued ability to do it without fear for retaliation from your university or without safety for your health." (04:47) ## Stories and Anecdotes * A student described receiving school-wide emails from teachers encouraging the use of template messages to contact representatives on political issues, specifically mentioning an email related to the Advance Ohio Higher Education Act, which aimed to prohibit DEI incentives and ensure students could form their own conclusions without indoctrination. (00:43) * The student shared a specific homework assignment from a required speech class that asked them to analyze a scenario where a character named Karen wanted to ban books with non-cisgendered characters, framing her concerns about her children being "groomed" as a strategy for spreading misinformation. (01:21) ## Mentioned Resources * Charlie Kirk: Mentioned in the context of a "mob mentality" pushing people towards violence and glorifying violence against those with opposing views. (00:24) * Mount St. Joe: The college where the student is currently attending. (00:35) * Advance Ohio Higher Education Act: A piece of legislation mentioned in relation to school-wide emails encouraging political outreach, which aimed to prohibit DEI incentives in schools. (00:54) * Forbes: The platform hosting the town hall event and the source of the video. (Description) * Forbes on Facebook: Social media link. (Description) * Forbes Video on Twitter: Social media link. (Description) * Forbes Video on Instagram: Social media link. (Description) * Forbes.com: Website link. (Description)
Topics Covered
- Education Glorifies Violence Against Opposing Views
- Universities Use 'Karen' to Push Devious Ideology
- Why We Cannot Fight Indoctrination Using Their Methods
- Enforce Existing Laws to Combat School Indoctrination
- Students Must Speak Truth, Even When Alone
Full Transcript
I wrote it down so I wouldn't leave
anything out. So I know there's been a
lot of mention of the school system and
that there's no doubt that there has
been a certain ideology that has been
pushed in the classroom. We saw just a
few weeks ago with Charlie Kirk that
this mob mentality is pushing people
towards violence and that violence is
being glorified if whoever the victim of
the violence has opposing views from
you. So I am 19 years old. I'm currently
a student at Mount St. Joe, and I know
this issue is far beyond that. It's not
just at my college. So, we have had
teachers at a school that has state and
federal funding send out schoolwide
emails encouraging students to reach out
to representatives on political issues.
They send out template copy and paste
emails saying, "Here's this. Copy and
paste it. Put your name on it. Send it
to your representatives." The main one
we got was for the Advance Ohio Higher
Education Act which was prohibiting DEI
incentives in school and it was supposed
to ensure that students are allowed to
come to their own conclusions without
indoctrination.
So if schools violate this, they are
subjected to potential cuts to their
funding. So we have teachers telling us
that our beliefs make us fascist, race,
racists, whatever whatever labels they
want to put on there. um they are
telling us what their political beliefs
are and they won't come out and say it
just straight out but they'll make
little hints at it or um like under
their breath and everyone hears it and
they know it. So an example is I had to
take a speech class where this is a
required class. I w had to learn about
the proper pronoun usage for people who
are non-binary. I'm going to read off a
homework assignment that I had to answer
this question for a speech class. Karen
wants to ban books with non-cisgendered
characters from her local library. She
gives a speech claiming that such books
may cause her children to be groomed
into choosing a non-cisgender identity.
Which of the following strategies did
Karen use to spread misinformation in
this scenario?
So, we know that this is there's
violence being pushed because they're
saying, you know, the people who don't
agree with this narrative that's being
pushed, they're Nazis, they're fascist,
they're this, that, and the other. And
then they go ahead and they glorify
because we saw with Charlie Kirk all
these teachers came out and they
supported it. They celebrated it. So my
question is knowing that this isn't just
an issue at my school, what will you do
to ensure that the schools are complying
with the state and federal laws and not
pushing ideologies onto students?
>> Thank you for sharing that question and
the courage to give the detail.
I mean, when you read that out, it's
it's it's more than just you usually
hear about it at a high level, but when
you hear that down to I mean, let's just
be honest. I don't think they chose
Karen unintentionally, right? I mean,
what a loaded way to sort of ask that
question after turning it into an
epithet. Then they make a hypothetical,
oh, we're just calling Karen after we
actually completely stigmatized the use
of that as a name. It's it it
highlights this devious twisted ideology
that puts us in a tough position. Here's
the tough position we're in. Right?
I'll give an analogy in the old war on
terror in the two post 2001 era. The
hard thing is the other side in that war
on terror, they're willing to do things
that our side isn't willing to do. They
would kill women and children, kill
innocent civilians. we still have to
ultimately achieve victory and yet we're
constrained because we can't do the same
things the other side does and if we did
adopt their methods then we wouldn't be
who we are. We'd lose what we're
fighting for in the first place. Right?
And so that's the challenge we have
ahead of us is that the intolerance of
the other side for alternative descent
is still faced up against those of us
who have our strong speaking for myself
and several of ourselves on stage here
conservative beliefs still do it must do
it in a way that respects the other
ability the other side's ability to
speak but without actually turning that
into its own indoctrinating weapon. So
the answer to your question is how do we
do it? We do it not by imitating their
methods. We do it by following the law.
The law has been crystal clear that you
cannot profile in our universities or
indoctrinate based on discrimination on
the basis of race or gender or sexual
orientation. The idea that if you break
those rules, there are actually
consequences. That those are not
restraints on speech or the expression
of an opinion, but actually following
the laws that are already on the books
that provide for equal protection under
the law. And then a lot of it's going to
have to come from courageous voices like
yourself. You're 19, sophomore,
>> technically a junior.
>> Technically a junior. All right. She's a
little bit ahead of ahead of her age.
Okay. So, I'll throw it back at you
because hopefully those of us on this
stage were aspiring to be leaders in a
formal capacity. You can be a leader in
your own capacity, too. In fact, we're
counting on you to be a leader. All
right. When you are I'm gonna make I'm
gonna make an ask of you. H St. Joe's.
That's right.
When you're the only person in a room,
including a teacher or a so-called
professor, when you're the only person
in a room who believes what you do, you
have an obligation as a citizen now more
than ever to stand up and to say it. Say
it with a spine. Say it with conviction
as you did today. Say it with respect.
But part of respect is actually telling
your fellow neighbors what you actually
think, not some fake wokewashed version
of it. Right? So if you step up and you
do your part, because none of us can do
that part for you, the job of us as
leaders is to make sure that you have
still the continued ability to do it
without fear for retaliation from your
university or without safety for your
health. That's what our deal is tonight.
And if you keep your end of the bargain,
I promise you, we're going to do ours.
Thank you. I appreciate it. Thank you.
Right here. Yes. Yeah. Please.
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