just a note - dr. tao is not just an "award winning mathematician." many consider him the greatest mathematician alive. he's just humble. this situation is very unfortunate. thank you for your work dr. tao and best wishes to you
Seriously. Tao describing himself as an "award winning mathematician" is like Lebron saying "I was a high school basketball champ."
Props to Tao for being humble of course, but I think it's worth mentioning his abilty and accomplishments just to highlight how absolutely ridiculous these cuts are.
Obviously he'll be fine. But if even one of the greatest can lose their funding, what about the rest of us just trying to get through the day doing math and science????
Terence Tao, signed an open letter in 2020: "We are enraged at the everyday operations of a white supremacist society. ... Complicity with these systems of oppression is deeply rooted in the origins of this country."
He signed onto the politicization of the academy.
Now he speaks - only when the checks stop clearing. Where was this outrage when the institutions were rotting from within? The grants were never yours; they’ve always belonged to bureaucracies that long ago stopped serving science. "Academic freedom" has been an illusion for years, and clinging to it only reveals a lack of self-awareness. The problem isn’t the President - it’s the institutions that need reform, not pity from those guarding stipends that should have been supported by the institution itself.
Terence Tao, signed an open letter in 2020: "We are enraged at the everyday operations of a white supremacist society. ... Complicity with these systems of oppression is deeply rooted in the origins of this country."
He signed onto the politicization of the academy.
Now he speaks - only when the checks stop clearing. Where was this outrage when the institutions were rotting from within? The grants were never yours; they’ve always belonged to bureaucracies that long ago stopped serving science. "Academic freedom" has been an illusion for years, and clinging to it only reveals a lack of self-awareness. The problem isn’t the President - it’s the institutions that need reform, not pity from those guarding stipends that should have been supported by the institution itself.
What a confused and self-contradictory comment. You start by pointing out that Dr. Tao first spoke up at least 5 years ago, then you castigate him for not speaking up til now. You say "the grants were never yours," apparently on the basis that they flowed through "bureaucracies," but that's how government academic grants work. You say "the problem isn't the President," but Trump is the one who signed off on cutting the grants. You suggest that the University of California should be providing its own funding for research by its faculty, but in that case all the intellectual property resulting from research at UCLA and the other UC campuses would rightfully belong to, and could be used by, only the University of California, not the American public at large. Your bottom line seems to be some inchoate dissatisfaction with bureaucracy and academia coupled with advocacy for privatizing the cost of academic research to the university level while preserving the public benefit of that research. Makes no sense.
You have zero knowledge about grant funding, and zero knowledge about research. It's just a copy pasted empty message claiming "rotted institutions" and "loss of academic freedom", and clearing the current administration fault. As a cs/math PhD student at a top institution in the US, I can tell you are completely ignorant about the topic.
Terence Tao, signed an open letter in 2020: "We are enraged at the everyday operations of a white supremacist society. ... Complicity with these systems of oppression is deeply rooted in the origins of this country."
He signed onto the politicization of the academy.
Now he speaks - only when the checks stop clearing. Where was this outrage when the institutions were rotting from within? The grants were never yours; they’ve always belonged to bureaucracies that long ago stopped serving science. "Academic freedom" has been an illusion for years, and clinging to it only reveals a lack of self-awareness. The problem isn’t the President - it’s the institutions that need reform, not pity from those guarding stipends that should have been supported by the institution itself.
Terence Tao, signed an open letter in 2020: "We are enraged at the everyday operations of a white supremacist society. ... Complicity with these systems of oppression is deeply rooted in the origins of this country."
He signed onto the politicization of the academy.
Now he speaks - only when the checks stop clearing. Where was this outrage when the institutions were rotting from within? The grants were never yours; they’ve always belonged to bureaucracies that long ago stopped serving science. "Academic freedom" has been an illusion for years, and clinging to it only reveals a lack of self-awareness. The problem isn’t the President - it’s the institutions that need reform, not pity from those guarding stipends that should have been supported by the institution itself.
Terence Tao speaks the truth. He does not lose his right to free speech because he is in academia. The white supremacy of which he spoke becomes more and more apparent. It is destroying our country. Trump and MAGA are shutting down scientific research and data reporting all over place. No institution is perfect. Every institution can use reform. Reform is not the same as burning it all to the ground. The problem is the President and his toadies. I am sorry that your mind has become closed and your thinking rigid.
Your Pépé the Frog avatar tells us what you think far more clearly than the text of the reply you have so liberally cut and pasted throughout the comments here. Indeed, it tells us all we need to know.
Dr. Tao should have spoken up sooner, when the wokes were taking over and corrupting the institutions of inquiry. Nothing is more predictable than the current backlash to woke intellectual corruption.
EDIT: It's even worse than I thought: Dr. Tao signed this absurd open letter in the Floyd Era. The man has no standing -- none, whatsoever -- to complain about "politicization."
Exxxxcactly. The Left is fine with cultural revolution when it’s happening through them…but not to them. The playground kid who starts fights and cries for the principal when the other kid fights back. The social rapist, with their elbows on our throat, who hate that we found our pepper spray and gouge their eyes to get them off of us. Just lay back and take your unwanted woke rape they thought. It’s because we LOVE YOU and know what’s best for you they tell us. These cultural arsonists happily light fires on our universities, in our corporations, in our social media - and have the temerity to complain when the fire trucks thunder down the road to put them out.
This was a great piece of political propaganda Terry.
I had a good laugh at this part:
"..This is not because of a negative scientific assessment of the work, but instead by seemingly arbitrary justifications. Critical funding has been pulled for as insignificant a reason as the presence of a key word in the original proposal that is retroactively deemed unacceptable"
If only you could be honest. It's because poor White People like myself have been denied scholarships and research opportunities in the name of DEI. Your group of social elites aren't effected so you'd never hear about it, and since you don't have anybody in your circles who is white working class you think this is just some mania that's taken over the country. But it's true. My whole academic career was destroyed because of DEI, I was told, and it happened to me many on many occasions I would not get this scholarship, this REU, not be invited to this conference, because I'm a White Male.
If I wasn't a good enough mathematician I would have been fine paying (what to you must be a "measly" $5) to fill the pockets of privileged fat cats, but because my children, their children, etc, are going to be excluded by your merciless ideology, I'm happy your research is getting gutted, and I will continue to vote for politicians who will do this until you find some real bravery and stick up for us forgotten lot.
You’re trying to turn personal rejection into a grand conspiracy theory. Scholarships and research positions are competitive by nature — thousands apply, most don’t get in. But instead of asking whether your application wasn’t strong enough, you’ve convinced yourself you were targeted because you’re a white male. That’s not evidence, it’s just projection.
If what you’re saying were true — that white men are being systematically excluded — we’d see white men disappearing from academia and research. In reality, they remain the most represented group in almost every field, especially in tenured positions and grant awards. That’s not oppression, that’s dominance.
So let’s be honest: your “whole academic career was destroyed” not by DEI, but by your need to explain failure as persecution. Blaming DEI is just an easier story than facing the possibility that you didn’t measure up against the competition.
I read the same article you did, but maybe I'm blind. You need to be specific what points in Dr. Tao's presentation was DEI. Let's get serious about what DEI was really all about from its origins. For example, allowing women to work in jobs they were never allowed to work in before, allowing gays to work openly in the federal government, ever hear of the Lavender Scare, look it up, I'm not doing your homework for you, allowing gays to serve in the military, "Don't ask, don't tell", how stupid a policy initiative that was. Spoiler alert! Gays, both men and women served in the nation's military since 1776! Allowing black folks to become doctors, lawyers, educators and allowing voting rights, which they had under the 15th &19th amendements after the Civil War, but those ignorant racist fools in the South decided they were going to spit in the eye of the federal government and in doing so put this nation through 100 years of racial strife while denying citizenship rights to them until the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. I could go on, but I'm very tired of hearing the right wing conspiracy theory crap going on in this country whose band leader is none other than Donald J Trump. Equality in this country means everyone in this country who is born in it and to those who want be citizens who are protected under the Supreme Law of the land, the Constitution of the United Staes. I'm not doing your homework, look it up! By the way, FYI, I'm a History professor, so please, because I am, do not, repeat do not call me a libtard because I will repond, and you won't like what I would say in return.
2) DEI doesn't mean voting rights, it means excluding (let's get real) working class Whites from professions and positions that they are qualified for.
I responded to somebody else with some stats:
Here's a Bloomberg article celebrating the discrimination against whites:
"But for this newer generation, the generation that is victim to DEI, you're wrong, it's a matter of a simple Google search to discover that. 40% of Columbia's Fall 2024 class is White, yet White Americans make up 60% of the population. This year, 12% of incoming Columbia students are black, about in line with their being 13% of the population. THERE IS A CLEAR BIAS AGAINST WHITES."
Terence Tao, signed an open letter in 2020: "We are enraged at the everyday operations of a white supremacist society. ... Complicity with these systems of oppression is deeply rooted in the origins of this country."
He signed onto the politicization of the academy.
Now he speaks - only when the checks stop clearing. Where was this outrage when the institutions were rotting from within? The grants were never yours; they’ve always belonged to bureaucracies that long ago stopped serving science. "Academic freedom" has been an illusion for years, and clinging to it only reveals a lack of self-awareness. The problem isn’t the President - it’s the institutions that need reform, not pity from those guarding stipends that should have been supported by the institution itself.
I was told explicitly on more than one occasion that they are "not looking for a straight white male..." -- it isn't a conspiracy theory, and yes, that does count as evidence. I know exactly how I "stack up" against the competition, I would see girls with worse GPA's and fewer math courses than me get invitations to interview at Google, and get thrown softball questions like "find an element in a binary tree" -- and they would still fail. Meanwhile I wouldn't get invited for the same interview.
Here's a Bloomberg article celebrating the discrimination against whites:
As for your comment about "dominance" - I actually agree with you that a lot of the older professors I met were extremely mediocre, if they had to compete in today's academic/job market they'd be SOL, we should probably fire about half of tenured faculty on that account.
But for this newer generation, the generation that is victim to DEI, you're wrong, it's a matter of a simple Google search to discover that. 40% of Columbia's Fall 2024 class is White, yet White Americans make up 60% of the population. This year, 12% of incoming Columbia students are black, about in line with their being 13% of the population. THERE IS A CLEAR BIAS AGAINST WHITES.
You aren't arguing with me so much as taunting me for my "perceived" failure - but the only failure on my end is that I wasn't born to an elite family with good connections, those people who were, people like you, don't feel the weight of these policies, so you're free to hold these luxury beliefs.
I always try to end a conversation with a point we have in common: Here's an idea I think we could both be in favor of, and who knows, maybe Terry will get on board too.
How about we collect the names of the top 100 universities in the US (Harvard, Yale, UCLA, etc...) and exclude anybody whose parents make upwards of 6 figures pre-tax? Yep, if you make over 100k a year, that's a privilege, so your children are privileged, so you should be excluded in the name of equity. Let's diversify the class ranks of the ivy league! I think that will be really inclusive. Will you agree with me? But of course you won't.
Based on the New York City demographics, it does not look like the 40% number is outrageous. Like most universities, a majority of students are in-state/local. New York is more diverse than most of the US. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Race_and_ethnicity_in_New_York_City
I think your point about affluence is great. Our society is ruled by the rich in far too many ways and we need to take power back. Large donations are a common way to improve/guarantee a child's admission. All too often the rich are able to simply buy what they want.
Do you think Trump, a man who was born into and inherited massive wealth, owns a gold toilet, and has accepted numerous payments that are easily portrayed as bribes, is the right horse to back to improve the situations of poor white males?
The poor white male has suffered largely in recent months due to tariffs.
27%-40% of Columbia's students are foreigners, non US citizens. These institutions which I fund with my tax dollars are providing excellent educational opportunities to the ELITES of OTHER COUNTRIES. Why should I pay for that? You've only helped me to solidify my point.
And no, tariffs used to be a left-wing issue, which I support. My life didn't change at all due to tariffs, it WAS radically disrupted by DEI policies championed by the neo-left wing which uses "straight white male" as a pejorative.
At this point (in fact much earlier), a lot of straight white males would respond to a whinge of this magnitude with the phrase, "cry harder." By the way, did you miss the "one-tenth of one percent" statistic cited in Dr. Tao's post? Your personal tax contribution to academic grant funding for Columbia or any other university probably amounts to less than a cup of coffee.
I'm not giving another red cent to people who hate me. Thankfully, Trump and the Republicans recognize this as an issue. I have already expressed my support to my senator and will be meeting with my congressional rep to explain how important it is that there are more cuts like these, that parasites like this should go get funding from the woke corporations who they dare not criticize.
Seriously, did Tao ever say a single word when Amazon employees were pissing in bottles because of Jeff Bezos' inhumane business practices? Probably not because he's too worried to get on the wrong side of the people who really rule this country.
So I'll echo your words back to Terry, "cry harder"
You couldn’t possibly be the same John Schneeberger who sedated and subsequently sexually assaulted one of his patients in 1992, could you? I mean the one who was convicted and then sentenced to six years in prison. Because if that were the case, I’d find it rather difficult to believe you have any credibility remaining in the academic world at all.
It appears you may also be implying you are a mathematician? I cannot seem to find any mention of a mathematician named John Schneeberger anywhere on the internet. Not even as a coauthor. One would think an accomplished mathematician would have published a paper or two somewhere. And I find it hard to believe you would arbitrarily choose that name to use on your Substack account. Which university did you say you were with again?
No, that isn't me, I wasn't even born in 1992. I am a mathematician, I didn't get a PhD but I do have a paper published. No, I'm not sharing my name. I know tenured math professors and even one department head who are fearful of being cancelled because they disagree *somewhat* on a few points of doctrine with the DEI craze.
Even if you are completely correct in all you write - and I don't think you are - your "tear it all down" response makes absolutely no sense. Your academic career crashed because you were denied (or you couldn't cut it) so now we should tear down all that you wanted in response?? I think they call that "Throwing the baby out with the bathwater."
My academic career didn't go as planned either, but I still had job skills and I got a great job, so it worked out. LOTS of academic careers don't go as planned either. Competition is extreme and many people drop out for the private sector. I've been on hiring committees, and no qualified candidates were ever set aside because they were white Caucasian males. We interviewed those who were most qualified and most likely to be a "good fit" for the job.
You seem to think you have been personally harmed by DEI, but that seems highly unlikely. Odds are that you got a different job using the same skills, and have done fairly well at it. Get over the rejection, like all the rest of us have already done.
Why can I just tell that you are divorced based on your pictures? OK, I digress.
I googled your name, and you're just another privileged parasite who has never worked an honest day's work in his life. You live in a different world from working class Men, the men who keep your lights on and who keep your streets safe, the respect and admiration you owe them is lacking.
Let's just talk about your fraudulent academic career: you spent 10 years as a postdoc -- this is an utter embarrassment to _anybody_ in the academic world. I'm just pointing this out because most laymen aren't aware of how to size up an academic, and how easy it can be to spot a fraud.
I repeat, you are just another out of touch privileged man-boy, you talk about "getting a job" like it's the easiest thing in the world, like everybody's daddy can just call up their college roommate and find them one, but that isn't our reality, and we are increasingly forbidden from jobs that we are qualified for because of DEI.
Of course you're the sort of loser who *loves* telling people they are on hiring committee, those people love lording their status over others, it gives them some illusion of control in their pathetic lives. You expect me not to believe in DEI when you use vacuous criteria like "not a good fit?" we know what that means, he isn't a woman you can flirt with, so, he can forget about a livelihood and providing for his children and wife.
If you'd be so kind as to step into reality for just a moment, here are some stats that you could easily find on your own:
Here's a Bloomberg article celebrating the discrimination against whites:
"40% of Columbia's Fall 2024 class is White, yet White Americans make up 60% of the population. This year, 12% of incoming Columbia students are black, about in line with their being 13% of the population. THERE IS A CLEAR BIAS AGAINST WHITES."
Let's just put it this way, yes, I had to rely on my intelligence to get a job outside of the biased and racist academic world, I don't mind that - but now, if they refuse to give me an opportunity to flourish simply based on my race (like I was told *explicitly* multiple times, which YOU don't want to believe), then I'm not going to give them a red cent.
Terrence Tao, another foreigner to this country, signed a letter basically calling it a white supremacist shit-hole, well if that's the case, if we really are so corrupt, leave! And don't ask for our money! Have *some* principles.
Closing thoughts: All in all, if you were born in my generation, and if I were born with your intelligence, neither of us would be very successful.
Well, it didn't take you very long at all to get right down to the ad hominem and the insults. And you want us to believe you were denied opportunities because you're a white male?
I'm sorry to hear your academic career did not turn out the way you wanted. I would caution you from blaming it on DEI. DEI isn't ruining anybody's careers or lives. My brother, a straight white male, went to our local state college. No fame to its name at all and cheap enough tuition that you can work part time and come out with little to no loans, without any financial aid. He makes 7 figures as a software engineer at Nvidia now.
People place too much stock in prestigious universities, as opposed to hard work. Maybe DEI did result in you being unfairly treated--that's an unfortunate casualty. Even our justice system convicts innocent people from time to time. DEI aims to give people who are disproportionately likely to be born with reduced opportunities a fairer chance. Maybe the pendulum has swung too far the other way in your experience.
But I assure you, those opportunities are not closed off to you. I know many people who hated school, did not attend prestigious universities, and did not stand out in academic performance, but are incredibly successful.
Reductions in academic funding harm us all. Government grants funded crucial research into GPS, the internet, treatments and cures for a litany of diseases and conditions, mathematical and computer science breakthroughs that have revolutionized our society, and many more. We should never be happy to see this funding gutted.
It's empirically true that thousands of white and asian kids are denied dream college opportunities due to racist DEI policies. Same for whites and asians applying for university jobs. This is not even a secret, we KNOW the universities are discriminating.
With all due respect, that doesn't ruin anybody's career or life. Getting denied from your favorite college, allegedly due to DEI, may hurt for a bit, but life goes on. I didn't get into my reach school. That's why prospective students call them reach schools. But, largely thanks to federal grants, the US has tons of prestigious universities, because they attract top researchers from around the world.
I was able to attend a different one, and in hindsight, I think it was a much better fit for me than my reach school. Like I said in my earlier comment, many people become hugely successful just attending a state school. And they save a ton of money to boot.
If Columbia came out tomorrow and said, "we are no longer accepting black students of any kind" would you then turn around and tell those rightly furious blacks, "Hey now hey now! Not going to Columbia university isn't *ruining* your life! There are PLENTY of other colleges that will have you! But we are going to continue to fund Columbia with your hard-earned tax dollars even though they openly promote race hate against you."
No, you wouldn't, because to you and people like you racial discrimination against poor Straight White Men is OK, but even the slightest offense towards any group outside of that range should be met with swift and severe, merciless justice.
How about this, since you're such a champion of DEI, let's take the list of the top 100 universities (Harvard, Princeton, Yale, UCLA...) and totally EXCLUDE *ANYBODY* whose parents make 100,000 pre-tax? Yep, if you make 6 figures that's a privilege! A state school might be a better fit!
Let's diversify the ranks of the ivy-league! This seems like equitable treatment to me. Let's include the poor for once.
Would Terry agree with that? Of course he wouldn't, he would fight against it FURIOUSLY! So long as his privileged offspring can get into a college he doesn't give a rat's ass about who DEI effects.
Nobody would think outright banning black students is ok. And that isn't what is happening to anybody, including poor, straight, and white men. White people, including white men, are one of the largest student bodies at all universities in the US, excluding historically black colleges.
I think you are spot on that the wealthy are disproportionately advantaged, not only in education, but in society as a whole. In another comment I posted a link to Columbia student body statistics, and 81% of their students are considered affluent. The source did not define "affluent". What percentage of Americans are affluent? Depending on your definition, I would say the top 25% maybe?
In the same source, Columbia's racial demographics aligned quite closely with the demographics of New York City, which I think makes sense. What didn't make sense, was 81% being affluent, when only 25% of the population are affluent, depending on your cutoff.
Clearly, the most impactful "DEI" quality is being rich. Why are we fighting over race/sex/etc. when the group obviously benefiting the most, and by a lot, is the rich? DEI is just a distraction used to keep the working class fighting amongst ourselves, and not working together to solve the massive wealth and income inequality in the US, and the excess power money has on our political and judicial systems.
> White people, including white men, are one of the largest student bodies at all universities in the US, excluding historically black colleges.
This is slowly changing, and like you yourself admit their representation at elite institutions is not commensurate with their share of the population, because they are openly being discriminated against. Columbia, Harvard, UCLA, etc, ALL, without exception, have "professors" being paid 6 figure salaries to spread vitriol and hate about "destroying Whiteness." That is a FACT!
Did you even bother reading what I wrote? I am telling you from my own experience that I was told explicitly, "we are not looking for straight white males!" Are you trying to brainwash me or something? I know what I experienced, and I have friends who have heard similar things. One guy I know applied for J.P Morgan Chase, and on the day it came time for the interview, there was him and 3 other Jewish guys, the interviewer came out of his office and said, "I need a BLACK WOMAN." And all of them left. My friend told me he had half a mind to say, "I'LL be your black woman!"
Being rich is a privilege, yes, but have you noticed that MOST rich elites (Like Terry Tao) are TOTALLY IN FAVOR of DEI? Why is that? Exactly because of what you said. They don't want to contend with the reality of class privilege, they don't want to give up any power or security their class rank affords them, but they still want to feel like they are on the side of the down-trodden. So what's a virtue-signalling charlatan to do?
I know! I've got it! By George I've got it!! I'll fight in favor of RACE based exclusion instead, totally ignoring the CLASS component of discrimination, THAT WAY, my privileged offspring can get in using the traditional channels of privilege (Columbia doesn't really care if you're black, White, Asian, etc..., so long as you have MONEY), but I can still get on a moral high horse! It's brilliant! Oh? Wait, what?! You savage, poor, low-lives are UPSET that you aren't getting an equal opportunity?! You say that your skin color shouldn't count against you?! Well, you're just a bunch of idiot under-educated savages. Be gone with you!
It's simple: Fascists don't want the public to be educated because educated people ask questions and tend to call out the answers when they are bad ones. Trump is attacking all our greatest universities and researchers because they may stand in the way of his dictatorship!
Authoritarian governments need a stupid electorate. You are a threat to the current regime and they will seek to neutralize your ability to function as an academic. I’m surprised the tech sector oligarchs are going along with these policies, but then their funding is assured. I’m sure other countries would more than welcome your contributions.
I met Terence Tao at DC’s Reagan airport a few years ago. He had just met with then-President Biden, as part of the President’s council of scientific advisors. As another Australian educated in the US, I approached him and he was very gracious to speak with me while we waited for our respective flights.
It’s well known that Terence Tao smart. In my brief moment with him, he was also kind and generous.
Terence Tao began as ‘child prodigy’. He was then Fields Medal winning mathematician and the ‘Mozart of mathematics’. In a surprising and welcome but not wholly unexpected turn of events, he’s now become a voice for science and mathematics.
Terence Tao, signed an open letter in 2020: "We are enraged at the everyday operations of a white supremacist society. ... Complicity with these systems of oppression is deeply rooted in the origins of this country."
He signed onto the politicization of the academy.
Now he speaks - only when the checks stop clearing. Where was this outrage when the institutions were rotting from within? The grants were never yours; they’ve always belonged to bureaucracies that long ago stopped serving science. "Academic freedom" has been an illusion for years, and clinging to it only reveals a lack of self-awareness. The problem isn’t the President - it’s the institutions that need reform, not pity from those guarding stipends that should have been supported by the institution itself.
Beautifully put Dr.Tao. America under the Trump dictatorship is deliberately hobbling STEM efforts. The question is why? China is clearly leading the world in many sectors including electric vehicles and science now that Trump and his minions are destroying the USA’s once-leading edge in STEM research, education and technological transfers to industry. Why? It seems perverse. Easy to see why the mango moron doesn’t get it. Harder though to understand why the institutions seem to be going meekly along with this administrations self-defeating destruction.
Terence Tao, signed an open letter in 2020: "We are enraged at the everyday operations of a white supremacist society. ... Complicity with these systems of oppression is deeply rooted in the origins of this country."
He signed onto the politicization of the academy.
Now he speaks - only when the checks stop clearing. Where was this outrage when the institutions were rotting from within? The grants were never yours; they’ve always belonged to bureaucracies that long ago stopped serving science. "Academic freedom" has been an illusion for years, and clinging to it only reveals a lack of self-awareness. The problem isn’t the President - it’s the institutions that need reform, not pity from those guarding stipends that should have been supported by the institution itself.
I’m afraid anything that appears to be educational or scientific, including mathematics, or any research is off the Trump/Doge/Republican Party/ and MAGA is now deemed unnecessary. What fools are at play here. Ruination of intellect.
I feel your pain about the logistics of not being able to afford a down payment for a home. The housing situation is awful for many Americans. And I’m sure talking about science isn’t on your list of immediate needs. Hopefully the housing improves for everyone too.
Everyone benefits from science. Increasing productivity via technological innovation adds wealth to the entire economy. People in those sectors directly benefit, and people in other sectors benefit due to increases in consumption and expenditure at their companies.
We all get sick and need medical care, clean air, energy generation, and much more. The effects may not always be obvious, but they are there and they are huge.
Terence Tao, signed an open letter in 2020: "We are enraged at the everyday operations of a white supremacist society. ... Complicity with these systems of oppression is deeply rooted in the origins of this country."
He signed onto the politicization of the academy.
Now he speaks - only when the checks stop clearing. Where was this outrage when the institutions were rotting from within? The grants were never yours; they’ve always belonged to bureaucracies that long ago stopped serving science. "Academic freedom" has been an illusion for years, and clinging to it only reveals a lack of self-awareness. The problem isn’t the President - it’s the institutions that need reform, not pity from those guarding stipends that should have been supported by the institution itself.
Christian Nationalists who control Trump, do not like science, math, art, civics, or philosophy. Their goal is to dumb everyone down by only educating people to follow their preferred scripture and history. Math, science, and the arts aren’t needed to adhere to the Bible while awaiting end times.
"Terence Tao is an award-winning mathematician and professor in the Department of Mathematics at UCLA." How understated! Terry Tao, as he known among researchers, is the top living mathematician.
Terence Tao, signed an open letter in 2020: "We are enraged at the everyday operations of a white supremacist society. ... Complicity with these systems of oppression is deeply rooted in the origins of this country."
He signed onto the politicization of the academy.
Now he speaks - only when the checks stop clearing. Where was this outrage when the institutions were rotting from within? The grants were never yours; they’ve always belonged to bureaucracies that long ago stopped serving science. "Academic freedom" has been an illusion for years, and clinging to it only reveals a lack of self-awareness. The problem isn’t the President - it’s the institutions that need reform, not pity from those guarding stipends that should have been supported by the institution itself.
just a note - dr. tao is not just an "award winning mathematician." many consider him the greatest mathematician alive. he's just humble. this situation is very unfortunate. thank you for your work dr. tao and best wishes to you
Terence Tao, signed an open letter in 2020: "We are enraged at the everyday operations of a white supremacist society. ... Complicity with these systems of oppression is deeply rooted in the origins of this country."
He signed onto the politicization of the academy.
Now he speaks - only when the checks stop clearing. Where was this outrage when the institutions were rotting from within? The grants were never yours; they’ve always belonged to bureaucracies that long ago stopped serving science. "Academic freedom" has been an illusion for years, and clinging to it only reveals a lack of self-awareness. The problem isn’t the President - it’s the institutions that need reform, not pity from those guarding stipends that should have been supported by the institution itself.
Thank you, Dr. Tao, for your work, your many contributions to research and education and, with this post, clarifying the great harms the Trump regime is perpetrating on our country. We're fighting back, please stay here if you can!
Terence Tao, signed an open letter in 2020: "We are enraged at the everyday operations of a white supremacist society. ... Complicity with these systems of oppression is deeply rooted in the origins of this country."
He signed onto the politicization of the academy.
Now he speaks - only when the checks stop clearing. Where was this outrage when the institutions were rotting from within? The grants were never yours; they’ve always belonged to bureaucracies that long ago stopped serving science. "Academic freedom" has been an illusion for years, and clinging to it only reveals a lack of self-awareness. The problem isn’t the President - it’s the institutions that need reform, not pity from those guarding stipends that should have been supported by the institution itself.
just a note - dr. tao is not just an "award winning mathematician." many consider him the greatest mathematician alive. he's just humble. this situation is very unfortunate. thank you for your work dr. tao and best wishes to you
Seriously. Tao describing himself as an "award winning mathematician" is like Lebron saying "I was a high school basketball champ."
Props to Tao for being humble of course, but I think it's worth mentioning his abilty and accomplishments just to highlight how absolutely ridiculous these cuts are.
Obviously he'll be fine. But if even one of the greatest can lose their funding, what about the rest of us just trying to get through the day doing math and science????
Terence Tao, signed an open letter in 2020: "We are enraged at the everyday operations of a white supremacist society. ... Complicity with these systems of oppression is deeply rooted in the origins of this country."
He signed onto the politicization of the academy.
Now he speaks - only when the checks stop clearing. Where was this outrage when the institutions were rotting from within? The grants were never yours; they’ve always belonged to bureaucracies that long ago stopped serving science. "Academic freedom" has been an illusion for years, and clinging to it only reveals a lack of self-awareness. The problem isn’t the President - it’s the institutions that need reform, not pity from those guarding stipends that should have been supported by the institution itself.
Terence Tao, signed an open letter in 2020: "We are enraged at the everyday operations of a white supremacist society. ... Complicity with these systems of oppression is deeply rooted in the origins of this country."
He signed onto the politicization of the academy.
Now he speaks - only when the checks stop clearing. Where was this outrage when the institutions were rotting from within? The grants were never yours; they’ve always belonged to bureaucracies that long ago stopped serving science. "Academic freedom" has been an illusion for years, and clinging to it only reveals a lack of self-awareness. The problem isn’t the President - it’s the institutions that need reform, not pity from those guarding stipends that should have been supported by the institution itself.
What a confused and self-contradictory comment. You start by pointing out that Dr. Tao first spoke up at least 5 years ago, then you castigate him for not speaking up til now. You say "the grants were never yours," apparently on the basis that they flowed through "bureaucracies," but that's how government academic grants work. You say "the problem isn't the President," but Trump is the one who signed off on cutting the grants. You suggest that the University of California should be providing its own funding for research by its faculty, but in that case all the intellectual property resulting from research at UCLA and the other UC campuses would rightfully belong to, and could be used by, only the University of California, not the American public at large. Your bottom line seems to be some inchoate dissatisfaction with bureaucracy and academia coupled with advocacy for privatizing the cost of academic research to the university level while preserving the public benefit of that research. Makes no sense.
You have zero knowledge about grant funding, and zero knowledge about research. It's just a copy pasted empty message claiming "rotted institutions" and "loss of academic freedom", and clearing the current administration fault. As a cs/math PhD student at a top institution in the US, I can tell you are completely ignorant about the topic.
grigori perelman is clear
I am so sad for this happening to you, thank for speaking up and for your work!! We all do not want this!! 🥺
Terence Tao, signed an open letter in 2020: "We are enraged at the everyday operations of a white supremacist society. ... Complicity with these systems of oppression is deeply rooted in the origins of this country."
He signed onto the politicization of the academy.
Now he speaks - only when the checks stop clearing. Where was this outrage when the institutions were rotting from within? The grants were never yours; they’ve always belonged to bureaucracies that long ago stopped serving science. "Academic freedom" has been an illusion for years, and clinging to it only reveals a lack of self-awareness. The problem isn’t the President - it’s the institutions that need reform, not pity from those guarding stipends that should have been supported by the institution itself.
"The “Mozart of Math” tried to stay out of politics."
Lmaoooo https://terrytao.wordpress.com/2016/06/04/it-ought-to-be-common-knowledge-that-donald-trump-is-not-fit-for-the-presidency-of-the-united-states-of-america/
He didn't try very hard.
Thank you for speaking out. The damage Trump is doing is horrendous.
Terence Tao, signed an open letter in 2020: "We are enraged at the everyday operations of a white supremacist society. ... Complicity with these systems of oppression is deeply rooted in the origins of this country."
He signed onto the politicization of the academy.
Now he speaks - only when the checks stop clearing. Where was this outrage when the institutions were rotting from within? The grants were never yours; they’ve always belonged to bureaucracies that long ago stopped serving science. "Academic freedom" has been an illusion for years, and clinging to it only reveals a lack of self-awareness. The problem isn’t the President - it’s the institutions that need reform, not pity from those guarding stipends that should have been supported by the institution itself.
Terence Tao speaks the truth. He does not lose his right to free speech because he is in academia. The white supremacy of which he spoke becomes more and more apparent. It is destroying our country. Trump and MAGA are shutting down scientific research and data reporting all over place. No institution is perfect. Every institution can use reform. Reform is not the same as burning it all to the ground. The problem is the President and his toadies. I am sorry that your mind has become closed and your thinking rigid.
He has the freedom to speak but taxpayer funding is accountable to federal anti discrimination laws which he is championing
Your Pépé the Frog avatar tells us what you think far more clearly than the text of the reply you have so liberally cut and pasted throughout the comments here. Indeed, it tells us all we need to know.
Enjoy your decline / the reformation of rationality has begun and your card board saints are not going to save you.
Everyday there's another pysop, don't fall for it guys it's bait.
It’s not enough / welcome back to reality !
Dr. Tao should have spoken up sooner, when the wokes were taking over and corrupting the institutions of inquiry. Nothing is more predictable than the current backlash to woke intellectual corruption.
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/new-math-research-group-reflects-a-schism-in-the-field/
https://unsafescience.substack.com/p/we-tried-to-warn-you
https://www.ams.org/journals/notices/201911/rnoti-p1778.pdf
https://www.ams.org/journals/notices/202001/rnoti-o1.pdf
EDIT: It's even worse than I thought: Dr. Tao signed this absurd open letter in the Floyd Era. The man has no standing -- none, whatsoever -- to complain about "politicization."
https://www.college.ucla.edu/2020/06/09/more-than-300-ucla-scientists-condemn-acts-of-racist-violence/
Exxxxcactly. The Left is fine with cultural revolution when it’s happening through them…but not to them. The playground kid who starts fights and cries for the principal when the other kid fights back. The social rapist, with their elbows on our throat, who hate that we found our pepper spray and gouge their eyes to get them off of us. Just lay back and take your unwanted woke rape they thought. It’s because we LOVE YOU and know what’s best for you they tell us. These cultural arsonists happily light fires on our universities, in our corporations, in our social media - and have the temerity to complain when the fire trucks thunder down the road to put them out.
This was a great piece of political propaganda Terry.
I had a good laugh at this part:
"..This is not because of a negative scientific assessment of the work, but instead by seemingly arbitrary justifications. Critical funding has been pulled for as insignificant a reason as the presence of a key word in the original proposal that is retroactively deemed unacceptable"
If only you could be honest. It's because poor White People like myself have been denied scholarships and research opportunities in the name of DEI. Your group of social elites aren't effected so you'd never hear about it, and since you don't have anybody in your circles who is white working class you think this is just some mania that's taken over the country. But it's true. My whole academic career was destroyed because of DEI, I was told, and it happened to me many on many occasions I would not get this scholarship, this REU, not be invited to this conference, because I'm a White Male.
If I wasn't a good enough mathematician I would have been fine paying (what to you must be a "measly" $5) to fill the pockets of privileged fat cats, but because my children, their children, etc, are going to be excluded by your merciless ideology, I'm happy your research is getting gutted, and I will continue to vote for politicians who will do this until you find some real bravery and stick up for us forgotten lot.
You’re trying to turn personal rejection into a grand conspiracy theory. Scholarships and research positions are competitive by nature — thousands apply, most don’t get in. But instead of asking whether your application wasn’t strong enough, you’ve convinced yourself you were targeted because you’re a white male. That’s not evidence, it’s just projection.
If what you’re saying were true — that white men are being systematically excluded — we’d see white men disappearing from academia and research. In reality, they remain the most represented group in almost every field, especially in tenured positions and grant awards. That’s not oppression, that’s dominance.
So let’s be honest: your “whole academic career was destroyed” not by DEI, but by your need to explain failure as persecution. Blaming DEI is just an easier story than facing the possibility that you didn’t measure up against the competition.
I read the same article you did, but maybe I'm blind. You need to be specific what points in Dr. Tao's presentation was DEI. Let's get serious about what DEI was really all about from its origins. For example, allowing women to work in jobs they were never allowed to work in before, allowing gays to work openly in the federal government, ever hear of the Lavender Scare, look it up, I'm not doing your homework for you, allowing gays to serve in the military, "Don't ask, don't tell", how stupid a policy initiative that was. Spoiler alert! Gays, both men and women served in the nation's military since 1776! Allowing black folks to become doctors, lawyers, educators and allowing voting rights, which they had under the 15th &19th amendements after the Civil War, but those ignorant racist fools in the South decided they were going to spit in the eye of the federal government and in doing so put this nation through 100 years of racial strife while denying citizenship rights to them until the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. I could go on, but I'm very tired of hearing the right wing conspiracy theory crap going on in this country whose band leader is none other than Donald J Trump. Equality in this country means everyone in this country who is born in it and to those who want be citizens who are protected under the Supreme Law of the land, the Constitution of the United Staes. I'm not doing your homework, look it up! By the way, FYI, I'm a History professor, so please, because I am, do not, repeat do not call me a libtard because I will repond, and you won't like what I would say in return.
1) You are a libtard
2) DEI doesn't mean voting rights, it means excluding (let's get real) working class Whites from professions and positions that they are qualified for.
I responded to somebody else with some stats:
Here's a Bloomberg article celebrating the discrimination against whites:
https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2023-black-lives-matter-equal-opportunity-corporate-diversity/
"But for this newer generation, the generation that is victim to DEI, you're wrong, it's a matter of a simple Google search to discover that. 40% of Columbia's Fall 2024 class is White, yet White Americans make up 60% of the population. This year, 12% of incoming Columbia students are black, about in line with their being 13% of the population. THERE IS A CLEAR BIAS AGAINST WHITES."
Terence Tao, signed an open letter in 2020: "We are enraged at the everyday operations of a white supremacist society. ... Complicity with these systems of oppression is deeply rooted in the origins of this country."
He signed onto the politicization of the academy.
Now he speaks - only when the checks stop clearing. Where was this outrage when the institutions were rotting from within? The grants were never yours; they’ve always belonged to bureaucracies that long ago stopped serving science. "Academic freedom" has been an illusion for years, and clinging to it only reveals a lack of self-awareness. The problem isn’t the President - it’s the institutions that need reform, not pity from those guarding stipends that should have been supported by the institution itself.
I was told explicitly on more than one occasion that they are "not looking for a straight white male..." -- it isn't a conspiracy theory, and yes, that does count as evidence. I know exactly how I "stack up" against the competition, I would see girls with worse GPA's and fewer math courses than me get invitations to interview at Google, and get thrown softball questions like "find an element in a binary tree" -- and they would still fail. Meanwhile I wouldn't get invited for the same interview.
Here's a Bloomberg article celebrating the discrimination against whites:
https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2023-black-lives-matter-equal-opportunity-corporate-diversity/
That doesn't count as evidence?
As for your comment about "dominance" - I actually agree with you that a lot of the older professors I met were extremely mediocre, if they had to compete in today's academic/job market they'd be SOL, we should probably fire about half of tenured faculty on that account.
But for this newer generation, the generation that is victim to DEI, you're wrong, it's a matter of a simple Google search to discover that. 40% of Columbia's Fall 2024 class is White, yet White Americans make up 60% of the population. This year, 12% of incoming Columbia students are black, about in line with their being 13% of the population. THERE IS A CLEAR BIAS AGAINST WHITES.
You aren't arguing with me so much as taunting me for my "perceived" failure - but the only failure on my end is that I wasn't born to an elite family with good connections, those people who were, people like you, don't feel the weight of these policies, so you're free to hold these luxury beliefs.
I always try to end a conversation with a point we have in common: Here's an idea I think we could both be in favor of, and who knows, maybe Terry will get on board too.
How about we collect the names of the top 100 universities in the US (Harvard, Yale, UCLA, etc...) and exclude anybody whose parents make upwards of 6 figures pre-tax? Yep, if you make over 100k a year, that's a privilege, so your children are privileged, so you should be excluded in the name of equity. Let's diversify the class ranks of the ivy league! I think that will be really inclusive. Will you agree with me? But of course you won't.
Based on the New York City demographics, it does not look like the 40% number is outrageous. Like most universities, a majority of students are in-state/local. New York is more diverse than most of the US. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Race_and_ethnicity_in_New_York_City
I think your point about affluence is great. Our society is ruled by the rich in far too many ways and we need to take power back. Large donations are a common way to improve/guarantee a child's admission. All too often the rich are able to simply buy what they want.
Do you think Trump, a man who was born into and inherited massive wealth, owns a gold toilet, and has accepted numerous payments that are easily portrayed as bribes, is the right horse to back to improve the situations of poor white males?
The poor white male has suffered largely in recent months due to tariffs.
Did you even bother looking up your own lie?
27%-40% of Columbia's students are foreigners, non US citizens. These institutions which I fund with my tax dollars are providing excellent educational opportunities to the ELITES of OTHER COUNTRIES. Why should I pay for that? You've only helped me to solidify my point.
And no, tariffs used to be a left-wing issue, which I support. My life didn't change at all due to tariffs, it WAS radically disrupted by DEI policies championed by the neo-left wing which uses "straight white male" as a pejorative.
At this point (in fact much earlier), a lot of straight white males would respond to a whinge of this magnitude with the phrase, "cry harder." By the way, did you miss the "one-tenth of one percent" statistic cited in Dr. Tao's post? Your personal tax contribution to academic grant funding for Columbia or any other university probably amounts to less than a cup of coffee.
I'm not giving another red cent to people who hate me. Thankfully, Trump and the Republicans recognize this as an issue. I have already expressed my support to my senator and will be meeting with my congressional rep to explain how important it is that there are more cuts like these, that parasites like this should go get funding from the woke corporations who they dare not criticize.
Seriously, did Tao ever say a single word when Amazon employees were pissing in bottles because of Jeff Bezos' inhumane business practices? Probably not because he's too worried to get on the wrong side of the people who really rule this country.
So I'll echo your words back to Terry, "cry harder"
You couldn’t possibly be the same John Schneeberger who sedated and subsequently sexually assaulted one of his patients in 1992, could you? I mean the one who was convicted and then sentenced to six years in prison. Because if that were the case, I’d find it rather difficult to believe you have any credibility remaining in the academic world at all.
It appears you may also be implying you are a mathematician? I cannot seem to find any mention of a mathematician named John Schneeberger anywhere on the internet. Not even as a coauthor. One would think an accomplished mathematician would have published a paper or two somewhere. And I find it hard to believe you would arbitrarily choose that name to use on your Substack account. Which university did you say you were with again?
No, that isn't me, I wasn't even born in 1992. I am a mathematician, I didn't get a PhD but I do have a paper published. No, I'm not sharing my name. I know tenured math professors and even one department head who are fearful of being cancelled because they disagree *somewhat* on a few points of doctrine with the DEI craze.
C'mon, John. Please, be serious.
Even if you are completely correct in all you write - and I don't think you are - your "tear it all down" response makes absolutely no sense. Your academic career crashed because you were denied (or you couldn't cut it) so now we should tear down all that you wanted in response?? I think they call that "Throwing the baby out with the bathwater."
My academic career didn't go as planned either, but I still had job skills and I got a great job, so it worked out. LOTS of academic careers don't go as planned either. Competition is extreme and many people drop out for the private sector. I've been on hiring committees, and no qualified candidates were ever set aside because they were white Caucasian males. We interviewed those who were most qualified and most likely to be a "good fit" for the job.
You seem to think you have been personally harmed by DEI, but that seems highly unlikely. Odds are that you got a different job using the same skills, and have done fairly well at it. Get over the rejection, like all the rest of us have already done.
Hey Boomer,
Why can I just tell that you are divorced based on your pictures? OK, I digress.
I googled your name, and you're just another privileged parasite who has never worked an honest day's work in his life. You live in a different world from working class Men, the men who keep your lights on and who keep your streets safe, the respect and admiration you owe them is lacking.
Let's just talk about your fraudulent academic career: you spent 10 years as a postdoc -- this is an utter embarrassment to _anybody_ in the academic world. I'm just pointing this out because most laymen aren't aware of how to size up an academic, and how easy it can be to spot a fraud.
I repeat, you are just another out of touch privileged man-boy, you talk about "getting a job" like it's the easiest thing in the world, like everybody's daddy can just call up their college roommate and find them one, but that isn't our reality, and we are increasingly forbidden from jobs that we are qualified for because of DEI.
Of course you're the sort of loser who *loves* telling people they are on hiring committee, those people love lording their status over others, it gives them some illusion of control in their pathetic lives. You expect me not to believe in DEI when you use vacuous criteria like "not a good fit?" we know what that means, he isn't a woman you can flirt with, so, he can forget about a livelihood and providing for his children and wife.
If you'd be so kind as to step into reality for just a moment, here are some stats that you could easily find on your own:
Here's a Bloomberg article celebrating the discrimination against whites:
https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2023-black-lives-matter-equal-opportunity-corporate-diversity/
"40% of Columbia's Fall 2024 class is White, yet White Americans make up 60% of the population. This year, 12% of incoming Columbia students are black, about in line with their being 13% of the population. THERE IS A CLEAR BIAS AGAINST WHITES."
Let's just put it this way, yes, I had to rely on my intelligence to get a job outside of the biased and racist academic world, I don't mind that - but now, if they refuse to give me an opportunity to flourish simply based on my race (like I was told *explicitly* multiple times, which YOU don't want to believe), then I'm not going to give them a red cent.
Terrence Tao, another foreigner to this country, signed a letter basically calling it a white supremacist shit-hole, well if that's the case, if we really are so corrupt, leave! And don't ask for our money! Have *some* principles.
Closing thoughts: All in all, if you were born in my generation, and if I were born with your intelligence, neither of us would be very successful.
Well, it didn't take you very long at all to get right down to the ad hominem and the insults. And you want us to believe you were denied opportunities because you're a white male?
Respond to my points instead of crying like an effete little girl then.
To quote Ronald Reagan, "There you go again." I'll let you carry on by yourself now.
Meh, an obvious Russian troll, and a lazy one at that.
Breaking News: Academics also have First Annendment rights.
Didn't respond to anything I wrote. You must be low-functioning, time to retire.
I'm sorry to hear your academic career did not turn out the way you wanted. I would caution you from blaming it on DEI. DEI isn't ruining anybody's careers or lives. My brother, a straight white male, went to our local state college. No fame to its name at all and cheap enough tuition that you can work part time and come out with little to no loans, without any financial aid. He makes 7 figures as a software engineer at Nvidia now.
People place too much stock in prestigious universities, as opposed to hard work. Maybe DEI did result in you being unfairly treated--that's an unfortunate casualty. Even our justice system convicts innocent people from time to time. DEI aims to give people who are disproportionately likely to be born with reduced opportunities a fairer chance. Maybe the pendulum has swung too far the other way in your experience.
But I assure you, those opportunities are not closed off to you. I know many people who hated school, did not attend prestigious universities, and did not stand out in academic performance, but are incredibly successful.
Reductions in academic funding harm us all. Government grants funded crucial research into GPS, the internet, treatments and cures for a litany of diseases and conditions, mathematical and computer science breakthroughs that have revolutionized our society, and many more. We should never be happy to see this funding gutted.
"DEI isn't ruining anybody's careers or lives"
It's empirically true that thousands of white and asian kids are denied dream college opportunities due to racist DEI policies. Same for whites and asians applying for university jobs. This is not even a secret, we KNOW the universities are discriminating.
With all due respect, that doesn't ruin anybody's career or life. Getting denied from your favorite college, allegedly due to DEI, may hurt for a bit, but life goes on. I didn't get into my reach school. That's why prospective students call them reach schools. But, largely thanks to federal grants, the US has tons of prestigious universities, because they attract top researchers from around the world.
I was able to attend a different one, and in hindsight, I think it was a much better fit for me than my reach school. Like I said in my earlier comment, many people become hugely successful just attending a state school. And they save a ton of money to boot.
If Columbia came out tomorrow and said, "we are no longer accepting black students of any kind" would you then turn around and tell those rightly furious blacks, "Hey now hey now! Not going to Columbia university isn't *ruining* your life! There are PLENTY of other colleges that will have you! But we are going to continue to fund Columbia with your hard-earned tax dollars even though they openly promote race hate against you."
No, you wouldn't, because to you and people like you racial discrimination against poor Straight White Men is OK, but even the slightest offense towards any group outside of that range should be met with swift and severe, merciless justice.
How about this, since you're such a champion of DEI, let's take the list of the top 100 universities (Harvard, Princeton, Yale, UCLA...) and totally EXCLUDE *ANYBODY* whose parents make 100,000 pre-tax? Yep, if you make 6 figures that's a privilege! A state school might be a better fit!
Let's diversify the ranks of the ivy-league! This seems like equitable treatment to me. Let's include the poor for once.
Would Terry agree with that? Of course he wouldn't, he would fight against it FURIOUSLY! So long as his privileged offspring can get into a college he doesn't give a rat's ass about who DEI effects.
Nobody would think outright banning black students is ok. And that isn't what is happening to anybody, including poor, straight, and white men. White people, including white men, are one of the largest student bodies at all universities in the US, excluding historically black colleges.
I think you are spot on that the wealthy are disproportionately advantaged, not only in education, but in society as a whole. In another comment I posted a link to Columbia student body statistics, and 81% of their students are considered affluent. The source did not define "affluent". What percentage of Americans are affluent? Depending on your definition, I would say the top 25% maybe?
In the same source, Columbia's racial demographics aligned quite closely with the demographics of New York City, which I think makes sense. What didn't make sense, was 81% being affluent, when only 25% of the population are affluent, depending on your cutoff.
Clearly, the most impactful "DEI" quality is being rich. Why are we fighting over race/sex/etc. when the group obviously benefiting the most, and by a lot, is the rich? DEI is just a distraction used to keep the working class fighting amongst ourselves, and not working together to solve the massive wealth and income inequality in the US, and the excess power money has on our political and judicial systems.
> White people, including white men, are one of the largest student bodies at all universities in the US, excluding historically black colleges.
This is slowly changing, and like you yourself admit their representation at elite institutions is not commensurate with their share of the population, because they are openly being discriminated against. Columbia, Harvard, UCLA, etc, ALL, without exception, have "professors" being paid 6 figure salaries to spread vitriol and hate about "destroying Whiteness." That is a FACT!
Did you even bother reading what I wrote? I am telling you from my own experience that I was told explicitly, "we are not looking for straight white males!" Are you trying to brainwash me or something? I know what I experienced, and I have friends who have heard similar things. One guy I know applied for J.P Morgan Chase, and on the day it came time for the interview, there was him and 3 other Jewish guys, the interviewer came out of his office and said, "I need a BLACK WOMAN." And all of them left. My friend told me he had half a mind to say, "I'LL be your black woman!"
Being rich is a privilege, yes, but have you noticed that MOST rich elites (Like Terry Tao) are TOTALLY IN FAVOR of DEI? Why is that? Exactly because of what you said. They don't want to contend with the reality of class privilege, they don't want to give up any power or security their class rank affords them, but they still want to feel like they are on the side of the down-trodden. So what's a virtue-signalling charlatan to do?
I know! I've got it! By George I've got it!! I'll fight in favor of RACE based exclusion instead, totally ignoring the CLASS component of discrimination, THAT WAY, my privileged offspring can get in using the traditional channels of privilege (Columbia doesn't really care if you're black, White, Asian, etc..., so long as you have MONEY), but I can still get on a moral high horse! It's brilliant! Oh? Wait, what?! You savage, poor, low-lives are UPSET that you aren't getting an equal opportunity?! You say that your skin color shouldn't count against you?! Well, you're just a bunch of idiot under-educated savages. Be gone with you!
https://www.theguardian.com/law/2023/jun/29/us-supreme-court-affirmative-action-harvard-unc-ruling
HARVARD has been CONVICTED of DISCRIMINATING AGAINST WHITE AND ASIAN STUDENTS!!!! THIS IS NOT SOMETHING WE MADE UP!!
https://www.forbes.com/sites/katherinehamilton/2023/05/24/delivery-drivers-sue-amazon-for-being-forced-to-pee-in-bottles/
If Tao REALLY DID care about the working class, he would have signed a petition which CONDEMNED AMAZON'S HORRIBLE TREATMENT OF WORKERS!!!
BUT HE WOULDN'T DARE DO THAT BECAUSE THEY ARE A POTENTIAL SOURCE OF INCOME TO HIM!!! GOOD RIDDANCE I SAY!!!
It's simple: Fascists don't want the public to be educated because educated people ask questions and tend to call out the answers when they are bad ones. Trump is attacking all our greatest universities and researchers because they may stand in the way of his dictatorship!
That must sound really insightful if you are 12
And perhaps one day you, too, will understand it.
Authoritarian governments need a stupid electorate. You are a threat to the current regime and they will seek to neutralize your ability to function as an academic. I’m surprised the tech sector oligarchs are going along with these policies, but then their funding is assured. I’m sure other countries would more than welcome your contributions.
I met Terence Tao at DC’s Reagan airport a few years ago. He had just met with then-President Biden, as part of the President’s council of scientific advisors. As another Australian educated in the US, I approached him and he was very gracious to speak with me while we waited for our respective flights.
It’s well known that Terence Tao smart. In my brief moment with him, he was also kind and generous.
Terence Tao began as ‘child prodigy’. He was then Fields Medal winning mathematician and the ‘Mozart of mathematics’. In a surprising and welcome but not wholly unexpected turn of events, he’s now become a voice for science and mathematics.
What a man.
Terence Tao, signed an open letter in 2020: "We are enraged at the everyday operations of a white supremacist society. ... Complicity with these systems of oppression is deeply rooted in the origins of this country."
He signed onto the politicization of the academy.
Now he speaks - only when the checks stop clearing. Where was this outrage when the institutions were rotting from within? The grants were never yours; they’ve always belonged to bureaucracies that long ago stopped serving science. "Academic freedom" has been an illusion for years, and clinging to it only reveals a lack of self-awareness. The problem isn’t the President - it’s the institutions that need reform, not pity from those guarding stipends that should have been supported by the institution itself.
You’re very repetitive
Beautifully put Dr.Tao. America under the Trump dictatorship is deliberately hobbling STEM efforts. The question is why? China is clearly leading the world in many sectors including electric vehicles and science now that Trump and his minions are destroying the USA’s once-leading edge in STEM research, education and technological transfers to industry. Why? It seems perverse. Easy to see why the mango moron doesn’t get it. Harder though to understand why the institutions seem to be going meekly along with this administrations self-defeating destruction.
Terence Tao, signed an open letter in 2020: "We are enraged at the everyday operations of a white supremacist society. ... Complicity with these systems of oppression is deeply rooted in the origins of this country."
He signed onto the politicization of the academy.
Now he speaks - only when the checks stop clearing. Where was this outrage when the institutions were rotting from within? The grants were never yours; they’ve always belonged to bureaucracies that long ago stopped serving science. "Academic freedom" has been an illusion for years, and clinging to it only reveals a lack of self-awareness. The problem isn’t the President - it’s the institutions that need reform, not pity from those guarding stipends that should have been supported by the institution itself.
Trump is gutting math now?
Note to GQP: You can’t even cook the books well if NO ONE has the correct numbers.
Great point!! 🤣🤣
I’m afraid anything that appears to be educational or scientific, including mathematics, or any research is off the Trump/Doge/Republican Party/ and MAGA is now deemed unnecessary. What fools are at play here. Ruination of intellect.
Deliberate ruination.
Not everyone benefits from science, especially when a lot of people don't have money to put a down payment on a house.
I feel your pain about the logistics of not being able to afford a down payment for a home. The housing situation is awful for many Americans. And I’m sure talking about science isn’t on your list of immediate needs. Hopefully the housing improves for everyone too.
Everyone benefits from science. Increasing productivity via technological innovation adds wealth to the entire economy. People in those sectors directly benefit, and people in other sectors benefit due to increases in consumption and expenditure at their companies.
We all get sick and need medical care, clean air, energy generation, and much more. The effects may not always be obvious, but they are there and they are huge.
Terence Tao, signed an open letter in 2020: "We are enraged at the everyday operations of a white supremacist society. ... Complicity with these systems of oppression is deeply rooted in the origins of this country."
He signed onto the politicization of the academy.
Now he speaks - only when the checks stop clearing. Where was this outrage when the institutions were rotting from within? The grants were never yours; they’ve always belonged to bureaucracies that long ago stopped serving science. "Academic freedom" has been an illusion for years, and clinging to it only reveals a lack of self-awareness. The problem isn’t the President - it’s the institutions that need reform, not pity from those guarding stipends that should have been supported by the institution itself.
Christian Nationalists who control Trump, do not like science, math, art, civics, or philosophy. Their goal is to dumb everyone down by only educating people to follow their preferred scripture and history. Math, science, and the arts aren’t needed to adhere to the Bible while awaiting end times.
"Terence Tao is an award-winning mathematician and professor in the Department of Mathematics at UCLA." How understated! Terry Tao, as he known among researchers, is the top living mathematician.
Terence Tao, signed an open letter in 2020: "We are enraged at the everyday operations of a white supremacist society. ... Complicity with these systems of oppression is deeply rooted in the origins of this country."
He signed onto the politicization of the academy.
Now he speaks - only when the checks stop clearing. Where was this outrage when the institutions were rotting from within? The grants were never yours; they’ve always belonged to bureaucracies that long ago stopped serving science. "Academic freedom" has been an illusion for years, and clinging to it only reveals a lack of self-awareness. The problem isn’t the President - it’s the institutions that need reform, not pity from those guarding stipends that should have been supported by the institution itself.
just a note - dr. tao is not just an "award winning mathematician." many consider him the greatest mathematician alive. he's just humble. this situation is very unfortunate. thank you for your work dr. tao and best wishes to you
Terence Tao, signed an open letter in 2020: "We are enraged at the everyday operations of a white supremacist society. ... Complicity with these systems of oppression is deeply rooted in the origins of this country."
He signed onto the politicization of the academy.
Now he speaks - only when the checks stop clearing. Where was this outrage when the institutions were rotting from within? The grants were never yours; they’ve always belonged to bureaucracies that long ago stopped serving science. "Academic freedom" has been an illusion for years, and clinging to it only reveals a lack of self-awareness. The problem isn’t the President - it’s the institutions that need reform, not pity from those guarding stipends that should have been supported by the institution itself.
Thank you, Dr. Tao, for your work, your many contributions to research and education and, with this post, clarifying the great harms the Trump regime is perpetrating on our country. We're fighting back, please stay here if you can!
Terence Tao, signed an open letter in 2020: "We are enraged at the everyday operations of a white supremacist society. ... Complicity with these systems of oppression is deeply rooted in the origins of this country."
He signed onto the politicization of the academy.
Now he speaks - only when the checks stop clearing. Where was this outrage when the institutions were rotting from within? The grants were never yours; they’ve always belonged to bureaucracies that long ago stopped serving science. "Academic freedom" has been an illusion for years, and clinging to it only reveals a lack of self-awareness. The problem isn’t the President - it’s the institutions that need reform, not pity from those guarding stipends that should have been supported by the institution itself.