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University of Illinois lesson materials push leftist race, class struggles on future teachers: leaked lectures
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EXCLUSIVE: More leaked PowerPoint lectures from a first-year University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign class show left-wing ideology woven into the fabric of the course.
Fox News Digital obtained course material from weeks six and nine of EDUC 201, “Identity and Difference in Education,” from a concerned student. The course is taken by future teachers, and is part of the university’s education department.
Week nine’s lecture is titled “Cultivating Belonging.”
“Recent data indicate that close to 40% of US high school students do not feel connected to school. This sense of alienation is particularly acute among students facing racism, LGBTQ+ students, and students with disabilities. Evidence points to curricular and school structures that fail to engage many students as a primary reason students reject schooling that devalues them, as opposed to rejecting school,” says a slide early in the presentation, quoting a paper from the Aspen Institute.
A slide from a first semester 2025 lecture in an education course at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign teaches about “cultivating belonging.” (Obtained by Fox News Digital)
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The key to teaching about belonging, according to the presentation, is intersectionality.
“When talking about belonging it’s important to consider if we’re asking students to conform to norms that don’t reflect their bodies of knowledge (e.g., assimilation, erasure) or are we thinking about belonging in culturally relevant and intersectional ways?” asks a slide that is part of the lecture.
Another slide is called “Erasure of Racially Minoritized Students.” The entire slide is simply a quote from a person named Xóchitl, identified as a ninth grader at Shields High School.
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“When you’re with your Mexican friends some white people don’t acknowledge you when you’re in the hallways, and you see someone that you know and it’s like they’re with their white friends, they don’t see you, but when you’re playing sports, they know you’re there,” Xóchitl’s quote says. “They start talking to you differently than when they talk to you outside of sports.”
Fox News Digital reached out to the course’s professor, Gabriel Rodriguez, for clarification on the origin of the quote. He did not return a request for comment.
Slide 14 of the lecture features a three-minute video from Beverly Daniel Tatum, Ph.D., published by The Root, a news outlet whose tagline is “Black News and Black Views with a Whole Lotta Attitude.”
A slide from an October 2025 education course lecture at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign features a video of author Beverly Daniel Tatum. (Obtained by Fox News Digital)
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Tatum is the author of “Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?” The book is a national bestseller. Tatum’s video is titled, “Why the Black Kids Still Sit Together.”
“We’re all influenced by race and racism in our society,” said Tatum in the video. Tatum is also the president emerita of Spelman College, a historically Black college in Atlanta.
“If you’re growing up as a young person of color in the society, part of that experience is to get messages from the wider world about who you are racially, and how people are responding to that,” she said.
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Tatum later brings up segregation.
“Residential segregation and school segregation go together across,” she said. “And to the extent that the schools and the neighborhoods are segregated, it means that the social networks that help you find employment, that help you access higher education, that help you move up the economic ladder, are more limited — and that’s a problem.”
A University of Illinois entry sign in Champaign, Illinois. The University of Illinois is a state university in Urbana-Champaign, Illinois. It offers teaching and research programs at both the undergraduate and graduate levels to over 56,000 students. (Don and Melinda Crawford/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
“We are still dealing with racial hierarchies,” Tatum continued. “We’re still dealing with white supremacy. We’re still dealing with the kind of systematic racism that impacts communities of color.”
Toward the end of the lecture, a slide instructs the future educators on how to cultivate belonging.
“Affirming and accepting students for all their complexities – particularly for students with minoritized identities,” says one point.
“Embracing and implementing culturally relevant teaching practices that reflect students’ identities,” is another.
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Week six’s lecture is called “Understanding the role of class in educational inequality,” and begins with a list of the top high schools in Illinois.
It then discusses stereotypes of rural, suburban and urban schools, noting that rural schools are often thought of as “poor” and white, suburban schools are often thought of as “resource rich” and white, and that urban schools are often thought of as “dysfunctional” and “composed by students of color.”
A slide from a lecture from September 2025 at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign focuses on stereotypes about schools. (Obtained by Fox News Digital)
“Class inequality is increasing and part of everyday life in these contexts,” says the next slide, followed by another slide quoting the author of a book called “Radical Possibilities: Public policy, urban education, and a new social movement,” which says the federal government plays a “proactive” role in maintaining the poverty of families and neighborhoods where schools are “poorly funded, staffed, and resourced…”
A concept called “Opportunity Hoarding,” defined as “the process through which dominant groups who have control over some good (e.g., education) regulate its circulation, thus preventing out-groups from having full access to it,” is a major focus of the lesson.
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According to the slides, that definition is derived from a 2015 book by Amanda Lewis and John Diamond, called “Despite the best intentions: How racial inequality thrives in good schools.”
“Opportunity hoarding, such as fundraising efforts of middle- and upper-middle class parents to support school programming exacerbate existing resource gaps between schools,” one lecture slide says.
A slide from a September 2025 lecture at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign focuses on “opportunity hoarding.” (Obtained by Fox News Digital)
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“Opportunity hoarding, such as resistance from middle- and upper-middle class parents to de-track or to create open access to honors/AP courses lessens educational opportunities for low-income students,” says another.
The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign did not return a request for comment.
Lectures focus on racism, white supremacy and cultivating belonging for ‘minoritized’ students
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If this were a football road trip for Nebraska, yikes. The Huskers this week visit Ohio State and Indiana.
But maybe, given Nebraska’s 14-0 basketball start, it’s the Buckeyes and Hoosiers who should be concerned.
The basketball version of the Buckeyes and Hoosiers is difficult enough, as both Nebraska opponents are formidable, both are capable of making the NCAA Tournament and both are capable of pinning that first loss on the Huskers.
Nebraska has played one true road game, a victory at Illinois. The Huskers play Ohio State on Monday and Indiana on Saturday, Jan. 10. The No. 13 Huskers are flying, coming off a 58-56 victory over No. 9 Michigan State on Friday night at Pinnacle Bank Arena.
Defeating the Spartans was the kind of tense victory over a legitimate basketball powerhouse that could define the Huskers’ season.
Back to reality for Huskers
“Everybody that played, I think, made a big contribution,” Nebraska coach Fred Hoiberg said at a postgame news conference about the victory over Michigan State.
The victory led to a wild, court-filled celebration at Pinnacle Bank Arena.
But, now, back to the harsh reality of life in the difficult Big Ten. There’s not much turnaround time for Nebraska before the Ohio State game.
“We’ve got to bounce back [Saturday, Jan. 3] with a good mental day [of] prep and get one more day,” Hoiberg said.
“We’ll practice a little bit, and travel day, but it was a hell of a tough turnaround to play back-to-back 8 o’clock games with two days’ prep, and now you go on the road for two.
“So, it’s a great win for us. I’m not going to discount that. Huge win for our program but we got to get past it and move on to Ohio State.”
The Huskers are tied for first place in the Big Ten with Michigan and Purdue at 3-0. One of these teams is not the like the others, at least based on preseason projections and historical precedent. Purdue and Michigan were expected to be Big Ten contenders. Nebraska was not, but has become one of the best national college basketball success stories so far this season.
‘It’s been a fun ride’
“We’ve done something that hasn’t been done in this program ever … running the table in the non-conference hasn’t been done in almost 100 years,” Hoiberg said. “So, there’s a lot of things these guys can be proud of, but at the same time, the most impressive thing to me about this group is how they’ve handled it. They haven’t gotten big-headed.
“You know, a lot of things have been written and listen, if it flips, it’s going to go the other way and they got to handle that well.
“Hopefully, it doesn’t, but it’s been a fun ride with this team and they’ve seen how much effort and time you’re putting into it to go out and execute game plans, get chewed out at halftime and handle it and respond.
“Again, I’ve talked a lot about this group. They’ve been a joy to be around and they’ve been fun because of their daily approach …
“When you go on the road, you got to be fresh physically and mentally as much as possible. Had guys play a lot. Rienk [Mast] hadn’t played this amount of minutes in awhile. So, it’s going to be important to get him back fresh and go out and hopefully play well on the road.”
Nebraska at Ohio State
When: Monday, 5:30 p.m. CT
Where: Schottenstein Center, Columbus
Records: Nebraska 14-0, 3-0 in Big Ten; Ohio State, 10-3, 2-1 in Big Ten. The Buckeyes are 7-1 at home.
TV: FS1
Rankings updated based on games through Saturday.
Ohio State rankings
* Associated Press Top 25: Not ranked
* NCAA Net Ratings: 46 (dropped two places)
* USA Today Coaches Poll: Not ranked
* Kenpom.com: 39
* ESPN Power Rankings: 36
* Top 25 and 1: Not ranked
* Team Rankings.com: 62
In Joe Lunardi’s latest Bracketology projections, Ohio State is an 11-seed as one of the “last four in” for the 68-team NCAA Tournament.
Nebraska rankings
* Associated Press Top 25: 13 (new poll is released Monday)
* NCAA Net Ratings: 11 (improved four places)
* USA Today Coaches Poll: 13
* Kenpom.com: 22
* ESPN Power Rankings: 26 (dropped one place)
* Top 25 and 1: 9 (improved four places)
* Team Rankings.com: 7 (improved one place)
In Joe Lunardi’s latest Bracketology projections, Nebraska is a 4-seed for the 68-team NCAA Tournament.
Nebraska-Ohio State analysis
Something to watch: How Nebraska bounces back from a highly emotional win over Michigan State. The Ohio State crowd will be revved up at the sight of the 14-0 Huskers. The Buckeyes can enhance their NCAA resume with a win over the Huskers. If Hoiberg has his team focused and the players are “business-like” as the coach says they are, Nebraska could be in good position to keep the winning streak going. Last season, the Huskers lost in Columbus, 116-114, in double overtime on March 4, a defeat that likely hurt their NCAA chances.
Nebraska at Indiana
When: Saturday, 11 a.m. CT
Where: Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall, Bloomington
Records: Nebraska 14-0, 3-0 in Big Ten; Indiana, 10-3, 1-1 in Big Ten. The Hoosiers are 9-0 at home.
TV: BTN
Indiana rankings
* Associated Press Top 25: Not ranked
* NCAA Net Ratings: 33
* USA Today Coaches Poll: 39
* Kenpom.com: 28
* ESPN Power Rankings: 17 (improved by two places)
* Top 25 and 1: Not ranked
* Team Rankings.com: 68 (dropped three places)
In Joe Lunardi’s latest Bracketology projections, Indiana is an 11-seed as one of the “last four byes” for the 68-team NCAA Tournament.
Nebraska rankings
* Associated Press Top 25: 13 (new poll is released Monday)
* NCAA Net Ratings: 11 (improved four places)
* USA Today Coaches Poll: 13
* Kenpom.com: 22
* ESPN Power Rankings: 26 (dropped one place)
* Top 25 and 1: 9 (improved four places)
* Team Rankings.com: 7 (improved one place)
In Joe Lunardi’s latest Bracketology projections, Nebraska is a 4-seed for the 68-team NCAA Tournament.
Nebraska-Indiana analysis
Indiana is 9-0 at home and has two games before Nebraska comes to Bloomington — Sunday vs. Washington (the Hoosiers’ first game since Dec. 22), and Wednesday at Maryland.
If the Hoosiers can stay focused and not be distracted by the football team’s run to the College Football Playoff semifinals, IU won’t be easy for Nebraska.
Indiana features balanced scoring. Indiana guard Lamar Wilkerson — no relation to the legendary Hoosier Bobby Wilkerson of the 1976 NCAA championship team — should be the focus of the Huskers’ defense. Wilkerson, a 6-foot-6 senior, can light it up, averaging 20.2 points in home games and 19.0 points overall.
More From Nebraska On SI
Stay up to date on all things Huskers by bookmarking Nebraska Cornhuskers On SI, subscribing to HuskerMax on YouTube, and visiting HuskerMax.com daily.
FARGO, N.D. (AP) — Markhi Strickland had 15 points in North Dakota State’s 79-77 double overtime victory over Oral Roberts on Saturday.
Strickland also contributed five rebounds for the Bison (12-5, 2-0 Summit League). Trevian Carson added 14 points while going 6 of 10 (2 for 3 from 3-point range) and eight rebounds. Damari Wheeler-Thomas finished with 14 points, while adding six rebounds.
Yuto Yamanouchi-Williams led the way for the Golden Eagles (5-12, 0-2) with 19 points, five rebounds and two blocks. Connor Dow added 15 points and two steals for Oral Roberts. Ofri Naveh also put up 14 points.
A foul sent Wheeler-Thomas to the line with seven seconds to play, where he sank one of the shots to send the game to overtime. Jack Turner tipped in a shot for Oral Roberts to send the game to a second overtime. Noah Feddersen tipped in a shot for North Dakota state with one second to play for the win for the Bison.
___
The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
COLUMBUS, Ohio –Ohio State had added the first player to its 2026 transfer portal class.
Mason Williams is a former member of the 2023 recruiting class who spent his first three seasons as an Ohio Bobcat. After redshirting his freshman season, he’s spent the last two as a vital member of the Bobcats’ offense as both a blocker and a receiver.
In 1,133 snaps, Williams caught 48 passes for 565 yards and six touchdowns. As a blocker, he can be a reliable end-line tight end who can replace the loss of Will Kacmarek, who is out of eligibility. Kacmarek also came from Ohio in 2024 and spent the last two years as a major contributor, developing into one of the nation’s best blocking tight ends.
Williams will have two years of eligibility remaining in Columbus. His addition helps offset the loss of Kacmarek to graduation and Jelani Thurman to the transfer portal. He’ll join a room expected to feature Bennett Christian, Nate Roberts, Brody Lemon and Maxence LeBlanc. Nick Lautar will also join the room as an incoming freshman.
OSU is also waiting for the decision of Purdue transfer Max Klare, who has the option of declaring for the NFL Draft or returning in 2026.
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