NEWS AND OPINION:

Sen. Tim Scott did not mince words in a fundraising outreach for former President Donald Trump‘s campaign to return to the White House. Here’s what the South Carolina Republican said:

“I’m sick of the Left’s race-baiting. I’m sick of the Left’s open-border propaganda. I’m sick of the Left’s hypocrisy. I’m just plain old sick and tired of the Left,” Mr. Scott said in his emailed outreach.

“They think they can tell you what to think and control what you say, friend. It’s absolutely disgusting. Our country needs someone in charge who doesn’t play the Left’s games. Someone who refuses to bend the knee and surrender to the corrupt liberal establishment. That person is Donald J. Trump. We need Trump back in the White House, now more than ever,” Mr. Scott said.

“Friend, imagine President Trump in the White House for the next four years with a Trump Senate majority working right alongside him the whole time,” the lawmaker continued.

“We could finally save our country from the radical Leftists who are trying to destroy it,” Mr. Scott said.

IVY-COVERED HALLS

There are some quiet changes taking place at some institutes of higher learning these days.

Utah Valley University (UVU) is the first university in Utah to remove Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI)-focused language from the title of what once was the “diversity office.”

And the new name? That would be “Office of Institutional Engagement and Effectiveness.”

There is a backstory, of course.

“UVU is the first of seven public colleges and universities, which will be required to scrub their DEI offices before July 1, to comply with HB261, signed into law on January 30 by Utah Gov. Spencer Cox (R). Under the law, DEI-related spaces will be required to ‘open any specific race- or gender-based efforts to all individuals.’ Furthermore, the law also expressly prohibits the use of any language associated with DEI terminology at public colleges universities,” writes Evan Poellinger, an investigative news fellow for CNSNews.com.

The new office will “lead efforts to foster student success, coordinate campus initiatives,” and “oversee the use of assessment results for institutional improvement and effectiveness,” he said.

Other universities are also complying with anti-DEI laws passed elsewhere. On March 1, for example, the University of Florida fired its DEI employees in order to adhere to regulations from the Florida Board of Governors.

Officials also took action on DEI practices, answering to legislation which defunds DEI programs at universities in the Sunshine State; Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed off on that legislation last May 15.

“To comply with the Florida Board of Governors’ regulation 9.016 on prohibited expenditures, the University of Florida has closed the Office of the Chief Diversity Officer, eliminated DEI positions and administrative appointments, and halted DEI-focused contracts with outside vendors,” said a press release issued by the school.

ONE FOR MARK

A true conservative stalwart gets some applause on April 6 in Los Angeles. That would be Mark Levin, a nationally syndicated radio host with 14 million listeners on 300 stations across the U.S. He hosts “Life, Liberty & Levin,” a prime-time program on Fox News which airs on Saturday and Sunday.

Mr. Levin is also author of 10 New York Times bestselling books, by the way — including “The Democrat Party Hates America,” released by Threshold Editions in September.

The Claremont Instate will honor Mr. Levin at its annual gala on April 6, staged in the California Club in Los Angeles. The event includes a convivial reception with a sumptuous dinner to follow. The master of ceremonies is none other than Mollie Hemingway, editor in chief of The Federalist and a contributor to Fox News.

That Claremont Institute is a think tank which seeks to “restore the principles of the American Founding to their rightful, preeminent authority in our national life,” according to a mission statement.

The organization is based in Claremont, California, and can be found at Claremont.org.

NEVER A DULL MOMENT

There’s more to the year than the presidential election, believe it or not.

“Incoming for spring 2024: Millions of periodical cicadas,” reports Lucy Mutz, a writer for the Old Farmer’s Almanac, a venerable news organization that has been around since 1792.

So when will the cicadas arrive?

“Expect to see these critters arriving from late April to the middle of May 2024 and sticking around just long enough to finish growing, molting, and mating — around four to six weeks,” she reports.

“A ‘Double Brood’ — Brood XIII and Brood XIX — will co-emerge, an event that happens only once every 221 years. The last time this occurred was 1803, the birth year of Ralph Waldo Emerson, Thomas Jefferson’s third year as president of the United States, and the year of the Louisiana Purchase,” Ms. Mutz advises.

“Annual cicadas are predominantly green, while periodical cicadas have red eyes and red wing veins,” she notes.

The bodacious bugs will visit 17 states, and they have attracted the news media for many weeks. NBC News declared all the way back on Jan. 20 that “2024 belongs to the cicadas” — predicting that billions are due to arrive.

Find the Old Farmer’s Almanac at Almanac.com.

POLL DU JOUR

• 44% of registered voters in the state of Michigan would be “very upset” if the candidate they support in the 2024 presidential election lost.

• 62% of Democrats, 47% of Republicans and 35% of independents agree.

• 28% overall would be “somewhat upset” if their candidate lost.

• 24% of Democrats, 31% of Republicans and 30% of independents agree.

• 9% would be “not so upset” if their candidate lost.

• 5% of Democrats, 8% of Republicans and 12% of independents agree.

• 16% would be “not upset at all” if their candidate lost.

• 8% of Democrats, 13% of Republicans and 20% of independents agree.

• 3% don’t know.

• 1% of Democrats, 2% of Republicans and 3% of independents agree.

SOURCE: A Quinnipiac University poll of 1,487 registered Michigan voters conducted by telephone March 8-12.

• Find Jennifer Harper on X @HarperBulletin, on Facebook at @HarperUniverse.

• Jennifer Harper can be reached at jharper@washingtontimes.com.