Quick intro: I’m Ryan. I’ve only been blogging for a couple months and, in that time, I have contributed to both Why Are We Back In Iraq? and Watching the Watchers. A few days ago, I started a blog called Imposter Syndrome that will chronicle my experience as graduate student in the Hoosier State. I haven’t found a home for this piece, so I thought it would be perfect for a feministe guest post. I hope you enjoy it.
(Note: This is an expanded, and more satirical, version of a letter that I wrote to the Indiana Daily Student. It was published about a month ago and can be found online here; it’s the second one.)
Welcome to the world of Indiana politics. With the first Republican Governor in 16 years and a few new Republican lawmakers (including at least one Elvis impersonator) the Hoosier State is in for a hell of a lot of interesting, and ultimately useless, legislation as a just matter of state governance. (Think Texas politics with a lot less money on hand to throw around.)
My letter to the IDS deals with HB 1531, a proposed “Academic Bill of Rights”. Now, I don’t have to point out to the astute reader that this is a great title for a bill like this. It’s up there with “No Child Left Behind” and the “Clear Skies Initiative”. Who could be against civil rights for students and professors? Who could oppose this bill?
That’s obvious to David Horowitz and Sarah Dogan, the leading figures behind the Students for Academic Freedom: It’s the pink-o commie behind the lectern, that’s who.
If you’re not familiar with David Horowitz, then consider yourself lucky. He’s the prolific civil rights advocate and editor-in-chief of the conservative outfit frontpagemag.com. I pretty much think he’s a moron, but I’ll let you judge for yourself. Let’s thank Media Matters for America for making things easier on me by sharing this beauty:
Modern liberals are socialists, they’re not liberals. What are they liberal about besides hard drugs and sex? Everything else they want to control in your life. That’s true of the Democratic Party. It’s true of the British Labor Party. They’re socialists. That’s their religion.
Horowitz made this statement for a 2004 documentary titled, “Roots of the Ultra Left”, which was produced by the Leadership Institute. Yep, that’s the same Leadership Institute that “trained” “Jeff Gannon”.
Getting back to the actual bill, its main purpose is to protect students and professors from discrimination based on any political, religious, or ideological leanings. As far as state universities in Indiana go, this whole “controversy” has revolved around the case of Brett Mock’s experience at Ball State. As far as I can tell, he was upset that a Peace Studies course he willingly enrolled in did not discuss perpetual warfare as viable alternative to world peace. An op-ed by Ball State Pres. Jo Ann Gora revealed that “[i]n fact, Mr. Mock has never made a direct complaint to the university – formal or informal – and he waited until months after the course had concluded before first making claims in an article published by Mr. Horowitz’s online magazine.” Gee, I wonder if Mock got paid by Horowitz for that article.
Also, no op-ed would be complete without a rebuttal that doesn’t address the issues raised. More specifically, Dogan and Horowitz do not establish that there isn’t sufficient administrative machinery in place to address the discrimination of students at the hands of professors. This is because they can’t. They’ve tried, believe me. Just visit their site.
To wrap things up, I have just a few questions for those in support of this legislation. Since when are professors supposed to be high priced babysitters? If you’re so concerned with being recruited by the Communist Party against your will, why didn’t you apply to Bob Jones University? (You get a pass on this one if you did, but weren’t accepted.) And finally, do you consider yourself to be Republican, or even Libertarian?
If you answered “yes” to this last question, I think you need to clarify that position with a comment. Wasn’t it your hero Ron Reagan who claimed that “man is not free unless government is limited…. As government expands, liberty contracts”? If you want to bring government control into institutions that have shown an ability to police themselves, go ahead. I don’t think you’ll particularly enjoy the consequences. Also, stop bastardizing the word “conservative”.
Finally, to David, I’d like to express my sentiments, and those of many of my fellow Hoosiers, with what Melvin Udall tells his neighbor in the 1997 film As Good as It Gets: “Sell crazy someplace else, we’re all stocked up here.”
(For some useful information on how to fight HB1531, visit the Indiana Conference of the American Association of University Professors (INAAUP). For now, the bill is dead in the water), but it might be a good idea to make some calls to make sure it stays that way.)