When you watch the academic left in action on campus, it looks like the American communists back in the 30's.
Power Line: In which St. Thomas keeps digging
powerlineblog.com
What's it like to be a conservative student on a college campus run by liberal adminstrators? Consider the case of St. Thomas College senior Katie Kieffer. Ms. Kieffer is the founder of the St. Thomas Standard, the new campus conservative periodical, the former leader of the St. Thomas chapter of the College Republicans, and one of the students who arranged for Ann Coulter to speak on campus.
Ms. Kieffer introduced Coulter when she spoke to a packed house at St. Thomas's O'Shaughnessy Educational Center auditorium in St. Paul on April 18. It should have been a crowning moment in the undergraduate career of an exemplary St. Thomas student. Somehow things haven't turned out quite that way.
Life hasn't been the same for Katie since April 18. First the Minneapolis Star Tribune's fatuous columninst wrote a column condemning Coulter's talk as "hate speech." Answering the call of the dominant newspaper of the Twin Cities, the president of the University of St. Thomas -- who had not himself attended the event -- issued a handwringing statement condemning Coulter's talk as "hateful speech" contributing "to the growing dark side of our culture..." The Star Tribune's fatuous columnist in turn wrote a second column, congratulating the president for his wisdom in snapping to the columnist's views.
In issuing his condemnation of the event, the St. Thomas president relied on the reports of "many people that Ms. Coulter was unsparing in her vitriolic criticism of 'liberals' and treated in a sarcastic, disrespectful and mean-spirited manner any audience members who challenged her viewpoints." Having spoken to the university's public relations spokesman, I think the president relied principally on his account of the talk. However "many people" the president heard from, the reports on which the president relied apparently did not include any account of the questions or behavior of the audience members to which Coulter was responding.
In email messages defending his condemnation of Coulter's talk, the president of St. Thomas has issued a remarkable Star Chamber ruling:
Ms. Coulter clearly violated our controversial issues policy, which says, among other things, that "in discussion and debate, members and guests of the university community are expected to treat one another with respect and dignity."
The president issued his ruling that "Ms. Coulter clearly violated our policy" without seeking out or even agreeing to meet with anyone who attended the talk and saw events differently. When Ms. Kieffer asked to meet with the president, she was first told that he was not scheduling meetings on the issue. The president has subsequently agreed to meet with Ms. Kieffer -- later this month. The president is not too busy to issue Star Chamber rulings, but he's a busy guy. Limiting the evidence to one side of an argument not only expedites the hearing, it also facilitates the conclusion.
Outsiders have noticed the peculiarities of the events unfolding at St. Thomas. On the Fox News Special Report, Brit Hume has twice reported on the events following Coulter's talk that cast St. Thomas in an unflattering light. One might think that St. Thomas would be willing to leave well enough alone, but one would be wrong.
While the president hasn't found time to meet with Ms. Kieffer, others at the school have more than enough time on their hands to meet with her. Indeed, they have invited her to meet with them -- sort of (to borrow the title of the Nabokov novel) an invitation to a beheading. They seem to believe that she should answer for their hurt feelings about Ms. Coulter's "vitriolic criticism of 'liberals'" and her sarcastic treatment of "any audience members who challenged her viewpoints."
Yesterday morning Ms. Kieffer received an email message from the St. Thomas Director of Campus Life. The email asked Ms. Kieffer to meet with several students who had come to the director "concerned that Ms. Coulter's comments were not respectful of all community members." She requested that Ms. Kieffer (along with the chair of the College Republicans, the event's cosponsor) meet with these students to discuss "their concerns over [Coulter's] comments":
Following the Ann Coulter lecture, several students have been in contact with our office regarding their concerns over her comments. It's my understanding that some students were concerned that Ms. Coulter's comments were not respectful of all community members. In light of these concerns, I would like to invite you to meet with several of these students to engage in a dialogue regarding their thoughts as well as your own on this issue. It is my hope that all involved would leave the conversation with a better understanding of how students with differing viewpoints experienced this program.
If this is something in which you would be willing to be involved, please let me know and I can begin working with schedules to find a time that works for all.
Thanks for your consideration.
Well, thanks, but no thanks. Ms. Kieffer, wise beyond her years, has responded as follows:
Thank you for your e-mail and offer to meet. I appreciate your concern. However, I do not feel that there is a need for such a meeting.
I am putting together a short newsletter/response to the event, which I have been working on in addition to my graduation preparations. I feel that this is the best way to communicate to the most students as possible in the few remaining days of the academic year. My overriding concern is that there is not enough intellectual diversity on campus; I feel that this is more critical than the amelioration of individual student concerns with Ms. Coulter's lecture. I know that students would not have been so upset or surprised when a conservative speaker came to campus and spoke her mind if our school had a history of bringing a much more diverse group of speakers to campus. Conservative, liberal or moderate-all viewpoints should be equally represented.
While I respect the fact that many students and community members may disagree with what Ms. Coulter had to say, the vast majority of the crowd--comprised, as you know, of students, faculty and community members--supported her. She was respectful, witty, and would respond with facts to those audience members who asked her questions. I only wish that Ms. Coulter had been treated with the respect she deserved as a speaker at this campus. It was very disappointing for me to witness students--particularly those students in the balconies--speak and gesture vulgarly at her, frequently disrupt her with loud and obnoxious outbursts, walk out without waiting for her to respond to their questions, and generally ignore her right to free speech. Prior to the event, I had to personally replace the fliers around campus advertising the Ms. Coulter's talk every day because they were repeatedly torn down or defaced. The vandals wrote "sad" across Ann's forehead, wrote "man hands" on them, or drew Ann on a leopard-print couch on several of the fliers. This behavior is very concerning to me.
Again, thank you for your assistance prior to the event, and for relating your concerns. I believe that my forthcoming printed response will satisfy the student concerns.
Respectfully,
Katie Kieffer
Ms. Kieffer comments: "In reality, the school administration should be talking to these students to discuss ways that they can treat Ms. Coulter more respectfully the next time she comes to campus (God-willing!)." What is to be said when the school's students have more maturity and judgement than its administrators? Ladies and gentlemen, as the Star Tribune's fatuous columnist observed, St. Thomas has presented us with a teachable moment -- in more ways than one. |
