Sunday, May 08, 2005

David Limbaugh: Student feels the heat of academic "diversity"

From David Limbaugh's web site, an excerpt:

"False Promises Of Academic Freedom

If you want to get a real glimpse of the thought-tyranny of the academic Left, you should look at the case of Scott McConnell, who was recently expelled from Le Moyne College in Syracuse, N.Y., because his personal beliefs didn't fit within the school's indoctrination grid.
The Left, through an extraordinary process of self-deception, routinely congratulates itself for its enlightenment and open-mindedness, but the slightest scrutiny of its behavior in academia alone puts the lie to its claims. Sadly, the Left has even sunk its tentacles into Jesuit colleges like Le Moyne.


McConnell was pursuing a masters in education at Le Moyne. He achieved a 3.78 grade-point average for the fall semester and an "excellent" evaluation for his outside classroom work at a Syracuse elementary school when he made the mistake of relying on the university's promise to honor students' academic liberty and due process.

In its handbook, Le Moyne boasts, "As a comprehensive college, accredited by the State of New York and the Middle States Association, Le Moyne shares the ideals of academic freedom found in American institutions of higher education."

Among McConnell's unforgivable sins were his audacious dissent from the university's dogma extolling multicultural education and his gross insubordination in asserting in a paper that "corporal punishment has a place in the classroom."

Notably, McConnell received an A- on his blasphemous paper from Prof. Mark J. Trabucco, who also wrote him a note saying his ideas were "interesting." But when Trabucco forwarded the paper to the department chair, Cathy Leogrande, McConnell got his academic head served to him on a platter.

On Jan. 13, 2005, in an act of compassion that liberals are so famous for, Leogrande sent McConnell a terse letter summarily ejecting him from the graduate program. In the introductory paragraph, Leogrande reminded McConnell, conveniently, that he had been "accepted to the Le Moyne College Graduate Education program on a conditional basis.'"
Hopefully, LeMoyne, will feel start feeling "the heat" on this issue. Soon.

LeMoyne, a Catholic university, has gotten more unwanted attention. From the Cardinal Newman Society web site:

"Former New York Times reporter Peter Steinfels and former Commonweal editor Margaret O’Brien Steinfels will deliver the commencement address and receive honorary degrees on May 22 at Le Moyne College in New York. Both are seasoned defenders of dissent within the Catholic Church. Both have been outspoken about their dissent from the encyclical Humanae Vitae and its teaching on contraception. Both also have publicly opposed Catholic teaching on women’s ordination"

"CONTACT: Rev. Charles J. Beirne, S.J., President, LeMoyne College, 1419 Salt Springs Road, Syracuse, NY 13214; Phone: (315) 445-4120; E-mail:
beirnecj@lemoyne.edu "

FIRE, the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, is working on this case. FIRE is also putting the pressure on DePaul for the its wrongs against Thomas Klocek in his free speech battle.

There is much to report in academia. Very little good news, but there is so much material out there.


No comments: