Friday, October 21, 2005

Red State.org diary on Ward Churchill and DePaul

From Lockstep.

"I have fallen into the habit of starting my morning by reading Chris Muir's Day by Day, and this morning's strip tipped me to a new Ward Churchill story. This one involves DePaul University, and their local College Republicans.According to this account, DePaul invited (paid) Churchill to speak last night at their Cultural Center. When students began to question the selection of Churchill, Cultural Center director Harvette Grey refused to disclose the funding source for the lecture, and banned some students from the center, specifically banning the College Republicans from a post-lecture workshop on Churchill's views (lecture topic: human rights for people of color).

For all the posturing about free speech rights, the University has been presenting a fairly restricted worldview. In addition to the Churchill lecture, the school has been in the news recently for suspending Adjunct Professor Thomas Klocek for arguing with members of Students for Justice in Palestine at a school-sponsored event. In the name of giving a lectern to alternative viewpoints, though, they have hired noted Holocaust denier Norm Finkelstein into their Poli-Sci faculty.

I did not attend DePaul, but I know that if this took place at my former college, I would reply to the annual request for donations with a pledge to support the school when the school returned to supporting all points of view, not just the views of the current faculty and Dean. DePaul does have a handy "notes from alumni" message board where former students can let the administration know how they feel about the direction the school is taking."

Thanks for tip about the message board, LS.

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