Marathon Pundit: Ignorance is strength: Free speech at DePaul University

"War is Peace. Freedom is Slavery. Ignorance is Strength."
George Orwell, 1984.

The DePaul Academic Freedom Committee will hold the DePaul Academic Freedom Symposium on the campus of the Chicago Catholic University on February 1-2. More on that latter. First, let's talk about Nicholas Hahn III and his experience with academic freedom at America's largest Catholic college.

Two years ago, Greg Luckianoff, the president of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) appeared on Hannity & Colmes with DePaul University student Joe Blewitt, and Luckianoff said in the area of academic free speech, DePaul was "a basketcase."

Not much has changed.

Last week Nicholas Hahn III, who is president of the DePaul Conservative Alliance, wrote about his service on DePaul's Free Speech and Expression Task Force on FrontPage Magazine--he was the only conservative on the panel.

The group put together a document titled Guiding Principles of Free Speech and Expression.

But Hahn's use of free speech was not welcomed freely at DePaul, a Catholic University run by the Vincentian Order.

From today's FrontPage Magazine article by Hahn:

As soon as my article appeared, the Diversity Council held a meeting with the president of the university and the Task Force. They demanded that something be done about the troublemaker, namely me. I pointed out that there had been no confidentiality agreement and the Guiding Principles had already been released. But they argued that members would no longer feel comfortable participating out of fear that whatever they say may be published. It was apparently inappropriate for me to hold these individuals accountable for their ideas. I could have been given a warning not to publish anything in the future without consent of the Task Force, which would have protected their sensibilities. But just as the race card helped to derail the Guiding Principles themselves, so now it sealed my fate. I ought to be ashamed, they told me, because the members of the Task Force named in my article were people of color. In other words, people of color are above criticism and my concern for free speech and the betrayal of its principles was essentially racist.

For (DePaul University) President Holtschneider this was all he needed to hear. Each and every time an incident like this occurs, the administration buckles to the pressure of the diversity agenda; this time was no exception. Under apparent duress from the Diversity Council, I was informed that I would no longer be welcome on the Free Speech and Expression Task Force. So much for free speech.

And so much for diversity. The sole conservative on the free speech panel has been booted out. For too many, diversity in fact means lack of diversity.

Ignorance is strength. And as I mentioned earlier, an Academic Freedom Symposium is coming to DePaul.

Who will be there? Bill Ayers, former Weather Underground terrorist and current University of Illinois-Chicago professor will speak. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad groupie (among other things) Peter N. Kirstein of Chicago's St. Xavier University will also chirp in.

Fact challenged Lefist Juan Cole will travel from the University of Michigan for the symposium.

Here are the others:

Keynote speaker Sara Roy
Ken Butigan
As'ad AbuKhalil
Marc Ellis
Scott Hibbard
Robert Jensen
Joel Kovel
Marcy Newman
Peter Novick

With the exception of Novick, it appears that every one of these speakers is a denizen on the far-Left. In a press release, the DePaul Academic Freedom Committee stated that DePaul "became the site of a number of academic freedom violations when Professors Mehrene Larudee and Norman Finkelstein were denied tenure."

Denial of freedom however is not a denial of free speech.

Too bad fired University of Colorado professor Ward Churchill won't be there. Oh, that's right, he spoke at DePaul in 2005.

Who's missing from the panel? Nicholas Hahn is. But the most noticeably absent person is former DePaul adjunct professor Thomas Klocek, who was fired by the university he taught at for 15 years for expressing his free speech rights by defending Israel from spurious charges by some Muslim students in 2004.

More generally, there are no conservatives taking part in the symposium.

Ignorance is strength.

And finally, two years ago, conservative sage David Horowitz wrote The Professors: The 101 Most Dangerous Academics in America.

Five of the honorees will be speaking at the symposium: Peter N. Kirstein, Juan Cole, Marc Ellis, Bill Ayers, and Robert Jensen.

Thanks for the links:

Pirate Ballerina
Solomonia (Who adds a lot of additional insight, and he brings Captain Underpants along for the ride.)

Related posts:

Good God! Free speech tackled at DePaul University
Sept 15: Second anniversary of the beginning of the Thomas Klocek affair
DePaul President Fr. Holtschneider: "Academic freedom is alive and well at DePaul"
CAIR-Chicago recommended that DePaul fire Klocek
FIRE prez: DePaul is a "basketcase"
David Horowitz comes to DePaul
Finkelstein defender Peter Kirstein praised David Irving
DePaul's Nick Hahn debuts on Townhall.com
Robert Spencer comes to DePaul University
SDS' 1968 Tragical History Tour

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