University of Illinois trustees clear way for SLA terrorist to teach again

University of Illinois quad

Because the University of Illinois trustees couldn't reach a consensus on the whether convicted felon James Kilgore, a former member of the terrorist group the Symbionese Liberation Army, he'll be able to teach again at the school's Urbana-Champaign campus--my alma mater.

The SLA was like a case of 1970s diarrhea from a bad batch of 1960s booze. It's best known for the Patty Hearst kidnapping. Kilgore, who was arrested in 2002 after living on the lam in South Africa, he was convicted of second degree murder for his participation in a bank robbery where a customer making a deposit for her church was shot. After serving five years in prison, Kilgore joined his wife in central Illinois--she is a U of I professor.

Kilgore left out his earning his academic credentials under a phony name and his time away in the "house with many locked doors." After the News-Gazette reported on the terrorist-teacher, his contract was not renewed. But of course his fellow radical academics rallied to his cause.

A criminal background check was not required for Kilgore to be hired. At most of the jobs I've worked, I had to submit to one. And yes, I passed.

Oh, my alma mater isn't getting a dime of my money.

Weather Underground terrorists Bill Ayers, Bernardine Dohrn, and Kathy Boudin all found safety nets by working in academia.

But for some reason they call it "higher education.