Schlafly Honored, Hundreds Turn Away
Filed under: Education, Feminism, United States, liberalism — marc moore on May 17, 2008 @ 7:11 am CEST
The University of Washington honored one of its own when Phyllis Schlafly was presented with an honorary doctorate degree at today’s commencement. Unfortunately, the ceremony was marred by students and faculty who turned their backs to her while the award was being presented.
Some applauded while Schlafly was hooded. But about a third of the graduating students draped in the school’s green and black robes turned their backs to her, along with some faculty members sitting on the stage behind her. Many family members in the audience also took part.
Three faculty members made the extra point of walking off the stage and then turning their backs from the audience.
…
Marshall Thompson, a Ph.D. graduate in political science, said he thought the white armbands should have sufficed for protesters to show their dissent. But he thought the turning of backs was "a bit overboard."
"It’s not the right way to voice your displeasure," he said
The protest was childish and about what I’d expect from a batch of undergrads who are still wet behind the ears. If the students who disrespected Schlafly understood her writings and political activities, that would be one thing. But lacking that, their protest is simply a knee-jerk reaction and of no value whatever.
It’s also petty, considering Ms. Schlafly’s age and the contributions she’s made to American society. And it’s a familiar story in another respect: protected students and faculty failing to respect the views and free speech rights of conservatives on campus.
Even so, I’m not sure I agree with Thompson. The U.W. protest was calm, orderly, and non-violent - everything a public disagreement should be.
I think the perpetrators were wrong, ethically, to deny Schlafly the respect she’s earned and wrong intellectually in regard to many of their disagreements with her. But they conducted their protest in the finest tradition of civil disobedience, and that’s something for people on all sides of the debate to be proud of and learn from.
1 utsu
May 17, 2008 @ 7:21 am CEST"If the students who disrespected Schlafly understood her writings and political activities, that would be one thing. But lacking that, their protest is simply a knee-jerk reaction and of no value whatever."
So, what, they should have waved around dissertations to her (already partially discredited) work in order to meet some vague standard? They feel that political activism of her kind hurts their country and is incompatible with reason and academic standards. I wouldn’t want my government to invite her to an official banquet.
2 Jeremy
May 17, 2008 @ 4:40 pm CESTYour commentary is wrong on several points:
1. The protest happened at Washington University in St. Louis, not Univ. of Washington.
2. The protesters were not "wet behind the ears" undergrads. Many of us receiving doctoral degrees and a large proportion of the faculty participated in the protest.
3 sashal
May 17, 2008 @ 5:14 pm CESTJeremy, it is not the first time Marc is wrong on almost everything
4 Jason
May 17, 2008 @ 5:16 pm CESTLeftist ideological intolerance that includes grad students and faculty??? I’m shocked! Shocked!!!
5 Orson Buggeigh
May 17, 2008 @ 6:38 pm CESTCorrect, it wasn’t at the Ersatz Harvard on the Sound (aka U of Washington - which is in Seattle), but the behavior was comparable. The U of W is well known as a bastion of intellectual group-think where only the appropriate left of center views prevail these days. And I would say the behavior by the faculty and assembled graduate students at Washington U. was juvenile. Regardless of your politics, Schlafly’s accomplishments certainly warrant acknowledgment. She’s done as much as many to participate in the political process, and certainly as much or more than many of the people who receive these honorary degrees. Unfortunately, this point is lost on the small minded people who think that only the views they approve of should be recognized or have an airing in public.
Many academics are actually very unwilling to consider views or beliefs other than their own. I think Jeremy can look forward to a fine career with like minded people at Duke, Berkeley, and, yest Washington U.
6 Redford
May 18, 2008 @ 5:12 am CESTCorrect the original article: Washington University in St. Louis
7 Bill W
May 18, 2008 @ 2:53 pm CESTJeremy -
"The protesters were not "wet behind the ears" undergrads. Many of us receiving doctoral degrees and a large proportion of the faculty participated in the protest." - made me laugh out loud - as a graduate student of Wash U. myself (although seasoned by the real world for 15 years prior & 10 years since, newly minted grad students, doctoral students, and many of the faculty at Wash U. are about as "wet behind the ears" as they come. If your whole life has been academia - you have a warped view of reality.
I have no truck with Schlafly, for or against, but I find the actions of the students & faculty childish.
8 Chris
May 19, 2008 @ 12:43 am CESTI never liked Mrs. Schafly’s brand of conservatism and at the same time the students responses were a bit childish but hey ,it was free speech on both sides. She wasn’t disrupted (unlike some other examples we’ve seen recently). Probably the most disappointing thing was that at an esteemed institution of higher learning no one was further enlightened in the situation. We all left firm and happy in our convictions.