Posted on 04/13/2006 4:37:50 PM PDT by dukeman
Ohio State University will press forward with frivolous investigation despite ADF letter
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Officials at the Ohio State University are investigating an OSU Mansfield librarian for “sexual harassment” after he recommended four conservative books for a freshman reading program. ADF has demanded that OSU cease its frivolous investigation, yet the university is pressing forward, claiming that it takes the charges “seriously.”
“Universities are one of the most hostile places for Christians and conservatives in America,” said ADF Senior Legal Counsel David French, who heads ADF’s Center for Academic Freedom. “It is shameful that OSU would investigate a Christian librarian for simply recommending books that are at odds with the prevailing politics of the university.”
Scott Savage, who serves as a reference librarian for the university, suggested four best-selling conservative books for freshman reading in his role as a member of OSU Mansfield’s First Year Reading Experience Committee. The four books he suggested were The Marketing of Evil by David Kupelian, The Professors by David Horowitz, Eurabia: The Euro-Arab Axis by Bat Ye’or, and It Takes a Family by Senator Rick Santorum. Savage made the recommendations after other committee members had suggested a series of books with a left-wing perspective, by authors such as Jimmy Carter and Maria Shriver.
Savage was put under “investigation” by OSU’s Office of Human Resources after three professors filed a complaint of discrimination and harassment against him, saying that the book suggestions made them feel “unsafe.” The complaint came after the OSU Mansfield faculty voted without dissent to file charges against Savage. The faculty later voted to allow the individual professors to file charges.
On March 28, ADF sent OSU officials a letter informing them of Savage’s constitutional rights. A copy of the letter can be read at www.telladf.org/UserDocs/OSUMansfieldletter.pdf.
The university so far has declined to stop the investigation, saying in its response that it takes “any allegation of sexual harassment seriously.”
“The OSU Mansfield faculty is attempting to label a librarian as a ‘sexual harasser’ because they disagree with his book suggestions,” said French. “It is astonishing that an entire faculty would vote to launch a sexual harassment investigation because a librarian offered book suggestions in a committee whose purpose was to solicit such suggestions.”
ADF is a legal alliance defending the right to hear and speak the Truth through strategy, training, funding, and litigation.
The cafe is crawling with aging hippies and UVA students. Many of them I suspect are law students since it's just down the hill from the law school. I'm counting about eight students with laptops within about 15 feet of me right now. I drew attention initially not because I had FR on the screen, but because I'm using a Mac iBook. Tonight, no one has taken notice.
Thank God when I go into Barnes and Nobles normally we don't have to put up with that. However, with the university so close to where you go you would have a higher liberal population. Good luck running them off with your conservative sites. Actually that is funny is it like showing the crusifix to vampires.
Ping for later reading.
How long has that been? I guess I wasn't paying attention.
"ADF is suing Penn State right now..."
I wasn't being sarcastic. This stuff is never enforced here. The supporters of such nonsense are always on the run. We have a pretty strong conservative student group here. I'll bet PSU is the fairest and most rational school in the Big 10.
Amazing (black woman queried about NR purchase)...
> connectthedots: OSU is going to lose this one
I hope so. I really hope so. But let's remember that
this will also be a "deterrent" to other conservatives.
Going back a few years, conservative librarians have felt
constrained to write and publish anonymously (several
articles in the Jewish Press come to mind)
Don't expect anything from the ALA, from what I hear.
(Not a librarian, myself.)
Local B&Ns (and IIRC, the Borders) megastores in NYC
stock books such as _ Unfit For Command _ the Regnery
book about the Clinton impeachment (Regnery being the
publisher), Kupelian, and Lynne's book about Terri Schiavo
and have put at least 1-2 of them out on the "featured"
tables. I wonder if that's not an effect of competition
at work (since there's more than one mega-store in NYC)
Any chance that this story will be picked up by the mainstream media, or at least a local paper? Some people won't buy that it is actually happening until they read it in a there.
You are not related to the Eccles of the famous BBC Radio Goon Show by any chance? That would surely get you a few looks at B&N.
Since the new president came on board. There was a big fit of couch and car burning after a football game, and so they banned couches on porches.
Free speech for me but not for thee
bump
I'll do my best, but don't expect results this week.
This organization monitor's free speech on campus:
http://thefire.org/index.php/article/5826.html
Yes!!!!!!!!!!!!ping me
I thought it was Saul Alinsky...He was Hilary clintons dream...
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