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I realize Marquette is a private university, but it is bound by its own rules. Concerning academic freedom, the institution's position is:

"Academic freedom is prized as essential to Marquette University and to its living growth as a university."

Those who associate themselves with this institution do so expecting it to comport with this rule, and in fact have a contractual right to this rule.

Now, there are some restrictions on speech and behavior attendent to the "privileged" position of a scholar. A scholar must have integrity, show respect for others, etc., all kinds of things that we conservatives are happy with, but which radicals oppose (as when they shout down guest speakers, or allege that those who disagree with them are evil, things which actually are offensive and should be suppressed by the institution in the interest of academic freedom).

So far, so good, the question now is, what about the expression of a distrust of government by a PhD candidate in philosophy? And, further, what about the use of humor in this expression?

Well, it seems pretty obvious to me that people in philosophy are going to have and express opinions concerning the goodness of government. And, by this, I think just about anybody on a college campus would count as a person engaged in philosophy as, the letters PhD stand for "Doctor of Philosophy."

I mean, does Marquette propose that John Locke as his dictum "power tends to curropt and absolute power currops absolutely" be removed from the university because some of their power-lusting socialist faculty are offended?

(Maybe they could have a book burning to rid their campus of such offensive material.)

Or, is it the humorous way that this person expressed himself on the subject of the goodness of government that gets under the skin of their socialist faculty? I mean, isn't it offensive to have it rubbed in your face that you don't have a sense of humor?

Obviously, being a private university, if Marquette just wanted to say that people who do not bow down and worship at the altars of Babylon are not welcome, they're free to do so. But, they should be made to refund the tuition and the donations of those whom they've attempted to defraud by publishing their so-called commitment to academic freedom.