Posted on 05/08/2008 12:09:35 PM PDT by newgeezer
Washington University's decision to bestow an honorary degree on conservative political activist and author Phyllis Schlafly has stirred outrage among some students and faculty.
Opponents of Schlafly's honorary doctorate formed a group on the social-networking website Facebook and had 1,023 members as of Monday evening.
...
[Senior Kevin] Hess ... said the outrage is not over Schlafly's politics but over comments she has made that he called "unquestionably inflammatory and unfounded."
... Schlafly already has a bachelor's degree and a law degree from the university.
Mary Ann Dzuback, the director of the women and gender studies department at Washington University agreed, said it was "grossly inappropriate" for the university to honor Schlafly with a degree.
"She's spent her entire career speaking against women in the workforce and for them remaining in the home," Dzuback said of Schlafly, who rose to prominence during the successful campaign against the Equal Rights Amendment in the 1970s.
Dzuback said she and several other faculty members will protest by not participating in commencement ceremonies as usual.
The university issued a statement Sunday defending its decision, saying it — like many other universities — chooses to honor those "who have become a part of the broad public discourse on vital issues of the times." The statement cited other controversial figures, such as the Rev. Jesse Jackson, whom the school has honored.
Some students, like freshman Rachel Wisdom, approved of the university's decision. Wisdom, an intern last summer at Schlafly's Eagle Forum organization, started her own Facebook group in support of Schlafly. It had 18 members as of Monday evening. "I think the controversy is absolutely ridiculous," Wisdom said. "If students claim to be open-minded and tolerant, they shouldn't care."
(Excerpt) Read more at stltoday.com ...
>>”She’s spent her entire career speaking against women in the workforce and for them remaining in the home,” Dzuback said of Schlafly, who rose to prominence during the successful campaign against the Equal Rights Amendment in the 1970s. <<
And Lord love her, she got it right!
What a waste of taxpayer money.
She wouldhave made a great American “Iron Lady.”
Yes. Imagine what would happen if there was a director of the MEN and gender studies department? My word, they’d go ballistic.
“other controversial figures, such as the Rev. Jesse Jackson, whom the school has honored.”
Any university that honors Jesse “Shakedown” Jackson has shown its standards are so low that it becomes almost a dishonor. Phyllis Schafly has been courageous, insiteful and very intelligent in her work through the years and hopefully the Eagle Forum will prove a lasting legacy of her efforts.
Gender studies seems to be a more crude version of animal husbandry that intentionally robs people of their dignity.
But what do I know?
Of course, as a right wing Christian who advocates chastity and highlights the dangers of promiscuity, I am obsessed with sex - but l’il Mary Ann, who focuses her studies on sexual and social perversions, is not?
Several years ago, it actually shut down -- closed the doors of -- the sociology department, to the sound of the highly predictable whining of the lefties.
The ''Gender and Women's Studies'' (sic) department would not be missed at all, except by a few of its majors who would find themselves incompetent to find another major.
Sounds like the movie “Expelled”. Yep, intolerance is the modus operandi of most college faculty who use their superior wisdom to indoctrinate their students.
It should be rewritten: Honor Diversity (as long as it isn't *really* diverse so as to include people or ideas We, the Anointed, disagree with).
I stopped reading here..
Is that a promise? I want to see it in writing.
“Iron Lady.”?
Sorry, I must be thick or my mind is just too much in Marvel comic mode.
These lefty academics are dishonest hypocrites. These people loved Ward Churchill, but God forbid that WU give an honorary degree to someone on the other side of the ideological spectrum. They’re a bunch of damn Stalinists. To hell with them.
Sounds like they invited the right speaker!
"Honor Diversity - But Don't Practice It"
The ''Gender and Women's Studies'' (sic) department would not be missed at all, except by a few all of its majors who would find themselves incompetent to find another major it difficult to hookup with others with sapphitic predilections.
C'mon, get with the picture! All of MANkind has been all about MEN since the very beginning! These woMEN are simply working to right that terrible wrong! </barf>
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