Posted on 03/26/2002 5:56:15 PM PST by Lazamataz
TEXAS CITY -- A Marxist who teaches American government won some job security Monday when College of the Mainland board members granted him protection from being fired for his political views.
The unanimous decision came after an emotional two-hour public hearing attended by dozens of students and others who supported David Michael Smith's application for tenure -- and many others who said he shouldn't be teaching American students anything.
"I believe his views and philosophy are incompatible with a public institution of higher learning," said former Galveston County Judge Ray Holbrook, one of Smith's most outspoken opponents. "It seems clear to me that Dr. Smith espouses a subversive, anti-capitalist, anti-free enterprise philosophy that I believe is out of place in a public institution of higher learning and is detrimental to the basis of our freedom in this country."
Smith, 47, one of the most popular teachers at the 3,400-student college, says he believes capitalism is an oppressive economic system and he wants to see some form of democratic socialism instituted in this country.
Some of his detractors, many of them World War II veterans, maintain that he tries to brainwash his students and has induced them to come to his defense.
Some of those students said that claim insults them. They said Smith encourages all viewpoints in his classes and welcomes argument on all sides.
"I am neither young, dumb nor stupid," said Carol Voight, 37, a chemistry student from Texas City. "And I am certainly not gullible and have not been manipulated by anyone. When I took his class, I was 34 years old, mother of four and a wife.
"One of the things that made me want to continue in college was the fact that I had Dr. Smith for his very first class in his very first semester here," Voight said. "He taught me that not only was the curriculum important but that my opinion on the curriculum was important."
What is the purpose of teaching, she asked Smith's critics, if all sides are not represented?
"He doesn't just teach his side," Voight said. "He teaches your side and everyone else's side and he expects you to come down on the side you want to and argue that side vehemently."
Holbrook said Smith regularly "demonizes" the United States in his writings and doesn't support the nation's action in Afghanistan after the Sept. 11 domestic terrorist attacks.
"There is no doubt there is a large number of the staff of the College of the Mainland that is very liberal, which is a shame, but I think Dr. Smith is moreso than any others and is a leader of the left-wing agenda that many at the College of the Mainland oppose," Holbrook said. "Dr. Smith is an admitted Marxist and has written extensively of his beliefs and his opposition to U.S. government policies and to American culture in general."
Tiffany Gillotti, 18, of Santa Fe, said she learned about American freedom and personal liberties in Smith's classes.
"I would also like to thank him for the greatest gift that I think anyone can receive, and that's how to think for myself," Gillotti said.
After the meeting, Gillotti said it was she who wrote a letter that was published in a local newspaper late last year and signed by more than a dozen classmates. The letter harshly criticized American foreign policy, contending that U.S. bombs have killed thousands of innocent civilians.
During the meeting, Gillotti rose to protest when one Smith critic suggested that the professor had written the letter for his students.
Her interruption was one of several minor breaks in decorum as Smith's supporters and detractors sat on opposite sides of the auditorium and listened to 33 people speak in his favor and 10 speak against him.
Holbrook, too, shouted out after students, allowed to speak before other groups, finished.
"What we just witnessed here was a political rally," Holbrook yelled at the college board.
Students who spoke praised Smith.
"He's dedicated to his students," said Amos Jaramillo. "He encouraged me to get back into school. If you have a problem, you can reach him 24 hours a day. He's somebody that does make a difference to the community, to the students and to the school."
Claudia Friess, a student from Germany who lives in League City, said all views should be welcome at the college.
"I came to this country because America is known to be the land of the free and the home of the brave," Friess said. "It's not known to be the land of the conservative.
"I think it's very important to have diversity and to have different opinions and to talk about it," she said. "That's why I think Dr. David Smith is important to this college and to this community and he is one of the reasons why America is known to be the land of the free."
Smith, too, went to the microphone and addressed his critics.
"Today's meeting should not be about politics, neither mine nor yours," he said. "As I see it, at today's meeting the board of trustees will simply decide whether I have met the criteria for tenure outlined in our college policy.
"These criteria are standards used to evaluate job performance, not political or personal views."
College President Homer "Butch" Hayes recommended granting tenure after Smith's fellow faculty members and a school vice president agreed that he should get it.
Board chairman Ralph Holm said after the public hearing that Smith met all criteria but that tenure did not mean he could never be fired.
If Smith violates school policies or academic principles, he can be dismissed, Holm said.
Does the intellectual capacity to understand that Marxism kills people count, or can you be dumb as a rock and still get tenure as long as you show up for class occasionally?
The bad news is that this freak has now put them on the map. Hope they enjoy the plummeting gifts from alums and the earful they will get at the next development telethon!
Does anyone have an e-mail address to this place so I can send them my thoughts?
Does any one know of an instance where a Capitalist was allowed to teach Soviet government, in a Marxist state?
Of course. He's one of their own kind, but he admits he's Marxist while the rest try to hide it from public view.
There was no doubt they'd welcome him.
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