Conservatives are the group in the closet

The Digital Collegian (Penn State) ^ | Tuesday, April 8, 2003 | Patrick R. Gibbons

[Willie Green]

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use.

Who's hiding in the closet now? It sure is not the "oppressed and silenced" homosexuals, minorities, and (feminist) women at Penn State, despite what they claimed during last week's PSU Day of Silence or this week's National Day of Silence. They all happen to be the loudest and most supported groups at Penn State.

Who's really being silenced at Penn State? The students who disagree with the ideas of affirmative action, oppression and victimization are given powerful labels like "racist," "bigot" and "homophobe" and are silenced because of these labels.

These students have no voice within the administration and no support from Penn State. These new silenced "minorities" at Penn State are called conservatives.

The use of words like "racist" and "homophobe" is defended by Penn State facilities because they are simply part of "civil debate and discussion."

But how civil is it to scream at and name call a conservative who disagrees with you during discussion or debate? On the other side, one cannot say "that's gay" because that "silences" homosexual students. I smell hypocrisy.

Conservative students have been pushed into the empty closet to hide from these powerful labels and intolerance from liberals. Not only does Penn State defend liberal intolerance, it endorses and enforces liberal ideology.

Ideas of victimization and oppression are promoted by Penn State facilities and preached by Penn State programs and classes. Victimization and oppression then become the foundation for affirmative action policies, hate speech codes and hate crime laws.

The Penn State facilities and programs then reinforce the belief that affirmative action policies, hate speech codes and hate crime laws are necessary. These ideas, groups, clubs, facilities and programs are political to their very core. This means Penn State endorses Democratic and liberal ideology. This endorsement results in the discrimination of those who disagree -- the conservative students.

How many conservative programs and events have been advertised in the newspaper, newswire, or on the Penn State Web site? None! Only liberal programs are advertised and thus endorsed by Penn State.

Let me name a few Penn State facilities that reaffirm and preach liberal notions of victimization and oppression: the Commission on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Equity; Commission for Women; Commission on Racial/Ethnic Diversity; Multicultural Resource Center; Affirmative Action Office; Center for Women Students; and the Office of the Vice Provost for Educational Equity. This does not even mention all the courses and degrees offered that preach liberal ideas of victimization and oppression.

All of these facilities and classes provide links, information and advertising of activities and events for liberal clubs at Penn State, but there is nothing like this for conservative students.

Penn State newswire tells the entire student body about homosexual or feminist club sponsored events. The Penn State "Diversity Calendar" provides information on liberal events. The Multicultural Resource Center, a part of the institution of Penn State, has links to many liberal clubs and organizations.

But how diverse are groups that preach the same message? If Penn State wanted true diversity it would put a link to conservative organizations like the Independent Woman's Club Web site, an organization of women who believe that women are not oppressed or victimized.

But providing positive messages like strength rather than victimization is not part of the liberal doctrine and thus not part of Penn State.

The Multicultural Resource Center provides counseling service for "qualified students," which means minorities. Luckily, the center believes in Penn State's non-discrimination policy, which allows all students equal access to all facilities. I recommend all students, including conservatives, use the center's counseling and advising services; they are available to everyone.

How is being gay multicultural? How does "Lesbian and Gay History" or "History of Feminist Thought" count as an Intercultural and International Competence class but "History of Modern Century China" does not?

Penn State has created programs, offices and departments, and supported clubs to perpetuate the liberal notion of oppression and victimization. They also force students to accept these beliefs through mandatory diversity and multicultural requirements, all re-enforcing liberal ideology.

How can Penn State treat conservative students more fairly? Penn State should hire more conservative professors on tenure track; give current conservative professors tenure (if it can find them); create classes, programs and facilities that teach conservative ideas and advertise conservative clubs and events; create a Vice Provost for Conservative Equity; and start a conservative advisory commission to Penn State President Graham Spanier to represent the most under-represented body of people at Penn State -- the conservatives.

If Penn State fails to meet our needs, it will have sown its own hypocrisy and proven its unwillingness to provide true equality. What do we have to do to be treated fair at Penn State ... receive hate mail so we can "bully" Penn State into giving us equality? Conservative students and faculty feel they are not being given an equal chance to be heard and represented. Why not hear them out?

Patrick R. Gibbons is a senior majoring in political science and history and is a Collegian columnist. His e-mail address is prg126@psu.edu.

[gcruse]

There are enough straw men in this article to restage The Wizard of Oz every Tuesday forever.

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[MHGinTN]

Yup, that sums it up, in toto!

[ohioman]

So you think that colleges do not have a bias promoting liberalism?

[lawgirl]

This article is spot on, and anyone that doesnt' think so hasn't been on a campus recently!

[Polycarp]

From: Patrick Gibbons
Sent: Tuesday, April 08, 2003 8:35 AM
To:
Subject: RE: Your column

Thanks again. One point I wished to make in the column, but there was no room: I tested Penn States “Report the Hate” system, by reporting this girl who had called me a homophobe and heterosexist during my column on Homophobia. I suggested that she was intolerant of my religious beliefs (and of course intolerant of conservatives, but ideology is not protected by liberal hate speech codes). Penn State told me that calling names like homophobe was just a “part of civil discussion and debate” My column was thus born out of this idea. But I thought I would let you know, that Penn State does not defend hate against religious beliefs if those beliefs run counter to liberal ideology.



Thanks again,





Patrick



P.S. this may be my last column, if I have made the editors mad enough they will take my remaining days and use them to write their own columns on “what I have learned in college” We will see.

[Pukka Puck]

Excellent article.

Of course it will be ignored by the liberals who run things at Penn State and the rest of our colleges these days.

[p. henry]

Patrick: there is a silver lining to this cloud. Americans by and large resist and resent being told what to think and say. The more oppresive the intellectual climate on campus, the more conservatives will be created.

[Theyknow]

This is so much hooey. Conservatives have the White House and both chambers of Congress. Their voices dominate talk radio and they have their own news channel. The whining needs to stop, he sounds like some liberal. There are always people who disagre and try to force their opinion, life is tough, live with it.

[moneyrunner]

Just lie back and enjoy it, eh? (sarcasm)

[Dan from Michigan]

Been to a college campus recently?

[longtermmemmory]

The Universities where the students are waiting to learn are dominated by the left. Admissions committees would exclude conservative students if they could figure out a test. There was a recent study on how the conservative professor population is miniscule.

[aimhigh]

Great job. Another article proving that zealous liberals become what they hate; discriminators.

[Polycarp]

A friend of mine is a conservative activist and member of the research faculty at Penn State. He sent this student columnist, Patrick, a note of encouragement, and what I posted above was Patrick's response (not mine, sorry if that was unclear).

[MortMan]

I disagree with you assessment that the author is "whining". He is using a number of examples to illustrate the problem, and is subsequently offering at least one solution to the problem.

If he were simply whining he would stop at the point of saying "It's not fair."

To say that the college-age indoctrination camps are beneath consideration because "we" have Congress and the White House is disingenuous. Think about the amount of time, money, and effort that is lost in reeducating post-collegiate liberals to become the next generation of moderates and/or conservatives. In a way, collegiate indoctrination to the far-left thought process is analogous to the partial-birth abortion of independent thought.

[MHGinTN]

I will assume that the various denominational meeting centers are still available around State College, thus there are many places where conservatives can meet and hold meetings. The essence of the problem is, Secular HUmanism is a religion, just not a God centered religion. The Lion serves the 'other' religion, thus it has become as a little yapping dog, toto.

[Willie Green]

This is so much hooey. Conservatives have the White House and both chambers of Congress.

I guess it sailed right over your head that the author, as a student on a major college campus, was addressing the issue of liberal political correctness that infests our institutions of higher education. He wasn't talking about the federal government.

Nest time, please take the time to read the article first.

[CyberCowboy777]

Your kidding right?

You suggest we not fight for the truth in all venues?

I will not give up on the university because I am working on government. The university effects government in the future leaving it would render all my work pointless.

[Willie Green]

and what I posted above was Patrick's response (not mine, sorry if that was unclear).

Thank-you, Polycarp
from a PSU alumnus:
Willie Green - BSIE '74, MBA '76.