Skip to comments.

Posted on 10/25/2001 6:40:17 AM PDT by No Truce With Kings

The Enemy in Our Midst

Rampant Anti-Americanism surfaces at the University of North Carolina at WilmingtonBy Charlton L. Allen

FrontPageMagazine.com | October 25, 2001

The University of North Carolina at Wilmington (UNCW) is not known as a hotbed of campus liberalism– but don’t blame Dr. Patti Turrisi, or her daughter Rosa Fuller.After the vicious terrorist attacks of September 11^th, most of America came together with a unity of purpose unseen since World War II. But not this mother-daughter team.

Immediately after the terrorist attacks, Rosa sent out an unsolicited e-mail entitled "In Dedication to An Undivided Humanity" to a number of people affiliated with UNCW. This e-mail was the usual diatribe against America, assigning blame for the attacks not to the hijackers, not to Osama Bin Laden, not to the Taliban, but instead blaming the usual militant left scapegoats of the Reagan-Bush administration, US-Israeli policy, "petty bourgeois squabbling," etc. The only source cited in the e-mail for the numerous lies, distortions, and fabrications presented as fact was the World Socialist Website. Nothing more need be said.

One of the recipients of Rosa’s tirade was Dr. Mike Adams, a professor in the UNCW criminal justice department. A proud patriot, Dr. Adams was incensed. He responded to Rosa and forwarded his response to a number of people in his address book, just as Rosa requested in her initial e-mail. Specifically, Dr. Adams stated that, while Rosa was entitled to enunciate her views, they were wholly undeserving of serious consideration, not to mention intentionally divisive, despite Rosa’s self-proclaimed "dedication."

Dr. Adams’ simple act of proffering his contrarian view infuriated Rosa and her mother, the aforementioned Turrisi. Their reaction was typical of the militant left when confronted with their own hypocrisy: they attempted to silence the opinions of those who disagree, not unlike the Taliban.

First, when Rosa received negative feedback from individuals who received Dr. Adams’ forwarded email, she attempted to file charges with the University Police Department, claiming that the often-heated responses created a "hostile environment" that rose to the level of communicating threats. Realizing that Rosa’s claim was frivolous, the University Police declined to press charges, but not before calling numerous students in for questioning. Further, parents of these students received phone calls from the authorities indicating their children were wanted for intimidating a fellow student.

Rosa, with the likely coaching of her mother, then lodged a complaint with the university administration, demanding that the University allow her and her representatives access to all e-mail messages sent by Dr. Adams for a four-day period in September, implying that, because he called her unintelligent and divisive, Adams had somehow defamed and intimidated her. Again, the university rejected her claims. This was not surprising, since there was no legal basis for her complaint in the first place.

Frustrated, but undeterred, Turrisi and daughter have contacted the chair of Dr. Adams’ department and demanded a full investigation of Dr. Adams, in addition to their insistence that the university forward Dr. Adams’ e-mails. Again, the university denied their claims. Turrisi maintains that it is her intention to file a lawsuit for defamation and pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act, to seek access to Dr. Adams’ correspondence.

"I have not threatened anyone, nor have I attempted to silence anyone who disagrees with me on these issues," Dr. Adams said. "But if Dr. Turrisi continues to lead this witch hunt, I’ll have my mother call her department chair."

Turrisi appears to have quite a history of filing frivolous complaints based upon her warped political ideals. According to a source with the university, several years ago, she demanded the university discipline a colleague who disagreed with her regarding the general statutory principle for several degrees of rape, a rule followed by all jurisdictions in the United States. Apparently, Turrisi believes that a professor who argues that some rapes are worse than others is unfit to teach America’s youth.

The point, perhaps lost upon Rosa and Turrisi, is that their efforts to silence others with whom they disagree are exactly the methods they accuse Dr. Adams and others of using: namely, intimidation and intolerance. They illustrate that not all sanctimonious hypocrites are hiding in the caves of Afghanistan.

Charlton Allen is a freelance writer and attorney who practices law in Wilmington, North Carolina. His email address is CharltonAllen@msn.com.

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.