Campus Censorship
By a narrow margin, the faculty governing body of the California Polytechnic State University has voted to have homophobic Chick-fil-A removed from its San Luis Obispo campus. It’s easy to understand how professors and administrators could be divided on the issue; as much as they support tolerance, they could argue that it’s a better idea to make sure all students know what Chick-fil-A stands for and make their own decision as to where to buy their sandwiches.
This is tricky, as colleges have a right, perhaps even a responsibility, to refuse to sponsor things like hate groups, pseudo science, and other assaults against a good education. Cal Poly doesn’t teach classes on flat-Earth theory, the validity of slavery or white supremacy, creationism-as-science, or Holocaust denial. If they were to do so, they would be in violation of an implied contract that ensures that the institution if exerting its best effort to ensure students are getting what they’re paying for.
This, of course, is an important and oft-discussed topic in today’s hyper-political world. The right wing claims that universities suppress free speech, and push liberal ideas down students’ throats. What’s at stake, of course is the limits of free speech, and whether educational institutions can be forced to allow any communications that are acceptable as opinions expressed in a newspaper or on a website. Obviously, I think not.
Craig,
Let me see if I understand you correctly, because I’m sensing you are making another of your sweeping inaccurate, even libelous, statement again without checking your information. ?
Firstly, your refer to the “homophobic Chick-fil-A “. It’s not clear whether you mean the outlet in particular, or the corporation itself.
Both would be completely inaccurate.
Your statement reflects a very disturbing trend among leftist commentators to libel, slander, ostracize, silence and prohibit anyone or anything that doesn’t adhere to their rigid agenda.
For those of us who were born in the aftermath of WW2 and grew up in the fifties and Sixties, this seems an astonishing development.
Traditionally, it was the left who screamed the loudest for “Free Speech” ! Now it appears what the left really wanted (which I always suspected) was “Free Speech” solely for themselves alone!
In this case, “Chick-fil-A’ and their customers, have fallen victim to an ignorant mob mentality driven by fear and fanaticism.
Sadly, many otherwise well-intentioned folk, (like yourself) have become either too lazy or too “outraged” to acquaint themselves with the facts, merely joining or condoning those chanting “Witch, Witch, burn the Witch” !
I might be be old-fashioned, but I yearn for a time when informed debate and tolerance was paramount in forming decisions.