Professor Fired For Offending Friend Of Student (Then Rehired)

http://wmbriggs.com/blog/?p=2705 ^ | William M Briggs

[mattstat]

Whatever you do, don’t diss John Stuart Mill or Jeremy Bentham at the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana. You might just “offend” the friend of a student, and will thus be out on your keister.

Here’s what happened: according to the Alliance Defense Fund, Kenneth Howell, an adjunct, sent an email to his class explaining the dismal philosophy of utilitarianism.

It is crucial to understand that Howell’s class was in the Religious Studies Department, and the course was “RLST 447 Modern Catholic Thought”. The blurb for that course reads:

Traces the history of Catholicism in its interaction with the modern world from the sixteenth century to the present, concentrating on the uneasy relationships that Catholicism has sustained with the modern world. 3 undergraduate hours. 4 graduate hours. Prerequisite: RLST 127 or consent of instructor.

Now, anybody but a UI administrator or a modern student—defined as a student who already knows everything that she will be taught—would read that blurb and expect that the nature of the “uneasy relationships” the Catholic Church has with the modern world would be explained.

But, no. See, before the final exam,...

[humblegunner]

(Excerpt)

Why?

[mc5cents]

That last line, my dear readers, is what sunk him. How dare he imply that unless one actually study the history of moral thought, one cannot make judgments about moral truth! The darlings at UI don’t need to study. They already know!

Gee, that sure doesn't matter to the Zero. Why, they can make judgments about anything! Knowledge of the subject is not required. Oil drilling? No problemo! Building cars that will appeal to the public? Simple!! Just ask em. Bodacious Bob Gibbs will tell ya.

[Mustard Plaster]

How dare he point out flaws in logic?

[Dudoight]

Fascinating....and I like the author’s note at the end that the U of Illinois continues to employ Bill Ayers.

[Nip]

The real issue is he walked the students through a very contentious issue and demonstrated how pure logic can create more problems than it solves.

He would have been okay if it wasn't in a religious course (sin # 1 in modern colleges), hadn't use homosexuality (sin # 1 in modern society), and hadn't negated emotional responses - the research comment (sin # 2 in modern society).

All of these “sins” taken together possed a serious threat to other professors at that college so he had to be fired.

What a change from when I went to college. Free speech and exploratory classes (student developed) were accepted in a liberal church sponsored college. Now strict speech codes and rigid conformality is enforced by administrators.

[harpu]

"(Then Rehired)"

That now counts as a 'Job Created' by 0Bozo...

[Condor51]

*** Fascinating....and I like the author’s note at the end that the U of Illinois continues to employ Bill Ayers. ***

True, but he's slightly wrong. Ayers is at UIC - University of Illinois Chicago.
This occurred at the U of I, at Champaign-Urbana.

Two different Universities, two different groups of Administrators. The only thing they have in common are the words, University & Illinois.

Even the admission standards and Degrees are different. Basically anyone can go to UIC₍₁₎, and they 'give out' BAs & MAs (Arts Degrees). But to get in the the U of I, Champaign-Urbana, you actually have to have an IQ above room temp and there you get a BS Degree (Science). 'Technically' UIC is a campus of the U of I, but it shouldn't be.

(1) I could apply to the UIC and get accepted. And I graduated HS in 1966.
(A lot of my classmates went to UIC, it was brand new in '66.)

[Jess Kitting]

Here's the part of the statement that got the teacher thrown out:

". . . you are not ready to make judgments about moral truth in this matter."

As a student, I would be insulted by such a statement, but I certainly wouldn't advocate firing a teacher over this.