Posted on 12/19/2014 12:42:16 PM PST by MichCapCon
Professor Susan J. Douglas, a department chair at the University of Michigan’s College of Literature, Science and Arts, wrote a column this week for the liberal website inthesetimes.com entitled, ‘It’s Okay To Hate Republicans.’
Douglas, who is chair of the Communications Studies program, opened her article with the line, “I hate Republicans.”
The article includes a photo of three U.S. Senators who are Republicans, with the caption, “It’s okay to despise these men.”
Douglas, whose university pay was $178,786 last year, did not respond to a request seeking comment.
“We see this as a free speech issue,” said Rick Fitzgerald, spokesman for the University of Michigan.
Leon Drolet, chair of the Michigan Taxpayers Alliance, said employers have a right to determine what type of conduct they expect from their employees.
But Drolet said the University of Michigan has to make sure their mission is not compromised by an extremist.
“Their very mission is to create an environment that facilitates learning through an exchange of ideas,” Drolet said. “She is a detriment to the University because she hates and encourages others to hate University students who disagree with her political views. Many students in that department will feel intimidated and reluctant to express their views on politics, policy and society because a University official has announced she will hate them for it.”
Drolet compared the to situation of Omar Mahmood, a U-M student who wrote a recent column for the Michigan Daily campus newspaper mocking political correctness.
Mahmood wrote satirically about being left-handed and feeling discriminated against. That column led to his leaving a position as columnist at the publication, whose editors explained that a column "mocking minorities" was wrong because it “violated our values and integrity.”
There are reports that Mahmood has been harassed and his apartment vandalized on campus.
In a similar incident at Michigan State University, Professor William Penn was removed from his teaching assignments in the fall of 2013 after an anti-GOP rant by him was caught on tape. Penn said Republicans are old people with "dead skin cells washing off them" who "raped" the United States to get "everything out of it they possibly could." Penn threatened any student who he said might be a closet racist and told the class, "I am a college professor. If I found out you are a closet racist, I am coming after you." He was eventually reassigned the next semester.
In 2012, Douglas moderated an event that was accused of violating University of Michigan policies prohibiting the use of school resources to advertise a partisan event. The "non-partisan" event was called “The Republican War on Women.” When Dr. Robert Steele, a candidate for the U-M Regents, raised questions about the title of the event, it was amended by adding a question mark to the statement: “The Republican War on Women?” The panel included three liberal writers and no Republicans.
“I’m not sure where ‘hate’ has anything to do with disagreeing on policies,” Steele said Wednesday.
In 2008, Ron Weiser, former chairman of the Michigan Republican Party, donated $10 million to a division of the same U-M college that employs Douglas, called the International Institute.
State taxpayers appropriated $321.7 million in direct aid for the University of Michigan in 2014.
Does she not think she is inviting reciprocal sentiments? Or does she believe she is beyond reproach?
Whoa - What happened to the “Hate Free Zone”?
Anyone who has been a conservative Republican their whole life like me knows there is nothing new here. As a Poli Sci major in college during the 1980s myself, I got a double dose this in college. It is no secret in this country that academia, not mention the teachers unions, the media, and the entertainment community (Hollyweird) hate and detest all things Republican and especially all things conservative.
This will force—probably against the will of Professor Douglas—what these days is generally opposed by college professors but ironically what is the conceptual foundation of universities: to discuss ideas in an open forum.
In other words, over the years to come Douglas will have an ongoing and repeated opportunity to observe and review her folly.
Maybe she was educated under Common Core?
Perhaps we need her home address and phone number to explain to her why it is offensive to be a hater.
Sets the stage for Douglas to be ridiculed into oblivion.
Her vicious statements should not be seen as commenting on 3 politicians since she emphasizes they are REPUBLICANS. This is a slur and expression of extreme prejudice against all Republicans.
She needs to be censured and later fired if no apology is forthcoming.
There are two factions in DC of the same party. No longer do we have a two party system. Stringing Boehner up by the Buster Browns will be a good first step to rectifying that.
“As a Poli Sci major in college during the 1980s myself...”
I too, was a Poli Sci major at the University of Minnesota back in the mid 1980’s.
The best way to describe the Pol Sci dept (at that time) would be to have said it was left of center.
But with a few glaring examples, I felt that most of the professors were pretty even-handed in their teaching.
The current Poli Sci dept is extraordinarily left of center, almost socialistic in their teaching. It’s an incredible shame too. The current crop of professor would tell you otherwise - but they are doing a dis-service to academia and to the students by which the manner they teach their classes.
The woman is an over-emotional political partisan with a crashing ignorance of her opponents and an unswerving faith that her ridiculous stereotypes are fact. This piece wouldn't be considered graduate-level work if it came from a student. Hell, it wouldn't even be considered collegiate-level.
I don’t think it’s a good idea to have the severely mentally challenged running our so called colleges and universities. Princess Suzy needs to remember, without Republicans,who the hell would pay the taxes to run the government? She’d be out of a job.
I went to the Zoo of M in the late 80s. One of my classes was taught by none other than August Nimtz, twice candidate of the Socialist Workers' party of Minnesota for governor. Talk about having to bite back hard.
“One of my classes was taught by none other than August Nimtz...”
I never had him but was aware of him. I deliberately avoided taking any of his classes.
I know several other students who did and his classes were best described as “indoctrination sessions”.
I’m sure that’s gonna go over just fine with their REPUBLICAN Legislature at appropriations time...
If they were three democrats and the piece swapped “republicans” for “democrats” I doubt they’d consider it a free-speech issue and not do a single thing to her.
I hate Democrats.
So there.
It was bad enough being engineering in the ‘80s. OK, well, it stretched into the ‘90s.
I could tell you about our College Republicans. Boy, how pathetic it was on a big U.
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