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Dozens of faculty at Eastern Kentucky University sign letter opposing Trump ahead of rally
The Hill ^ | October 11, 2018 | Avery Anapol

Posted on 10/11/2018 1:51:10 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet

Dozens of faculty and staff members at Eastern Kentucky University have sent a letter to the school’s president in opposition to President Trump. The letter, with over 100 signatures, comes days before Trump is scheduled to hold a campaign rally on the university’s campus.

The faculty letter does not oppose the rally itself, but condemns Trump and the campaign he ran, saying it is against to the university’s values. It also raises concerns about “disruption” to student life from the rally.

“We must object to this campaign which has consistently, openly, and unambiguously attacked the values of inquiry, learning, and free speech which lie at the heart of higher education and form the core mission of this University,” the letter reads.

The faculty express concerns about Trump's approach to science, immigration, and civil rights, in addition to “threatening rhetoric.”

“Their representatives have worked to silence and discredit opponents rather than entering into dialogue with them, while those same representatives have objectified and demonized countless minority and disenfranchised groups who have made easy targets for their exclusionary rhetoric,” the letter reads.

A spokeswoman for the university told the Louisville Courier Journal that university president Michael Benson has corresponded with some faculty members about the letter, but declined to comment further.

The school urged calm in a statement: “We understand this election season has been filled with a number of passionately debated issues, and we encourage our community to remain civil and respectful of differing political opinions in the discourse surrounding the rally."

Gerald Nachtwey, a faculty member who helped write the letter, told the Courier Journal that it was written after students said they were “frightened and confused” about the rally.

"Fundamentally we saw the audience for the letter as being the student body and people in the community in and around Richmond," Nachtwey said.

Trump will hold a rally at the school’s Alumni Coliseum on Saturday, the first time a sitting president has visited the university. The Donald J. Trump for President campaign is renting the space, according to the university’s website.


TOPICS: Education; Government; Politics
KEYWORDS: college; kentucky; protests; trump
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

No more federal tax money to Eastern Kentucky University!

Why do tax payers have to finance the ‘enemy within’?


41 posted on 10/11/2018 3:05:38 PM PDT by abclily
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To: Vigilanteman

Good idea!


42 posted on 10/11/2018 3:06:32 PM PDT by abclily
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
I'm guessing most of them are not originally from Kentucky.

I live in Richmond and I'd say that most of them are originally from Kentucky. I have tickets for the rally on Saturday night. Should be fun.

43 posted on 10/11/2018 3:07:49 PM PDT by libertylover (Despite government propaganda, I know the difference between a boy and a girl.)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Our daughter was recruited by EKU to play soccer. She ultimately chose a different school but we got the sense the school was pretty conservative. Too bad the faculty is so poisonous.


44 posted on 10/11/2018 3:09:19 PM PDT by GatorGirl (Small "l" libertarian.)
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To: texas_mrs
Wooooo! Dozens!

With 16,000 students there's probably around 800 faculty members and "dozens" signed the letter.

BTW, I have tickets for the rally and I expect it to be fun.

45 posted on 10/11/2018 3:18:13 PM PDT by libertylover (Despite government propaganda, I know the difference between a boy and a girl.)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

since when do universities have open inquiry and free speech? Those values were on their deathbed 35 years ago with the first wave of political correct victimhood propaganda espoused by the insecure and neurotic invading higher education.


46 posted on 10/11/2018 3:21:44 PM PDT by blueplum ( "...this moment is your moment: it belongs to you... " President Donald J. Trump, Jan 20, 2017)
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To: GOPe Means Bend Over Spell Run

If you’re talking about your children, well, sorry.


47 posted on 10/11/2018 3:25:13 PM PDT by libertylover (Despite government propaganda, I know the difference between a boy and a girl.)
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To: abclily

Kentucky went for Trump 63/33. It’s a red state. Why aren’t they teaching in Berkeley?


48 posted on 10/11/2018 3:28:50 PM PDT by americas.best.days... ( Donald John Trump has pulled the sword from the stone.)
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To: GOPe Means Bend Over Spell Run
Have two that are staff at a college. Those two a extreme arrogant elitist libatards that no one can stand to talk to for more than 2 minutes.

Unfortunately they are there busy poisoning the well by propagandizing in lieu of teaching to susceptible students. These people are the intellectual equivalent of plague vectors.

49 posted on 10/11/2018 3:29:10 PM PDT by robowombat (Orthodox)
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To: NEMDF
POTUS should have a meeting, just him and the frightened and confused students.

Actually, that's something Dr. Benson (EKU President) might actually do.

50 posted on 10/11/2018 3:29:51 PM PDT by libertylover (Despite government propaganda, I know the difference between a boy and a girl.)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
I once spent a crazy night in EKU's 16 story tall, Keene Hall. In 1972, a crew from Lee's College visited there as a sort of introductory tour. First time I had seen projectile vomit go straight up from a guy flat of his back in a bed. I don't even remember his name but surprisingly he lived.
51 posted on 10/11/2018 3:30:00 PM PDT by higgmeister ( In the Shadow of The Big Chicken)
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To: NEMDF

Re Dr. Benson... He’s not a nut; he’s very level headed and I’d say beloved by most students.


52 posted on 10/11/2018 3:31:16 PM PDT by libertylover (Despite government propaganda, I know the difference between a boy and a girl.)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
Dozens of faculty and staff members at Eastern Kentucky University have sent a letter to the school’s president in opposition to President Trump. The letter, with over 100 signatures...

OH NOES!!!11! ONE HUNDRED PEOPLE OPPOSE TRUMP!11!!! CALL THE PRESS!11!!!!

53 posted on 10/11/2018 3:33:02 PM PDT by Lazamataz (On future maps, I suggest we remove the word "California" and substitute "Open-Air Asylum".)
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To: higgmeister

TMI-Too Much Information.


54 posted on 10/11/2018 3:34:12 PM PDT by libertylover (Despite government propaganda, I know the difference between a boy and a girl.)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
I'm guessing most of them are not originally from Kentucky.

Safe bet.       The faculty member they named as an author of the statement, Gerald Nachtwey, shows his education as:

Loyola University Chicago Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) Middle English Literature,

and University of Wisconsin-Madison Bachelor's degree in English Language and Literature, General

55 posted on 10/11/2018 3:45:07 PM PDT by higgmeister ( In the Shadow of The Big Chicken)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

EKU is staffed by professional bed wetting radicals.


56 posted on 10/11/2018 3:53:25 PM PDT by IndispensableDestiny
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To: ProtectOurFreedom

Oh, what that woman did to Mizzou!!!! Enrollment has plummeted!!!!


57 posted on 10/11/2018 4:03:14 PM PDT by Honorary Serb (Kosovo is Serbia! Free Srpska! Abolish ICTY!)
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To: rktman

Not any decent values.


58 posted on 10/11/2018 4:23:36 PM PDT by bgill (CDC site, "We don't know. how people are infected with Ebola.")
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To: bgill
Me or them? 😹🍿🍻👍🏼
59 posted on 10/11/2018 4:25:49 PM PDT by rktman (Enlisted in the Navy in '67 to protect folks rights to strip my rights. WTH?)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

They are so stupid.

The MAGA rally will bring families to the campus who would otherwise never see that campus or even consider going there.

But these stupid faculty will never get that...


60 posted on 10/11/2018 4:29:21 PM PDT by browniexyz
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