Posted on 11/16/2004 8:27:00 PM PST by freespirited
The hiring of a former political radical and ex-convict at Hamilton College is sparking controversy on campus.
There's mixed opinions after the hiring of Sue Rosenberg, a former political radical who spent 16 years in federal prison.
Rosenberg was arrested in 1984 for the possession of explosives and granted executive clemency by President Clinton in 2001.
"She's being hired on a one month residency as part of our Kirkland Project on campus. The program that hired her was aware of her background but they were particularly interested in teaching a course on writing memoirs," said Faculty Dean David Paris.
The Kirkland Project is an on campus organization focused on race, class, and gender issues.
Officials from the group did not comment on camera but say Rosenberg's writing abilities are widely recognized.
In a campus wide e-mail Kirkland Project director and literature professor Nancy Rabinowitz says that Rosenberg has served her time.
She believes Rosenberg will be a great asset to this college, but some other faculty members disagree.
"Here we have a person being hired to teach a credit barring seminar that is explicitly advertised as an activist position. That coupled with her background which raises character concerns as well has caused me to raise questions about who we hire here," said American History professor Robert Paquette.
Hamilton students have mixed feelings as well.
“I don't think it’s a big problem. I don't feel like I'm threatened by this teacher or anything because clearly the class is advertised as a class about literature and people who are overcoming social reform,” said student Liz Gilliams.
“I think it’s good to have a different perspective at this school. However, I wish that perspective were coming from someone who didn't have a criminal record," said student Benjamin Critton.
Rosenberg currently teaches literature at the John Jay School of Justice in New York City.
School officials say the Dean of Faculty’s office was not involved in Rosenberg's hiring and did not know about her past.
How could the Dean of Faculty NOT know about her past? She is a freakin' felon!
Exactly. Sounds like spin to make the college look less bad. Of course the dean's office just looks ridiculous if it truly wasn't on top of this.
Like you, I am not buy the school's poor CYA manoeuver. A simple background check would have revealed her past. Hell, someone could have run a simple google search and learned about her past! Usually, universities perform the informational equivalent of a body cavity search when considering people for faculty positions. The truth is possibly as follows: they were enamoured with her "romantic, rebl past" and hired thinking that no one would discover who she is. They got caught and now they are looking for a patsy to take the blame.
buy=buying
rebl=rebel
I know, spellcheck is my friend. :-)
Do you get extra credit if you bring in a live pipe bomb?
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.