Posted on 10/22/2009 4:51:47 AM PDT by Born Conservative
You see, I went to Bucknell. We're rivals, you know. So as a proud member of the Bucknell family, I've considered it my job to make occasional fun of our nemesis in Bethlehem.
When I was in school, I even owned a T-shirt that said: ''Lehigh: Because not everyone can get into Bucknell.'' Sophomoric, I know. But then again, I was a sophomore.
Now, I'm taking it back. I'm sorry, Lehigh. The reason is the First Amendment.
The First Amendment protects our right to, among other things, freedom of speech. It's not something a private university like Bucknell or Lehigh has to obey -- it binds the government, not private entities -- but it is something we should all respect, and even revere.
That's why I was so interested to read in Lehigh's student newspaper that the university is putting on a tribute to the First Amendment, ''Lehigh Celebrates the First.'' It included a big event Monday -- complete with the planting of a ''liberty tree'' that will ''reaffirm Lehigh's dedication to free expression now and in the future.''
Why would this cause me to repent of my past snide comments about the home of the Mountain Hawks? Because while Lehigh has been saluting the First Amendment, my alma mater has been shutting down peaceful protests.
In March, Bucknell administrators ordered a group of students to stop handing out ''Obama stimulus dollars'' designed to criticize current fiscal policy in Washington. They claimed the students were violating a ''sales and solicitations'' policy, even though they weren't selling anything or soliciting anybody. And the next month, the university took more aggressive action when students dared to make fun of some of the university's own policies.
(Excerpt) Read more at mcall.com ...
Things began to really go downhill at Bucknell when the hired a former dean from Berkeley in 1996. They never really recovered even tho he was released after four years.
They have a dean who threatened to shut down the school newspaper for it’s conservative views.
But they did offer a course on how to be a whore, etc. (IIRC)
Sad commentary on a once great university.
Lewisburg itself is a bastion of liberalism. They have a no nukes vigil every year on the anniversary of Hiroshima.
Daughter graduated 1999, they still had some semblance of sanity.
Ten years later, it’s been all downhill.
Pathetic.
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