...people who look like their dogs.
Posted on 04/20/2011 9:43:29 AM PDT by MockTurtle
A University of Iowa professor felt the need to reply to a blast email by the College Republicans on Monday morning. Ellen Lewin, a professor of Anthropology and Gender, Women’s & Sexuality Studies in the Department of Gender, Women’s & Sexuality Studies, sent a vulgar response to a College Republican email about the group’s, “Conservative Coming Out Week.”
The College Republican email, which was sent to the entire University of Iowa Community, had been approved by a number of university officials before being sent out.
Lewin responded to email by writing, “#*@% [F-Word] YOU, REPUBLICANS” from her official university email account.
Natalie Ginty, a University of Iowa Student and Chairwoman of the Iowa Federation of College Republicans, demanded an apology from Lewin’s supervisors. “We understand that as a faculty member she has the right to express her political opinion, but by leaving her credentials at the bottom of the email she was representing the University of Iowa, not herself alone,” Ginty wrote to James Enloe, the head of the Department of Anthropology.
“Vile responses like Ellen’s need to end. Demonizing the other party through name-calling only further entrenches feelings of disdain for the other side. I am sure you understand that nothing is ever accomplished by aimless screams of attack,” Ginty concluded.
In an email to the College Republicans, Professor Lewin wrote, “This is a time when political passions are inflamed, and when I received your unsolicited email, I had just finished reading some newspaper accounts of fresh outrages committed by Republicans in government. I admit the language was inappropriate, and apologize for any affront to anyone’s delicate sensibilities. I would really appreciate your not sending blanket emails to everyone on campus, especially in these difficult times.”
Lewin sent that email at 10:51 a.m.
Lewin’s response is as inappropriate than her choice of language in her first email. At the bottom of the original mass email, a University of Iowa disclaimer reads, “Distribution of this message was approved by the VP for Student Services. Neither your name nor e-mail address was released to the sender. The policy and guidelines for the UI Mass Mail service, including information on how to filter messages, are available at: http://cs.its.uiowa.edu/email/massmail.” The College Republicans didn’t even know who all would be receiving the message.
At 11:06 a.m. on Tuesday, Professor Lewin sent another email saying:
I should note that several things in the original message were extremely offensive, nearly rising to the level of obscenity. Despite the Republicans’ general disdain for LGBT rights you called your upcoming event “conservative coming out day,” appropriating the language of the LGBT right movement. Your reference to the Wisconsin protests suggested that they were frivolous attempts to avoid work. And the “Animal Rights BBQ” is extremely insensitive to those who consider animal rights an important cause. Then, in the email that Ms. Ginty sent complaining about my language, she referred to me as Ellen, not Professor Lewin, which is the correct way for a student to address a faculty member, or indeed, for anyone to refer to an adult with whom they are not acquainted. I do apologize for my intemperate language, but the message you all sent out was extremely disturbing and offensive.
It’s strange that Professor Lewin is upset with a student for calling her by her first name AFTER she told them to “$%@& [F Word] OFF.” Quite honestly, Lewin’s continued attacks make it seem like more serious punishment of the professor is called for rather just than the public apology that the College Republicans are demanding.
Professor Tim Hagel, the faculty advisor for the University of Iowa College Republicans, also interjected on behalf of the group.
The issue isn’t whether you found something in the message sent by the College Republicans to have been offensive, but how you chose to express yourself. Although some would disagree with the reasons in the message immediately below, there would have been a more appropriate way for you to have expressed yourself. Your initial apology, though qualified, was at least a step in the right direction. The “additional note” only served to retract the apology and was an apparent attempt to justify your initial response.
It’s not my place at this point to debate the merits of whether the CR message was offense, but let me remind you that they have First Amendment rights as much as you do and that their message was approved for mass distribution by the VP for Student Services, as was indicated at the bottom of the original message.
Let me also note that I found your complaint about Ms. Ginty’s use of your first name to be rather ironic. As much as I agree with you that it would have been better for her to have shown the respect for your position by referring to you as “Professor,” respect is a two way street and you clearly did not show respect for the College Republicans in your initial response.
-TH
Tim Hagle
Associate Professor
UICR Faculty Advisor
Update :University of Iowa President Sally Mason has responded to the incident by sending out a blast email. Mason’s response was “spurred” by TheIowaRepublican.com’s story about the incident.
Dear Members of the University Community:
The University of Iowa encourages freedom of expression, opposing viewpoints, and civil debate about those opposing viewpoints. This is clearly articulated in our core values of Diversity and Respect. Because diversity, broadly defined, advances its mission of teaching, research, and service, the University is dedicated to an inclusive community in which people of different cultural, national, individual, and academic backgrounds encounter one another in a spirit of cooperation, openness, and shared appreciation.
The University also strongly encourages student engagement in such discussions and supports students acting on their viewpoints. Student organizations are sometimes formed along political lines and act on their political beliefs. Even if we personally disagree with those viewpoints, we must be respectful of those viewpoints in every way. Intolerant and disrespectful discord is not acceptable behavior.
Sally Mason President
Many years ago, in the late 1950’s I happened to overhear a group of fraternity boys (presumably Republican)in the U of I student union singing:
“Franklin Roosevelt told the people how he felt,
they almost believed what he said.
I hate war and so does Eleanore, and we
won’t be save ‘til everyone is dead.”
I mentioned this incident to a liberal activist I knew. They laughed and said, “I wonder what those guys would say if they knew this was an old lefty (communist inspired) song from the period of the Hitler/Stalin pact”. At that time the left was trying to keep the US out of the war. Once Hitler invaded Russia they changed their tune real fast.
Boy, she is a real lady, isn’t she. I love that she uses such filthy language and then complains that a student has addressed her inappropriately as “Ellen”.
Wow! How much further can our culture sink?
We must be winning.
A term that I refuse to use. They are what they always were.
That’s a dude.
“Feminists = humans shaking a fist at God for being born without a penis.”
Looking at the picture, I am thinking it had its penis chopped off.
Lol. Indeed. Sheesh...
Reading WB’s clipping, I was reminded of my own feminist experience in 1970 when we were being asked to go on strike for a day. I agonized all the previous day as to whether I should participate. My husband and I and our very colicy 3 month old, and for a brief visit my mother, were staying at my parents country place while my husband took summer school courses he needed for his job. He had a paper due the next afternoon that I planned to type for him. That day I hand scrubbed his muddy sneakers, and walked 500 feet down to our sunny dock where I put them to dry. That night I got about 3 hour sleep because I had spent most of the night with our baby lying on my stomach and rocking my body back and forth every time he started crying from the colic. My husband slept soundly as I had moved to a different room.
The next morning I was in the kitchen, exhausted, eating my hot breakfast which I had also cooked for my husband and mother. He walked into the room and said, “Go down to the dock and get my sneakers.” Suddenly a wave of rage swept through me. I then said, “I have decided to join the woman’s strike and will only do things today that are necessary for the welfare of the family.” He started to scream about his paper. I responded that his job was necessary for the welfare of the family and I would type it in time for his class. He didn’t even hear me as he was still screaming and stomping around. Then he went to the car and drove away. My mother who had planned to leave that day said she would stay until this was resolved. That night he came home very drunk and went right to sleep. The next day he apologized for his behavior and said he did not understand why he had gotten so upset, as I certainly had a right to finish my breakfast while it was warm, and he was fully capable of walking to get his own sneakers.
I am very interested to see how the female issues work out in the current Mid East ferment. It is my main hope for the resolution of these uprisings without a move to even more repressive Islamic Sharia. In Yemen the president was complaining publicly that having a few female demonstrators was unIslamic. The next day large numbers of woman joined the demonstrations. Who knows what the female friendly Facebook and Twitter phenomena will ultimately result in. In this context I think that “women’s studies” could offer quite a lot.
Gee that never happens with socialist demwads.
After reading several comments, I have decided this thread has turned into a lesbian hate fest. WTF?
This is something the low-life leftist would be proud of.
It’s about what she did, not what she is.
Laz, that is wrong on so many levels, I need to scrub the inside of my eyeballs to get that image out of my head.....
Don’t forget, her skin would be clammy, and her pulse weak.
That's far more than any of her students can ever hope to earn as Starbucks baristas.
I love lesbians!
Her appearance does not matter, nor does her politics. But her intolerance and hatred need to be addressed in the most serious manner. No college should employ such anger and conceit.....unless that’s what they want to teach.
Seems to me that's what this is all about ,
She got mad about the Conservative coming out Email
and that phrase can only be used by the gay community.
That's how i read it anyway,
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