Posted on 11/16/2002 1:27:18 PM PST by jpthomas
During recent weeks Saint Xavier University has attracted national attention because a tenured professor of history sent a young Air Force Academy cadet some e-mail containing inflammatory, anti-military comments. Professor Peter N. Kirstein, an avowed pacifist, quickly apologized to the cadet and to the Air Force Academy for his e-mail message, but in the meantime thousands of other interested parties have taken offense.
From the beginning of this incident, Saint Xavier University has worked to achieve four objectives: (1) to make things right with the cadet and the Air Force Academy; (2) to respond compassionately to the anger and anguish aroused in so many quarters; (3) to counsel and discipline Professor Kirstein in appropriate ways; and (4) to ensure that teaching and learning at the University will continue unimpeded.
The following actions have been or will be taken to make things right with the cadet and the Air Force Academy:
(1) Professor Kirstein sent a personal apology to the cadet and to the Air Force Academy. Subsequent correspondence between them has been open and respectful. (2) The University extended an official apology to the Academy’s Superintendent, and as president of the University, I have agreed to accept an invitation to visit the Academy within the coming year. (3) Saint Xavier University will send a delegation to the Air Force Academy’s upcoming Academic Assembly. (4) Campus officials have attempted to respond to all cadets, parents, and members of the Academy staff who telephoned or wrote to the University. Any omissions in this regard have been unintentional.
To respond compassionately to the large number of men and women who somehow received copies of Professor Kirstein’s e-mail and thereby came to feel demeaned by his intemperate criticisms of the military, the University has done the following: (1) Faculty, staff and administrators throughout the University have fielded telephone calls during the past two weeks, in each case listening sensitively to complaints and advice. (2) We answered hundreds of e-mail messages personally, until the rising volume of correspondence made individual responses impossible. (3) We cooperated with the press in an ongoing effort to ensure accurate and responsible coverage. (4) We used web-page updates to summarize the University’s response to this emerging situation. (5) We consistently admitted that Professor Kirstein’s e-mail message was unwarranted and unbecoming a scholar.
By far the topic of greatest interest to most people has been the University’s response to Professor Kirstein. After careful deliberation, I have decided to take the following actions on behalf of the University:
Effective on the afternoon of November 11, 2002, Professor Kirstein was relieved of his teaching responsibilities for the current semester and reassigned to other duties.
An administrative reprimand will be delivered to Professor Kirstein and placed in his personnel file.
While on sabbatical leave during the spring semester of 2003, Professor Kirstein will submit his teaching, scholarship, professional development, and service record to peer evaluation within the norms of the University’s procedures for periodic review of tenured faculty. Professor Kirstein volunteered to have this review conducted earlier than it otherwise would have been.
Any future faculty contract(s) extended to Professor Kirstein will include a binding addendum specifically requiring him to adhere both to institutional policies and to the norms of the American Association of University Professors in matters relating to the proper exercise of academic freedom and extramural activities.
No additional information will be released by the University with respect to the above actions or other personnel matters concerning Professor Peter Kirstein. This is in accord with University practice.
Professor Kirstein and the University community deeply regret the incident that began this chain of events. Saint Xavier University remains committed to the pursuit of teaching and learning in a campus community where all are treated with respect, caring and justice and where academic freedom is enjoyed for purpose of promoting quality teaching, careful research, critical analysis, thoughtful discussion, and programs of direct service to metropolitan Chicago and beyond.
The Hate-filled Leftist Professor (Boortz leads an e-mail FReepin'!)
Dr. Laura, Rush, Boortz, Medved, Elder, Savage and many others have been BUSTING the America-hating socialist/marxist professors heatedly, and the battle is joined.
This is gettin' GOOD folks.
Last week Kirstein's CV was investigated and it appears he has been tenured since about the mid-80s. He has produced very few scholarly works and only one book in his career, and the book was pre-tenure. Since tenure it's hard to find whether he has produced anything at all of note. And yet he hangs onto a good gig, so well protected by the AAUP that even an egregiously irresponsible, unscholarly, ungrammatical and mean-spirited letter to an 18 year old student, a letter which highly embarrassed his employer, can't get him fired. And he and his employer are in the business of teaching 18 year old kids.
What a racket.
The professor has an unreasonable and arbitrary hatred of the military. The school should have helped him by extending training/exposure to helping overcome his "disease." The prof ought to sit through 100-200 hours of war flicks (John Wayne, etc.) and then write a 5000 word paper on how to be sensitive to the thoughts and feelings of the military. Think of the fraternities guys that bad mouth blacks. What about folks who demean women on campus? The school whimped out on us here. I am surprised, however, that they did anything at all. This professor must be hated on campus for many other reasons.
When you think about the politcially correct view on "justice," you find events such as Clinton getting away with perjury and obstruction of justice -- the antithesis of justice.
And that makes "reverse political correctness," when it comes to justice, being for justice.
Running rampant for justice ... I like that.
They did pick a fitting date to begin his shunning.
And regarding his paid vacation, I think that removing him from the position where he can influence the young skulls full of mush benefits the republic more than the personal convenience of having a paid vacation would benefit him.
Look at it this way. Either the professor is a serious academic or he is a malingering worker-type drone.
If his being removed from working is to be a punishment, then the professor's seriousness must be assumed.
However, if the vacation is to have value to him, he must be a malingerer.
So if he is to maintain the fiction that he is a serious academic, he must hold the position that his suspension is a serious punishment.
If he cackles about getting over, he will have exposed himself as a malingerer.
Sorry, I had a liberal moment there.....
But for the word "military", liberals would recognize it for what it is, BIGOTRY.
This professor is a liberal BIGOT. They also hate Southerners.
This is a college professor, arclight, and he wrote a searing anti-military letter to a young person who is a cadet.
If he had written it to an adult, or even an adult employed in the military-maybe then it could be deemed less offensive.
To not consider the the age of the cadet, the cadet's career, the overwhelmingly greater power and assumed professionalism of a tenured college professor would be wrong.
I am glad the univ. took action, so sorry the action was so timid in nature. But since the professor is a pacifist, it may be enough to make him rethink his nasty method of responding-maybe.
Right idea, wrong training - I suggest BASIC TRAINING, first Air Force, followed by Navy, Army and then Marines! By the time he crawls out he may have a better and more grounded appreciation of what he is talking about.
The "Professor" was a white male conservative writing to critisize:
-NOW
-The NAACP
-Gays - of any type.
~well, y'all get the idea?
We wouldn't be talking about -- essentially -- a paid sabbatical, here.
No, uh-huh.
The guy would simply find himself out on his ass in the street unemployed & effective immediately!
But this case deals with -- what's the word they used -- a "pacifist"?
HA!!
How 'bout a devote Liberal-Socialist; &, quite possibly full-blown communist! {spit}
So I'll tell ya what I percieve this Xavier Pres is trying to pull-off, here.
...a "State-of-the-Art" blow-off.
The alpha and omega of this bit is that the professor's letter, dripping with hatred, should not be tolerated at a Catholic institution.
Exactly. But at least this doofus got a hand slap. This type character is your typical college history prof.
...and plenty of copies of his infamous letter should precede his arrival at each training session...
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