Professor's Snub of Creationists Prompts U.S. Inquiry

New York Times ^ | 2/02/03 | NICK MADIGAN

[kattracks]

UBBOCK, Tex., Feb. 2 — A biology professor who insists that his students accept the tenets of human evolution has found himself the subject of Justice Department scrutiny.

Prompted by a complaint from the Liberty Legal Institute, a group of Christian lawyers, the department is investigating whether Michael L. Dini, an associate professor of biology at Texas Tech University here, discriminated against students on the basis of religion when he posted a demand on his Web site that students wanting a letter of recommendation for postgraduate studies "truthfully and forthrightly affirm a scientific answer" to the question of how the human species originated.

"The central, unifying principle of biology is the theory of evolution," Dr. Dini wrote. "How can someone who does not accept the most important theory in biology expect to properly practice in a field that is so heavily based on biology?"

That was enough for the lawyers' group, based in Plano, a Dallas suburb, to file a complaint on behalf of a 22-year-old Texas Tech student, Micah Spradling.

Mr. Spradling said he sat in on two sessions of Dr. Dini's introductory biology class and shortly afterward noticed the guidelines on the professor's Web site (www2.tltc.ttu.edu/dini/Personal/letters.htm).

Mr. Spradling said that given the professor's position, there was "no way" he would have enrolled in Dr. Dini's class or asked him for a recommendation to medical school.

"That would be denying my faith as a Christian," said Mr. Spradling, a junior raised in Lubbock who plans to study prosthetics and orthotics at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas. "They've taken prayer out of schools and the Ten Commandments out of courtrooms, so I thought I had an opportunity to make a difference."

In an interview in his office, Dr. Dini pointed to a computer screen full of e-mail messages and said he felt besieged.

"The policy is not meant in any way to be discriminatory toward anyone's beliefs, but instead to ensure that people who I recommend to a medical school or a professional school or a graduate school in the biomedical sciences are scientists," he said. "I think science and religion address very different types of questions, and they shouldn't overlap."

Dr. Dini, who said he had no intention of changing his policy, declined to address the question of his own faith. But university officials and several students who support him say he is a religious man.

"He's a devout Catholic," said Greg Rogers, 36, a pre-med student from Lubbock. "He's mentioned it in discussion groups."

Mr. Rogers, who returned to college for a second degree and who said his beliefs aligned with Dr. Dini's, added: "I believe in God and evolution. I believe that evolution was the tool that brought us about. To deny the theory of evolution is, to me, like denying the law of gravity. In science, a theory is about as close to a fact as you can get."

Another student, Brent Lawlis, 21, from Midland, Tex., said he hoped to become an orthopedic surgeon and had had no trouble obtaining a letter of recommendation from Dr. Dini. "I'm a Christian, but there's too much biological evidence to throw out evolution," he said.

But other students waiting to enter classes Friday morning said they felt that Dr. Dini had stepped over the line. "Just because someone believes in creationism doesn't mean he shouldn't give them a recommendation," said Lindsay Otoski, 20, a sophomore from Albuquerque who is studying nursing. "It's not fair."

On Jan. 21, Jeremiah Glassman, chief of the Department of Justice's civil rights division, told the university's general counsel, Dale Pat Campbell, that his office was looking into the complaint, and asked for copies of the university's policies on letters of recommendation.

David R. Smith, the Texas Tech chancellor, said on Friday afternoon that the university, a state institution with almost 30,000 students and an operating budget of $845 million, had no such policy and preferred to leave such matters to professors.

In a letter released by his office, Dr. Smith noted that there were 38 other faculty members who could have issued Mr. Spradling a letter of recommendation, had he taken their classes. "I suspect there are a number of them who can and do provide letters of recommendation to students regardless of their ability to articulate a scientific answer to the origin of the human species," Dr. Smith wrote.

Members of the Liberty Legal Institute, who specialize in litigating what they call religious freedom cases, said their complaint was a matter of principle.

"There's no problem with Dr. Dini saying you have to understand evolution and you have to be able to describe it in detail," said Kelly Shackelford, the group's chief counsel, "but you can't tell students that they have to hold the same personal belief that you do."

Mr. Shackelford said that he would await the outcome of the Justice Department investigation but that the next step would probably be to file a suit against the university.

[f.Christian]

Self styled -- -- -- engineered (( man made )) science ==== evolution !

[Theo]

... Christian evolutionists ...

Does that mean that they believe in a God who is not a Creator?

[Under the Radar]

I got it! I finally figured out whose writing yours reminds me of.

Mary Daly!

[Dataman]

Look, AG, here's the deal. If Dini is vulnerable to criminal prosecution, as you have been advocating, then so am I. And since you apparently think I should be thrown in jail, the 'thanks for your post' strikes me as just a teeny-weeny bit insincere. Why don't you save it for those you don't want to sic criminal prosecutors on?

This drivel from a PhD? I'm depressed. What has become of our state institutions of higher learning?

What you guys don't realize is that you open yourselves up to the same investigation of sincerity by the opposition.

BTW, are you posting on work time? Are you wasting our tax dollars defending your superstition when you should be exercising your bigotry against creationists on campus?

[Lurking Libertarian]

Me: ... Christian evolutionists ...

You: Does that mean that they believe in a God who is not a Creator?

No, it means they believe in a God who created life using the methods of natural law (inheritance, variation and selection) He created for that purpose. That is, in any event, what I (a Jew) believe.

[f.Christian]

Mutual admiration society // cult of brainwashing ==== evolution !

[Dataman]

Again, I am not advocating bringing criminal charges against bigots.

Apparently it doesn't matter how many times you repeat yourself. Certain evos won't acknowledge it. They are either mentally incapable of understanding your words or they prefer to make false charges rather than debate.

I hope the lurkers notice how close-minded, bigoted and irrational the opposition can be. I would expect, wouldn't you, that these defenders of what they call science would at least pretend to be intellectual?

[Catspaw]

As an analogy - consider how you would feel if you were counting on my co-signature for a home loan and had already made arrangements in your life for that home and then I said to you, "I will not sign unless you disavow your religious beliefs."

That's not a threat and it's a very weak, if nonsensical, analogy. How you've decided this specific student was threatened by this specific professor is way beyond a stretch. It is, in fact, halluncinatory.

Fact is you want this professor removed and prosecuted because he's not a creationist. You don't care about the far-reaching consequences. You've marginalized yourself.

[Alamo-Girl]

Thank you for your post!

There's no threat in refusing a favor.

If a) Dini is not being paid by government funds and, b) if Dini's job description does not include writing letters of recommendation and, c) if Texas Tech is not receiving any government funds, and d) if letters of recommendation are not required for medical school - then the student's case will not prevail in civil court.

If either a) or c) are true then the government has a substantial interest in protecting the student's rights under the Constitution. If any of these are true, the student has good cause.

[Under the Radar]

Does that read as:
"'Mutual admiration society' divided by 'cult of brainwashing' equals 'evolution'"?

Or is it:
"'Mutual admiration society' does not equal 'cult of brainwashing' equals 'evolution'"?

Are these mathematical formulas? How did you arrive at them? Since few seem to understand you, why do you persist in posting them?

[HumanaeVitae]

"Of course that's what you're proposing."

No, it's not. But what you're proposing is that state-funded universities should be able to seal off debate on certain issues because of non-fact based assumptions. If Darwinism is not allowed to be challenged, then it isn't science; it's faith.

And you, as I remember, are a libertarian!

[Under the Radar]

So, just so we can all be clear here. You believe that any student can walk up to any professor and demand a letter of recommendation for any reason, and the faculty member must give it, is that correct?

[general_re]

Perhaps you would care to lay a small wager on the eventual outcome of this investigation? ;)

[Dataman]

How, then, is your version of Christianity any different from the sharia of the Islamic world ??

Oh brother! A principled Christian is now a crazed terrorist? Here we go again. Does the dentist ever notice the footprints in your mouth?

[Alamo-Girl]

Thanks for your post!

The fact that, often, reality is in conflict with certain religious beliefs is a problem for the student to resolve, not something to punt to the world around him.

This has nothing to do with the student's Constitutional rights. The kid has freedom of religion protected under amendments one and fourteen. Infringement of those freedoms is actionable in a court of law.

[Poohbah]

... Christian evolutionists ...

Does that mean that they believe in a God who is not a Creator?

Not at all. They just believe that God performed his creation in a manner consistent with observed data that indicates said creation proceeded iteratively over a long periood of time.

[HumanaeVitae]

That's not the point. How worried would you be if one of your grad students (I'm assuming you're a prof or some kind of academic) challenged imaginary numbers? Probably not much, since higher mathematics deals in proofs, and proofs are just that--proof.

There is plenty of controversy surrounding Darwinism not just from 'Bible-thumpers', but from serious scientists. But apparently this doctrine cannot be challenged because of institutional pressure best exemplified by this situation.

[general_re]

But what you're proposing is that state-funded universities should be able to seal off debate on certain issues because of non-fact based assumptions. If Darwinism is not allowed to be challenged, then it isn't science; it's faith.

How, specifically, is this student being prevented from "challenging" the theory of evolution?

[Alamo-Girl]

Thank you for your post, Dataman!

In an instance of delicious irony, right after you remarked:

Apparently it doesn't matter how many times you repeat yourself [that I am not advocating bringing criminal charges against bigots]. Certain evos won't acknowledge it.

catspaw posted this:

Fact is you want this professor removed and prosecuted because he's not a creationist.

Shaking my head now...

[Nebullis]

Infringement of those freedoms is actionable in a court of law.

That may be, but the question before is whether that applies in this case. Does an affirmation of scientific theory infringe on religious freedom? Surely not!