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2 0 0 0 C A M P U S O U T R A G E W I N N E R S
1. San Diego State University: One of the required courses to enter the graduate teaching-credential
program at San Diego State is Introduction to Multicultural Education.
In this class, students must participate in "cultural plunges,"
in which each student must put himself into uncomfortable situations
to learn "tolerance." Students must visit a place that is
mostly populated with gays and lesbians, such as a gay bar or club,
and, if they are white, an all-black church to see how being the only
white person feels. During one class session, each student has to recite
aloud before the group in Maoist education camp fashion, "I am
gay" or "I am lesbian" (regardless of whether or not
he is) and then describe how it feels to be gay in various discriminatory
situations.
2. Cornell University: Resident
Advisors at Cornell hosted a "Roman Orgy" party in a campus
dormitory—with funding from student fees. While organizers suggested
that the party would consist of just massages and snacks, it was not
long before the clothes started to come off. RA's even set the
mood: dimmed lights, incense, and a bowl of condoms. Cornell tuition
money sponsored a real orgy, the organizers were let off without punishment,
and the dorm's judgment was that it was "a very positive
and good event," according to a student quoted in the Cornell
Daily Sun.
3. Student Government at University of Wisconsin-Madison: University of Wisconsin's student government excessively spent
student fees (tuition dollars) on various items, including fine restaurants,
luxury hotels, valet parking, and junk food. Last year's expenses
included more than $29,000 spent on travel. Last fall, the finance committee
approved funding for $50 worth of tobacco to be purchased for a campus
organization, even as it launched its anti-smoking movement.
4. University of Texas administration: UT canceled a scheduled speech by Henry Kissinger. During the few weeks
before his arrival, campus protesters beat their message out: Henry
Kissinger is nothing more than a war criminal. The Radical Action Network
protested during the weeks leading up to the event, covered the campus
with flyers, and held a teach-in to spread their message that Kissinger
doesn't belong at UT. In the end, the UT administration caved
in to the pressure from the protesters and canceled Kissinger's
speech, claiming that his speaking on campus would cause an outbreak
of violence and endanger the people in the auditorium. The UT administration
has a history of suppressing free speech; last year, UT police simply
watched as protesters disrupted Ward Connerly as he debated affirmative
action.
5. Harvard and Yale (tied): When Yale's gay/lesbian club discovered satirical posters on campus
celebrating "Gay Avarice Week," "Gay Sloth Week,"
and "Gay Lust Week," in response to the campus's celebration
of "Gay Pride Week," club members tore them down and complained
to the administration. Yale's top brass reacted predictably by
claiming it was a hateful attack by "a very few sick individuals"
(Yale Herald) and vowing that if the author were revealed, he would
be taken to the Executive Committee charged with policing alleged harassment.
At rival Harvard, the gay/lesbian club plastered the campus with posters
and flyers celebrating National Coming Out Day. Some students believed
that the publicly placed materials were, at best, obscene and that some
were pornographic. Harvard's administration refused to stand up
to the activists by claiming that the true issue was the protection
of free speech. The administrations of these Ivy League schools reacted
differently in the two cases: favored groups can get away with public
displays of pornography, but anyone satirizing protected groups faces
the wrath of officials in high places.
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