MA Professor Fired for Pro-2nd Ammendment Lecture

[WJP9]

So much for freedom of speech...


National News from The Associated Press


Catholic College in Mass. Fires Professor Over Class Discussion of Va. Tech Shootings
04-23-2007 8:28 AM

BOSTON (Associated Press) -- An adjunct professor was fired after leading a classroom discussion about the Virginia Tech shootings in which he pointed a marker at some students and said "pow."

The five-minute demonstration at Emmanuel College on Wednesday, two days after a student killed 32 people on the Virginia Tech campus, included a discussion of gun control, whether to respond to violence with violence, and the public's "celebration of victimhood," said the professor, Nicholas Winset.

During the demonstration, Winset pretended to shoot some students. Then one student pretended to shoot Winset to illustrate his point that the gunman might have been stopped had another student or faculty member been armed.

"A classroom is supposed to be a place for academic exploration," Winset, who taught financial accounting, told the Boston Herald.

He said administrators had asked the faculty to engage students on the issue. But on Friday, he got a letter saying he was fired and ordering him to stay off campus.

Winset, 37, argued that the Catholic liberal arts school was stifling free discussion by firing him, and he said the move would have a "chilling effect" on open debate. He posted an 18-minute video on the online site YouTube defending his action.

The college issued a statement saying: "Emmanuel College has clear standards of classroom and campus conduct, and does not in any way condone the use of discriminatory or obscene language."

Student Junny Lee, 19, told The Boston Globe that most students didn't appear to find Winset's demonstration offensive.

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[BikerRN]

This is bloody ridiculous!

If ideas and theories can't be discussed in a place of learning to further one's thought processes and reasoning abilities then we as a nation are doomed.

It's stupidity like this that makes me hang my head in shame.

Biker

[ccw9mm]

The college issued a statement saying: "Emmanuel College has clear standards of classroom and campus conduct, and does not in any way condone the use of discriminatory or obscene language."

Shades of the Scopes "monkey" trial. Though, this is a matter of life and death.

Of course, I wasn't in that classroom as this discussion was being held, but he should be commended for being able to discriminate between tactics that have a chance of succeeding and the silly, head-in-sand tactics that do nothing to protect anyone. Kudos to him for that, despite more sand being piled up at that school in the wake of his firing. Sad.

[rodc13]

So much for freedom of speech...

There's no guarantee of freedom of speech within a private institution. This however, indicates just how far this school's administration will go to stifle viewpoints which may be in opposition to its own doctrine. Doesn't teach much respect for open discourse.

The college issued a statement saying: "Emmanuel College has clear standards of classroom and campus conduct, and does not in any way condone the use of discriminatory or obscene language."

Student Junny Lee, 19, told The Boston Globe that most students didn't appear to find Winset's demonstration offensive.

I wonder just what it was about it that was considered discriminatory or obscene? Pretty thin. Anorexic, even.

[WJP9]

Here is the youtube link that the article speaks of---

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSFAZMMTb_w

[OPFOR]

Guess he wasn't tenured...then he could say the earth was flat and Twinkies cause solar flares, and they couldn't fire him...

Celebration of victimhood, indeed.

[Redneck Repairs]

Here is the youtube profile with all 4 of the vids he posted if needed http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=AW222018

[P95Carry]

I guess this is just more of the crazy ''zero tolerance'' in this ridiculous PC time we seem to live in

[Miggy]

"A classroom is supposed to be a place for academic exploration,"

Only Liberal ideas must be explored. Anything else is anathema and must be silenced.

[OfClanMcnab]

I wonder just what it was about it that was considered discriminatory or obscene? Pretty thin. Anorexic, even.

Exactly. I'm wondering if this professor might have a legal case against the college. If he had been telling the students that there was no way allowing CCW in VT would have stopped the shooter, then he probably would have been just fine.

[mark555]

Higher education is a wonderful thing. It is a shame the direction it heads sometimes.

[rodc13]

Only Liberal ideas must be explored. Anything else is anathema and must be silenced.

Private institutions often exist to promote the agenda of the organization that establishes them. I doubt that you could explore many "liberal" ideas at Bob Jones University, for example.

[Tom G]

[QUOTE=rodc13;349331]There's no guarantee of freedom of speech within a private institution. This however, indicates just how far this school's administration will go to stifle viewpoints which may be in opposition to its own doctrine. Doesn't teach much respect for open discourse.




This just goes to show that the administration is very closed minded. This indicates that their teachings may be along the same lines

[Bob The Great]

that's a sad story. Just shows what happens when a prof tries to engage his class without pushing the "approved" agenda. I wonder if his play-acting had anything to do with it?

I'm glad I studied engineering, and didn't have to deal with crap like this. 2 polysci classes that focused on history, not current events were plenty for me.

[PaulG]

I guess this is just more of the crazy ''zero tolerance'' in this ridiculous PC time we seem to live in

Zero tolerance = zero thinking

Many institutions of higher learned want the students to learn to think only as long as the institutions leaders agree with the conclusions.