Saturday, July 21, 2018

Who can save Marquette University?

Other than poking fun at Marquette Law School’s space-eating, $85 million building featuring a massive “library without borders”—a structure erected in the internet age when nearly every legal document and law review article is available online—I don’t think I’ve ever said anything too negative about my alma mater Marquette (MBA ’94, JD ’99).  Well, on second thought, that’s not true.  I was highly critical of the university’s response to alumni requests to bring back the name Warriors.  The bureaucrats didn’t just deny the request.  Instead, they changed our name to Gold.  It’s as if they wanted to punish us just for asking.

Inexplicably, Marquette leaders thought that Gold was “strong” and “competitive,” and “contained all the elements of a Warrior.”  That’s the kind of nonsensical babble you might expect from a twelve year old who got into his dad’s bottle of Vodka, not from the leaders of a university with a multi-million dollar endowment and budget.  It doesn’t make sense in any imaginable way.  A color doesn’t have strength nor does it compete—not even with other colors, let alone with other schools.   

Going Gold was such a disastrous move that, despite somehow voting unanimously to adopt the absurd nickname, the resulting public ridicule and alumni embarrassment led the bureaucrats to rescind their decision within a week.  So while we didn’t regain our beloved Warriors, we all breathed a sigh of relief when we retained Golden Eagles.  It’s a common, bland, and generic name—in fact, it’s used more than any other college nickname in the country—but at least it doesn’t make you want to hang your head in shame.  (And admittedly, the newest version of the bird looks pretty aggressive and focused.)

Those two gaffs—building a massive library in the internet age and the short-lived change to Gold—were expensive and upsetting, respectively.  But MU’s latest blunder demonstrates that its bureaucrats have gone off the deep end and the school is in desperate need of rediscovering its roots and traditional values. 

In a nutshell, here’s what went down: A Mexican student at MU accidentally sent an old high school photo of himself to a black student on campus.  This is one of the dangers of “social media,” particularly when used on a cell phone instead of a computer with a man-sized keyboard.  (Yes, there are differences between men and women, and men are, on average, larger.  Also, Micro-aggression intended.)

In the old photo, the Mexican student was pictured with some high school friends who were all posing as gangsta rappers, or something like that.  The photo was quickly circulated, and campus hysteria predictably ensued.  Many students, faculty, and administrators were outraged, and some recklessly threw out phrases like “hate crime” and complained about feeling “unsafe” and being “threatened.”  Even the campus police were involved.  And for those who are surprised that a photograph was equated with violence and was worthy of law enforcement attention, it’s actually quite common on campuses these days.  In today’s world of identity politics and “social justice warriors”—small “w” and much different than Marquette Warriors—words have been completely separated from their actual definitions.  Much like the above quote that equated a color with strength and even competitiveness, words no longer have any meaning; rather, perceived emotions and feelings govern.  

In any case, the bureaucrats circled the wagon and their hysteria produced the following course of action: despite the Mexican student’s proactive, profuse, and sincere apologies—which, in my opinion, is another problem in itself; we have turned into a nation of wormy apologists—the powers that be expelled him.  That’s right: expelled him.  They destroyed a reputation and branded a Mexican student a racist so they can brag about how they all stand against racism.  (For example, see this childish—yet somehow eerie and unsettling—photo of MU’s president climbing aboard the politically correct anti-racism train at the expense of the student.)  

Some people at MU have been granted the power not only to suppress speech but also to ruin lives—and they’re doing both.  You can learn much more about this absolute craziness from several different sources, and it’s worth the small investment of time to do so, particularly if you’re a Marquette grad.  First, there’s a very nice fifteen minute audio clip discussing this injustice perpetrated on this student for accidentally sending out an old photo.  Second, you can read some very short but good articles on this fiasco at Campus Reform and the College Fix.  And third, you can read about it on MU Professor John McAdams’ blog, the Marquette Warrior. 

McAdams knows a thing or two about the craziness at MU.  First, since 2002 he’s been chronicling the bureaucrats’ steady decent into madness.  (Some of his earlier posts describe the absurdity of abandoning Warriors in the first place.)  And second, he’s also been a victim of the bizarre, speech-suppressing, life-ruining political correctness that’s sweeping college campuses nationwide.  He just won back his job at MU (with back pay) after having been terminated several years ago.  His crime?  He defended a student’s right to argue in favor of traditional marriage in a philosophy class on a Jesuit campus!  Better still, he refused the university’s demand for an “apology” and instead took legal action.

The McAdams v. MU fiasco is simply too bizarre to explain here.  However, it, too, is worth the time to read about.  You can find the Supreme Court of Wisconsin (SCOW) decision that blasted MU for violating free speech and academic freedom and delivered McAdams complete and unqualified victory, here.  For much shorter summaries and commentary, you can read the College Fix, Campus Reform, or McAdams’ Marquette Warrior with some recent posts here, here, and here. 

Returning, then, to the MU student who was expelled and branded a racist, hopefully an organization with financial resources (such as FIRE) can come to his aid and deliver him a victory as sweeping as McAdams’ beat-down of Marquette.  Thanks to the handful of freedom-fighter organizations out there, this is a realistic possibility.  The bigger challenge, however, is saving MU from the bureaucrats that are currently sailing the ship. 

2 comments:

  1. Not sure who is shittier, MY or the SCOTUS. I'm going with SCOTUS only because they have the greater power to destroy, esp. The bill of rights. Constitutional toilet paper, anyone? Good luck, America, the U.S. is about to enter into the leftist backlash, to trumps comic book villain idiot measures, particularly with immigration. Good night and good luck, idiot American voters and jurors. The dumb ass revolution is at hand!

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