Students form Coalition to protest Schlafly
Ben Sales
Issue date: 5/5/08 Section: @Press
Professor Mary Ann Dzuback, who heads the Women's and Gender Studies Department at the University, said that she will not attend Commencement if Schlafly will be honored.
"The honorary degree is an honor the University confers on people whose lives have in some way or another been exemplary and should be held up to the students as models," Dzuback said. "This is not about representing views. It's insulting to all of us."
Although several students have considered following Dzuback's lead and not attending Commencement, Bernstein says that the goal of the protest is to make a statement at the event while still giving students the attention they deserve.
"We want a presence at the ceremony," she said. "People who are attending deserve to get their degrees. We hope to be able to send a message to the University. There are a lot of people who believe that this is not O.K."
Dzuback supports the students' protest, and the faculty of the Women's and Gender Studies Department has also sent a letter to the chancellor requesting that he withdraw Schlafly's invitation. In doing so, Dzuback says, the department is taking the long term interests of the University into account.
"I hope something effective comes out of [the protest]," she said. "It would be embarrassing for the University to [rescind the invitation] but it would be more detrimental in the long run not to withdraw the invitation."
Regarding the coalition's long-term plans, Bernstein says that though the students' immediate focus is on Schlafly, she is confident that those members who are not graduating will continue to act on the same convictions.
"We believe in having a more transparent process in the University," Bernstein said. "This reflects larger issues in the University. I see students who care about this and how the University is represented sticking with this. It's something the group members care about."
"The honorary degree is an honor the University confers on people whose lives have in some way or another been exemplary and should be held up to the students as models," Dzuback said. "This is not about representing views. It's insulting to all of us."
Although several students have considered following Dzuback's lead and not attending Commencement, Bernstein says that the goal of the protest is to make a statement at the event while still giving students the attention they deserve.
"We want a presence at the ceremony," she said. "People who are attending deserve to get their degrees. We hope to be able to send a message to the University. There are a lot of people who believe that this is not O.K."
Dzuback supports the students' protest, and the faculty of the Women's and Gender Studies Department has also sent a letter to the chancellor requesting that he withdraw Schlafly's invitation. In doing so, Dzuback says, the department is taking the long term interests of the University into account.
"I hope something effective comes out of [the protest]," she said. "It would be embarrassing for the University to [rescind the invitation] but it would be more detrimental in the long run not to withdraw the invitation."
Regarding the coalition's long-term plans, Bernstein says that though the students' immediate focus is on Schlafly, she is confident that those members who are not graduating will continue to act on the same convictions.
"We believe in having a more transparent process in the University," Bernstein said. "This reflects larger issues in the University. I see students who care about this and how the University is represented sticking with this. It's something the group members care about."
Viewing Comments 1 - 8 of 10
aarondj
Stephen
posted 5/08/08 @ 1:19 PM CST
Graduation should not be turned into a spectacle by a few loud voices. It is far better than the ceremony goes to plan. Lauren Bernstein's statement that, "seniors who graduate deserve a good time" is an interesting one in light of her protest of Phyllis Schlafly. (Continued…)
Tom
posted 5/09/08 @ 9:54 AM CST
Women and Gender Studies is a Program, not a Department.
David Kaczmarek
posted 5/09/08 @ 2:03 PM CST
Schlafly and Matthews at commencement? Glad I don't have to be there and watch the fawning over people who stand in the way of equality and justice.
Shame on you Cancellor Wrighton. (Continued…)
Margaret Stokely
posted 5/09/08 @ 2:30 PM CST
Where were you erstwhile Protesters when Peter Singer was here?
He supports infantacide, I think up to the age of the terrible twos. Is that chronological age or maturity?
If we're talking maturity, this "kill for free zone" would include some of you Protesters languishing in arrested development. (Continued…)
Margaret Stokely
posted 5/09/08 @ 6:54 PM CST
Brian, please.
Singer was paid, as was Gonzales.
That is logic for you, irrefutable.
One could also say the same, "His speaking here was simply an attempt to further [the] state of polite discourse", of Gonzales' lecture. (Continued…)
Dr Mabuse
posted 5/09/08 @ 6:55 PM CST
As long as Singer "politely" kills children, then that's fine.
Gabriel ben Avraham
posted 5/12/08 @ 3:18 AM CST
I like to think of Schafly as an advocate of women's rights in much the same way as I see Heinrich Goebls as a scholar of jewish culture, or the old Bureau of Indian Afairs as an "affirmative action" agency for Native Americans, or the apartheid laws as "protective" of blacks. (Continued…)
Sturdy Vent
posted 5/13/08 @ 10:16 AM CST
Demonize and guilt by association. It sure works for the Left, eh? GBA, you "like to think" of all conservatives as fire breathing, bloodthirsty monsters, don't cha. (Continued…)
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