A little side commentary on the University of St. Thomas, where I got my Master of International Management degree. In recent years, the school has made decisions to bring in radical extremist speakers such as Ann Coulter (and physically silence any students with challenging questions) and ban more-progressive speakers such as Nobel laureate Desmond Tutu from speaking. Fellow MIM alum, Grant F. Smith, wrote an outstanding piece on the issue. A highlight:

When President Dennis Dease denied Archbishop Desmond Tutu an opportunity to speak on the University of St. Thomas campus, he was quietly responding to the opaque pressures of a dangerous national trend. None of the names of the many great and sometimes controversial speakers and professors who grappled with and educated me appears on my diploma. However, the name “Dennis Dease” does.

I believe that the reputation and comportment of a university follow degree recipients long after they’ve graduated. This is why I mailed my diploma back to Dease, stamped “return to sender.”

Brilliant.

The spotlight needs to be placed on President Dennis Dease. Let us not forget Dease’s comments on Coulter. where he cited support for the Board of Trustee’s statement on controversial speakers:

…St. Thomas values “the diversity of viewpoints reflective of a larger society” and “also recognizes and accepts its responsibility to respond to the dynamic tension that exists between the challenges of contemporary living and educating within the living Catholic tradition.”

“The university exists as an environment which not only allows, but encourages, members of its community to ask questions and openly explore challenging ideas in their personal search for truth,” the statement continues. “Open forums through which controversial issues may be addressed in a responsible and educative manner will be available. More important, the university will ensure that these dialogues occur in an arena free of reproach or reprisal…

Hypocrisy, anyone?

About John Moravec

Dr. John Moravec is a faculty member in the Department of Organizational Leadership, Policy, and Development and the Innovation Studies/Master of Liberal Studies graduate programs at the University of Minnesota. He is the principal of Education Futures LLC; a co-founder of the Horizon Forum, a roundtable on the future of education at all levels; and is the editor of Education Futures. He can be emailed at john@educationfutures.com.

http://www.educationfutures.com/john