Eagle Forum  |
| NUMBER 282 | THE NEWSPAPER OF EDUCATION RIGHTS | JULY 2009 |
| Conservative Faculty and Staff Group Organizes at MSU | |
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MSU became infamous for its Student Accountability in Community (SAC) program, which served to reeducate students who had offended others. Offending students were forced to attend the sessions and to conform to the program leaders' opinions and beliefs. FIRE called the program "Orwellian," "immoral," and "unconstitutional." Largely in response to FIRE's persistent criticism, MSU dismantled SAC in 2007. The school has also made headlines for attempting to charge a conservative student group an exorbitant fee for screening the controversial film Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West, and for trying to suspend a student for sending an email that was critical of the university's scheduling policies to a group of faculty members. In response to these and other happenings, and the generally menacing atmosphere toward free thought and free speech that such occurrences have created at MSU, a Conservative Faculty and Staff group has organized on campus. The group's mission statement is "to protect and defend the values articulated in the Declaration of Independence here at Michigan State University." The Conservative Faculty and Staff at MSU have announced they will fight against the administration's attempts to silence dissenting views and squelch freedom of inquiry at the university. The group pledges to advocate for students and faculty whose first amendment rights are under fire, and to educate the university community on the importance of free speech and on other issues. (Townhall.com, 5-13-09, www.thefire.org) |
