"I was investigated because of my political views because someone objected to
them, and that's frightening," Stowell said. "Everyone on campus should be
concerned."
Wow. Someone actually gets it. (more on this)
Now, I support his right not to be censored. In fact, I think that it is someone's right to express their opinions and a professor's door is his place to do so (not that I approve of doing that, as I would love to see a line placed between political and educational means, but that would be a personally enforced decision, not controlled by law). Let's get this clear, I am by no means a law student. I just want to understand these things, for myself and for any future generations (in case anyone asks questions...). A good overview of the law related to this is here. If you follow all of the Volokh links, you will find your knowledge enriched as a result.
Anyway, back to the quote. Here is someone that represents almost all of my professors from college, a liberal, who actually gets to be on the other side of the fence. I wonder if he would have the same view if another professor was getting the same treatment for putting conservative views up (for example: Pro-Life statements, Pro-Bush statements, etc...). Then again, when is it that you would actually find a conservative professor on campus actually willing to post material outside his or her door? Really, I am truely curious on this issue. In my four years on campus, I cannot remember ever walking past a professor's door and seeing a conservative statement. I also wonder if the veteran in this particular case was just tired of seeing negative statements all across campus and finally took issue with this particular door. It's a big, open hole of information.
All I can say is... finally, someone in academia on the other side gets the feeling of being censored for their political views.
On a sidenote: Whereas this brings up all sorts of topics, one thing I feel I should express is this: I have no opposition to being exposed to dissenting views. In fact, that is really the only way to learn. However, I do object to being subjected to only one side of an argument and having my own right to express an opinion be supressed. That was the gist of my own college experience: agree or be silenced. Yes, at one point during my freshman year, I was told to shut up by a professor. Throughout my stay at the university, I was subjected to classes that were taken over by radical professors who refused to teach the subject matter and instead ranted on their own personal topics (usually on politics, national and educational). To be turned upon and attacked just because you think you drive a larger car than you actually drive (by two cylinders, thank you very much, and the actual result was still a larger car that most people in the class) is so ridiculous but at the same so frightening as a young student. This is about free sppech? What about both sides? Who is it that actually has the right to speak freely in schools (let's not get into the arena outside of schools...)?
I want to know.
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