[lbo-talk] Re: Conservative STudents Target Liberal Profs

[Daniel G. Skinner]

Amazing bullshit to be certain. I happen to be a junior faculty member at the Metropolitan State College of Denver’s Political Science department while I try to put the final pieces of my dissertation together, and I can assure you that this goes well beyond bullshit. METRO is a lightning rod for this right-wing zealotry and armed Denver police stand out-side my office door protecting my friend Oneida from the death threats that she has received. The Chronicle of Higher Ed just had an article about this situation. What often goes unreported is the internal battles. I am thankfully left out of the inner circle of faculty meetings but I hear most of the bitterness spill into the hallway or at the coffee trough. I have been placed into the compromising position of taking sides which for me is a no brainier and I enjoy walking Oneida to her car when I can. I have seen several of my fellow abd’s leave as they simply do not want the extra burdens. For instance, I was listening to Democracy Now via the internet when a tenured faculty member walked into the office that I share with four other toads and stated: “So are you some kind of Marxist?” (I suppose the reproduction of a lotta continua poster with the clenched fist over my desk did not provide a clear clue) Oneida’s door was open and she came into the hallway to listen... I could see her standing there but this professor did not as back was to the door... If I had congenial relations with this professor I might have joked a bit, but this professor is one of the faculty advisors for the College Republicans – the group that was willingly co-opted by Horowitz to push for the Academic Bill of Rights, while they simultaneously take every and all issues over your head. Further, this professor is responsible for peer review this year.... My response was, 'at some times yes, I admire and use the theories of historical materialism, valorization, and reification and believe that class war is an important methodological and political contribution, I believe in the human potential of labor and becoming and I despise all forms of alienation domination and hierarchy. I also enjoy the writings of Uncle Joe and Mao – would you like to discuss these with me, I would be grateful for your input.’ To which the professor blanched. I am certain that the professor was lost somewhere between valorization and reification. Oneida, pistol that she is, burst out laughing and then instructed me on how to submit this conversation in writing to the department chair, that she signed as well.
Sorry to dump this on you all, I suppose that I just needed to let it all hang-out. I suppose that I should be grateful for my position and try not to offend...  then again, fuck em.
Dan