A
aimee
Guest
Dear Dean McCarthy (414.288.1412):
Recently, I browsed the Marquette University website www.mu.edu and found the following mission statement:
“Marquette University is a Catholic, Jesuit university dedicated to serving God by serving our students and contributing to the advancement of knowledge. Our mission, therefore, is the search for truth, the discovery and sharing of knowledge, the fostering of personal and professional excellence, the promotion of a life of faith, and the development of leadership expressed in service to others. All this we pursue for the greater glory of God and the common benefit of the human community.”
Below your mission statement, I found other statements, which suggest that you seek to attract students to your university by promising “unfettered pursuit of truth” with a curriculum that expresses your “Catholic identity.” You also speak of the “sponsorship of programs and activities devoted to the cultivation of
our religious character, our ecumenical outlook, and our support of Catholic beliefs and values.” Finally, you state that as you “seek the truth about God and the world” you are “firmly committed to academic freedom as the necessary precondition for that search.”
In light of those statements, I have a few comments.
On January 31st, the College Republicans (CRs) accused you of violating your supposed commitment to academic freedom by suspending an approved “Support our Troops” table set up to benefit Adopt a Sniper, which, as you know, is an organization helping our troops in the Middle East. The CRs have accused you of confiscating signs and other materials they intended to use for the benefit.
I placed two calls to your administration in the last week seeking verification of these accusations. No one seems to take my calls seriously.
You have been quoted, Dean McCarthy, as saying that the CR benefit does not “comport to the University’s mission.” Your communications office (414.288.7445) has issued an official statement accusing the CRs of “having a cavalier attitude toward the taking of a human life.”
I found the university’s official statement to be interesting since your own library refers to Planned Parenthood as “an excellent resource for information on women’s health and global reproduction issues.” Furthermore, Marquette’s Association of English Graduate Students (marquette.edu/aegs/) is allowed to promote Planned Parenthood on your website. Could it be argued that Planned Parenthood has “a cavalier attitude toward the taking of a human life?”
I also noticed that there will be a Gay and Straight Alliance (marquette.edu/um/pastoral/glb/) “rose sale” on Valentine’s Day at Marquette University. Does that sale “comport” with the university’s mission of promoting a “Catholic identity?”
You have, according to my research, at least two gay organizations on campus. Both organizations seem to enjoy “unfettered pursuit of truth” at Marquette. They are allowed freedom of speech on your website and freedom of association on your campus. Although, as a private school, you are not bound by the First Amendment, you seem to grant these organizations certain rights voluntarily, in the name of academic freedom.
So, how are we to resolve the university’s position that, a) pro-abortion speech is permissible, b) pro-gay speech is permissible, and c) pro-war speech is impermissible?
The answer is simple: Marquette University is not committed to serving God or the Catholic Church. It is committed to advancing the policies of the Democratic Party.
Clearly, the true purpose of your university has not been revealed to potential students at Marquette. Instead, they have been fraudulently induced into paying $22,950 per year in tuition under the false promise of, among other things, academic freedom.
Accordingly, I hereby demand a tuition refund in the amount of $23 million. This refund should be distributed to the 1000 members of the College Republicans at Marquette immediately. Since you are the 124,873rd person to receive this letter from me, it is likely that others will be calling upon you (at 414.288.1412) to do the same.
If, for some reason, you refuse to refund the full amount in 30 days, I will ask the CRs to stop engaging in right wing or, as you say, “provocative” tactics, such as the organization of an Adopt a Sniper benefit. Instead, I will urge them to engage in more liberal tactics. Specifically, I will urge the 1000 members to overtake your office with a sit-in, just like the radical leftists did on campuses in the 1960s.
Finally, Dean McCarthy, I apologize if the title of my letter suggests a comparison between you and Senator Joe McCarthy. Such a comparison is unfair. Senator McCarthy’s patriotism and love of country were beyond question.
townhall.com/columnists/mikeadams/ma20050211.shtml
Recently, I browsed the Marquette University website www.mu.edu and found the following mission statement:
“Marquette University is a Catholic, Jesuit university dedicated to serving God by serving our students and contributing to the advancement of knowledge. Our mission, therefore, is the search for truth, the discovery and sharing of knowledge, the fostering of personal and professional excellence, the promotion of a life of faith, and the development of leadership expressed in service to others. All this we pursue for the greater glory of God and the common benefit of the human community.”
Below your mission statement, I found other statements, which suggest that you seek to attract students to your university by promising “unfettered pursuit of truth” with a curriculum that expresses your “Catholic identity.” You also speak of the “sponsorship of programs and activities devoted to the cultivation of
our religious character, our ecumenical outlook, and our support of Catholic beliefs and values.” Finally, you state that as you “seek the truth about God and the world” you are “firmly committed to academic freedom as the necessary precondition for that search.”In light of those statements, I have a few comments.
On January 31st, the College Republicans (CRs) accused you of violating your supposed commitment to academic freedom by suspending an approved “Support our Troops” table set up to benefit Adopt a Sniper, which, as you know, is an organization helping our troops in the Middle East. The CRs have accused you of confiscating signs and other materials they intended to use for the benefit.
I placed two calls to your administration in the last week seeking verification of these accusations. No one seems to take my calls seriously.
You have been quoted, Dean McCarthy, as saying that the CR benefit does not “comport to the University’s mission.” Your communications office (414.288.7445) has issued an official statement accusing the CRs of “having a cavalier attitude toward the taking of a human life.”
I found the university’s official statement to be interesting since your own library refers to Planned Parenthood as “an excellent resource for information on women’s health and global reproduction issues.” Furthermore, Marquette’s Association of English Graduate Students (marquette.edu/aegs/) is allowed to promote Planned Parenthood on your website. Could it be argued that Planned Parenthood has “a cavalier attitude toward the taking of a human life?”
I also noticed that there will be a Gay and Straight Alliance (marquette.edu/um/pastoral/glb/) “rose sale” on Valentine’s Day at Marquette University. Does that sale “comport” with the university’s mission of promoting a “Catholic identity?”
You have, according to my research, at least two gay organizations on campus. Both organizations seem to enjoy “unfettered pursuit of truth” at Marquette. They are allowed freedom of speech on your website and freedom of association on your campus. Although, as a private school, you are not bound by the First Amendment, you seem to grant these organizations certain rights voluntarily, in the name of academic freedom.
So, how are we to resolve the university’s position that, a) pro-abortion speech is permissible, b) pro-gay speech is permissible, and c) pro-war speech is impermissible?
The answer is simple: Marquette University is not committed to serving God or the Catholic Church. It is committed to advancing the policies of the Democratic Party.
Clearly, the true purpose of your university has not been revealed to potential students at Marquette. Instead, they have been fraudulently induced into paying $22,950 per year in tuition under the false promise of, among other things, academic freedom.
Accordingly, I hereby demand a tuition refund in the amount of $23 million. This refund should be distributed to the 1000 members of the College Republicans at Marquette immediately. Since you are the 124,873rd person to receive this letter from me, it is likely that others will be calling upon you (at 414.288.1412) to do the same.
If, for some reason, you refuse to refund the full amount in 30 days, I will ask the CRs to stop engaging in right wing or, as you say, “provocative” tactics, such as the organization of an Adopt a Sniper benefit. Instead, I will urge them to engage in more liberal tactics. Specifically, I will urge the 1000 members to overtake your office with a sit-in, just like the radical leftists did on campuses in the 1960s.
Finally, Dean McCarthy, I apologize if the title of my letter suggests a comparison between you and Senator Joe McCarthy. Such a comparison is unfair. Senator McCarthy’s patriotism and love of country were beyond question.
townhall.com/columnists/mikeadams/ma20050211.shtml