Here’s the response I got from the University.
Dear Nick:
Thank you for contacting me regarding the staging of an upcoming
theater production at the University of Minnesota. I can understand
your concern regarding its content; however, it is not true that the
University of Minnesota is anti-Catholic nor is it the case that the
views allegedly espoused in this play reflect those of our
institution as a whole.
The University of Minnesota is a research university dedicated to the
pursuit of knowledge and understanding, and one of the hallmarks of
that work is academic freedom. That freedom extends to the ability of
faculty, staff and students to present works of art, music or
scholarship from a variety of viewpoints-including those that are
controversial.
This institution has long championed academic freedom as supported by
our Board of Regents policy. Academic freedom is described in the
policies that guide the University’s work as adopted by our governing
board of regents in 1938, 1963, 1971, and 1995.
Like its peer institutions, the University of Minnesota hosts
hundreds of conferences, concerts, theatre events, lectures, and
workshops each year. These occasions bring to campus speakers,
scholars, artists, politicians, and public figures that represent a
broad and diverse range of opinions. Within that wide range of
viewpoints, we will always find those with which we agree as well
those with which we differ vehemently.
I appreciate your taking the time to share your views on this issue.
I hope that this matter will not keep you from supporting the work of
this country’s great research universities, which are both places of
great intellectual diversity and major contributors to the United
States’ ability to compete in an increasingly knowledge-based world
economy.
Sincerely,
Robert H. Bruininks
Talk about beating around the bush. This guy is just goading me and will continue to do so.
President
