[JorgiOLusinio]

I wonder how many of the university's alumni are veterans.

I wonder if the university returns their checks if they donate?

If not, what a bunch of hypocrites.

Matt

[UTHZzJ6f]

The University of Washington's student senate rejected a memorial for alumnus Gregory "Pappy" Boyington of "Black Sheep Squadron" fame amid concerns a military hero who shot down enemy planes was not the right kind of person to represent the school.

Student senator Jill Edwards, according to minutes of the student government's meeting last week, said she "didn't believe a member of the Marine Corps was an example of the sort of person UW wanted to produce."

Emphasis mine.

Note that she is not saying that they should not build a monument-- say, to save money-- or that there is a better person to honor, or even that there are better places to honor our war heroes. She is not even rejecting him on the basis of his decidedly unheroic personal problems.

She is saying that an officer of the Marine Corps-- any officer-- is not someone that the University should be proud of, and not the sort of career that University alumni should pursue.

She may be only one voice-- but she is an elected voice, and she had enough support for her decision to be passed. And hers is not the only voice I have heard with these same broken ideals.

To think that I had applied there when I graduated high school.

[happyman]

The problem isn't whether or not they should be allowed to reject this memorial. I think it's rather obvious that they should be allowed to do so, because it is their school.

The problem is that they want to, and why they want to. Our problem, as a society, is to figure out why our youth are developing such perverse values that they are willing to dismiss and disregard American heroes-- men and women who fought to protect their freedom-- and reject so thoroughly the notion of defending this nation.

These students are dishonoring an American hero, but stopping them from doing so would dishonor what that hero fought for. We need to find out what's causing this and fix that.

I agree wholeheartedly with this.

[reaciciomarep]

One (neutral) question from a non- american : How are they dishonouring him, because they argue that there are more appropriate places to honour war soldiers than a university ?
And isn´t somebody saying in the article that he should be commended for his service, not because of how many planes he shot down, and how many people he killed ?
As somebody not involved I fail to see the insult.

The decision is a political one. He does not fit the requirements of political correctness; he is not acceptable in the left-wing canon. This is why this is causing a stir. Read the comments of the students. Their tone of contempt and disrespect is one of the reasons why I disagree with this decision. There is no reason why a military hero should be banned from a college campus, and no excuse for disrespect.

I would personally ALSO support the inclusion of a pacifist as well. Universities must foster open minds. Political correctness stifles thought, speech and opinion in favor of a left-wing orthodoxy that decides what is acceptable and what is not.

[adsexpist]

I would personally ALSO support the inclusion of a pacifist as well. Universities must foster open minds. Political correctness stifles thought, speech and opinion in favor of a left-wing orthodoxy that decides what is acceptable and what is not.

This, too, I agree with. The university must be a haven of free thought and free expression-- a "marketplace of ideas" in its truest form. We need well-educated, innovative and critical young men and women who are accustomed to defending and promoting their ideas in the face of opposition-- so that the minds that will inherit this country are the sharpest and most competent minds we can produce.

[hernkingAnank]

This, too, I agree with. The university must be a haven of free thought and free expression-- a "marketplace of ideas" in its truest form. We need well-educated, innovative and critical young men and women who are accustomed to defending and promoting their ideas in the face of opposition-- so that the minds that will inherit this country are the sharpest and most competent minds we can produce.

Precisely. When a university is politicized by either the left or the right, to the point where others are excluded, the freedom to think and to discuss and to argue - and eventually to create - is lost.