Educational Freedom
Taking a step back it seems like Ward Churchill and Lawrence H. Summers are going through the same thing. They are both being roasted over things they have said. If you are an educator should you be able to say something that is unpopular. Can you take unpopular stance.
The interesting thing to me is how they are each being roasted from a different direction. Since Churchill's comments are about September 11, he is getting it from the right. Since Summer's comments are about women and engineering he is getting it from the educational establishment. Should they have the freedom to state these beliefs without losing their jobs.
You can try to make a case that the statements are really different from each other because who they were said about, but I think that misses the point. The difference between these two that is important to me is that Summer is part of the administration at his school. That might hold him to a different standard then a professor.
The interesting thing to me is how they are each being roasted from a different direction. Since Churchill's comments are about September 11, he is getting it from the right. Since Summer's comments are about women and engineering he is getting it from the educational establishment. Should they have the freedom to state these beliefs without losing their jobs.
You can try to make a case that the statements are really different from each other because who they were said about, but I think that misses the point. The difference between these two that is important to me is that Summer is part of the administration at his school. That might hold him to a different standard then a professor.
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