Black Hawk Down

A sociology professor at Black Hawk College in Moline, Illinois gets rave reviews from students but underclassmen with deep religious convictions may want to fulfill that course requirement with someone else.

“Don’t believe everything you have heard,” one of Bruce LeBlanc’s [pictured, photo: Moline Dispatch] admiring students advised on ratemyprofessor.com while admitting, “His style is different.”

And what might you have heard? And how different is his style?

The Catholic League for Religious and Civil Liberties reports that LeBlanc, “a former Catholic priest and admitted homosexual,” “was known for his practice of graphically describing homosexual acts in the classroom and for his habit of mocking Christian beliefs.”

LeBlanc got some press attention when a student complained of his writing “F*** God” on the blackboard during class. The aftermath of that lecture speaks volumes about the ethos of Black Hawk College.

“After an advisory committee said he violated the school’s harassment policy, the faculty of the college defended LeBlanc on free speech grounds,” according to the Catholic League recap. “Though LeBlanc was not penalized in any way, the fact that the committee recommended he apologize to the offended student led him to challenge the decision through the school’s collective bargaining agreement.”

LeBlanc was the point of contact for the undergraduate paper competition at the Illinois Sociological Association annual convention in 2003. Currently, Black Hawk College lists LeBlanc on its speakers’ bureau on the following topics:

AIDS: The Current Facts
This presentation is geared to answer questions about the evolutions and changing knowledge about HIV and AIDS. It takes the audience from where they are to a more complete understanding of the virus, disease and pandemic.

All ages, presentation length flexible

AIDS: Reducing the Risks
A presentation that explores the continuum of safe to safer risk reduction strategies with the outcome to reduce or eliminate the participants’ risk of infection.

All ages, presentation length flexible

Sex and Aging
A presentation directed at promoting an understanding about sexuality and the aging process. Goals include educating older individuals about sexuality in their advancing years, as well as educating middle aged individuals about what changes they may encounter, and what they can do about them in the future.

Adults, presentation length flexible

Let’s Talk About Sex!
This presentation provides a forum for parents to learn about and explore the needed reality of talking to their children about human sexuality. Presentations are geared to parents of children of various ages. Parents will learn about normal human sexual exploration for various age groups.

Adults, presentation length flexible

The sociologist’s favorite themes are pretty easily discernible. You should think twice about booking LeBlanc for a church lecture series.