CIA Conspiracy Theorist at the MLA

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During the question and answer portion of one of the many panels at the 2015 Modern Language Association convention in Vancouver, Canada, one professor claimed he was being politically persecuted. David Anshen, who works at Texas Pan American University as an associate professor in English, said, “I believe I’m being politically persecuted, but I cannot prove it.”

He claimed that a book that he helped co-author, which talked about how the CIA has infiltrated college campuses, put him in a black book of sorts with the state of Texas and it’s the school’s provost. The book, entitled, The CIA on Campus: Essays on Academic Freedom and the National Security State, apparently ruffled feathers in Texas.

Anshen explained that he “decided to write an essay for this book as an outgrowth of my opposition to the merging of universities with the intelligence and military apparatus of the U.S. government.” He continued, “I feel a moral and intellectual responsibility to oppose organizations and agencies that daily violate the rights of humans worldwide including, at times, in the United States.”

Anshen added, “Many well-intentioned individuals disagree that we should have a CIA/ODNI free campus…One argument is these agencies have just made mistakes that can and should be corrected. My essay intends to persuade readers these leopards cannot change their spots.”

He also wants a wall-free border. “This wall is part of the efforts by politicians from both the Democratic and the Republican parties to deepen the divisions among working people,” he said at a rally against the barrier. “In answer to them, as we have in May Day rallies across the country the last three years, we join with thousands of working people demanding: Legalization for all! Stop the raids and deportations! End Social Security ‘No-Match’ letters!”