Florida State Fantasia

Students constantly hear the conservative outcry against liberal professors in universities. “Why don’t they just teach the subject? Why are they trying to indoctrinate students with their ideological beliefs?” These are questions routinely asked by conservatives, who are concerned with what students are facing in college. However, after 3 years at Florida State University I had never encountered the typical liberal professor—not the ones you read about or see on television. I knew they existed; Ward Churchill and Jay Bennish were evidence to that fact.

Sure, I had professors that were obviously liberal, and would make comments such as, “Jimmy Carter was a great diplomat…and still is,” but they were always receptive when I challenged, “Wasn’t it under his watch that 63 Americans were taken hostage in Iran? Why wasn’t he able to use diplomacy to negotiate a release?” Generally, those professors would acknowledge my point, and the class would continue. It wasn’t until I enrolled in an Islam course, and met Professor Vincent Biondo, that I understood exactly whom conservatives were directing their complaints against.

His teaching style was unique; if a student asked him a question he’d simply respond, “Great question,” and move on without providing an answer. In the beginning his comments were innocent enough; he’d make wild allegations such as, “Islam was responsible for the European Renaissance,” or, “Muslims invented the light bulb,” an accomplishment generally credited to either Joseph Wilson Swan or Thomas Edison. These comments didn’t offend me, and I typically rolled my eyes and laughed them away.

However, as the course continued it became clear that we were only learning one side of Islam. He never taught the dominance that Muslim men exert over Muslim women, or that in some Muslim nations converting to Christianity is punishable by death. He defined Islam as an entirely peaceful religion, and when violence occurred it was the fault of the ethnocentric West. Prof. Biondo became an apologist for Muslims; he excused Muslims that rioted, burning down businesses and firing at law enforcement, in Paris that October. When a Muslim man living in America was arrested for child molestation, Prof. Biondo equivocated, “That’s part of the Muslim culture.”

More recently, he defended Muslims that rioted and vandalized over cartoon depictions of Mohammed, explaining nonchalantly, “My students [said], it seems like Muslims are intolerant and Christians are tolerant. I’m not sure that’s exactly accurate. If Jesus or the Pope were portrayed as a murderer or pedophile, I think some people would object to that;” as if fire-bombing embassies and murdering film directors is a simple “objection” to offensive art.

It wasn’t until the last week of class that I felt compelled to challenge him on some of his statements. The first incident was when he equated Guantanamo Bay Naval Station to a concentration camp. I was shocked, stunned, and simply too surprised to say anything. I leaned over to a peer and whispered, “Did he just call Guantanamo a concentration camp?” In retrospect, I wish I would have raised my hand, and asked, “How do you think the Jewish community would feel about that comparison?” Of course, there is no comparison, as there are no firing squads, no gas chambers, and no rape rooms at Guantanamo, and Muslims detained there are provided with Korans and allowed to practice their religion.

The second incident occurred only days later when he informed the class that in England, “The schools forced Muslim children to participate in Christian prayer.” Now, this simply did not ring true. England is much more secular than the United States, and this country won’t even allow voluntary prayer in schools. So, my hand shot up; I had to follow up on this.

I began to ask questions: “What happened to the teacher? What did the child do? What did the families do?” Nearly 7 minutes after I began my interrogation, Prof. Biondo finally relented, “Well, it wasn’t really prayer…it was a moment of silence for someone that had just died.” There was a collective noise of realization, as the class understood that Prof. Biondo had just lied about the events he referenced. A moment of silence is not prayer—it’s not Christian, Islamic, or Jewish—but a universal sign of respect.

Needless to say, I chose a poor week to challenge my professor; final exams were soon and I feared my grade would suffer. My fears were confirmed after I received my score for the course, but it was a learning experience, and those marks didn’t prevent me from making the Dean’s List that semester or graduating Magna Cum Laude.

Vincent Biondo no longer teaches at Florida State University, in fact he informed our class that FSU had decided to release him the next summer, and all attempts to contact him were proven fruitless. Still, now I know why older conservatives denounce liberal professors that provide slanted insight. If a conservative student decides to confront a partisan professor, then that student could suffer serious consequences. Some universities protect these professors while showing total disregard for the students. Then to now, the question remains the same: Why don’t the professors just teach the subject?

Matthew Hickman is an intern at Accuracy in Media, Accuracy in Academia’s parent group.