The governor of Texas, a candidate for the Republican presidential nomination, got a first-hand taste of what college life is like for conservative students on a foray into an Ames, Iowa coffee shop. “You know a candidate is having an interesting day on the trail when he starts out in an evangelical megachurch, testifying to his faith, and ends up in a college-town coffee shop being yelled at by a professor of Queer Studies,” Washington Examiner columnist Byron York reported in a column datelined Waukee, Iowa. “For Rick Perry, that was Sunday in Iowa.”
What angered the professor was a recent television ad Perry approved in which the candidate said, “You don’t need to be in the pew every Sunday to know there’s something wrong in this country when gays can serve openly in the military but our kids can’t openly celebrate Christmas or pray in school.”
“The implication was that if you are gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgendered, you’re not a real American,” Warren Blumenfeld, an Iowa State professor who was the first to yell at Perry, told York. “He is promoting mono-culturalism in the most offensive way possible.”
It is neither the first time Perry has angered the academic Left nor the first time in which Professor Blumenfeld has lashed out an evangelical Christian. The difference is, as the above example indicates, Perry’s critics have no shortage of opportunities to make their differences with him known.
Meanwhile, when Blumenfeld gets a captive audience in a classroom, students who disagree with him have but one chance to say so—in anonymous reviews posted on Rate My Professors.com.
Apparently, the reviews seem to show, even an Education course in curriculum & instruction can become a queer studies class:
- “Wonderful person,” wrote one student who seemed to be thinking out loud while writing his review. “Many assignments. Very offended by a grad. student who came in to share his opinion to our class about ‘stupid republicans’. Very disappointed. As a Christian, felt very persecuted in class overall. But wonderful assignments and discussions in class. Enjoyed dialogue. Not a necessary class to be a great teacher. Tax dollars wasted.”
- “He choose to discuss his own personal trials and tribulations of being a Homosexual, Jewish male more than what is needed to be good teacher in the classroom,” wrote another student who was much more definite. “For him the classroom is a group therapy session and apparently if you do no agree with his views YOU are WRONG! If you are homosexual and need group therapy this may be the class for you.”
- “Would not listen to the viewpoints of his students and focused too much on certain issues instead of covering all the issues that we will face as teachers.”
- “This class was an absoloute waste of time and all we talked about was LGBT issues like they were the only issues brought up in the classroom,” yet another reviewer alleged. “When you disagreed with him, he would not appreciate your opinion. And be ready to hear is opinion ALL THE TIME!!!!”
Professors, as you might guess, deride the RMPs but there is a growing body of evidence that they are fairly accurate.
Malcolm A. Kline is the Executive Director of Accuracy in Academia.
If you would like to comment on this article, e-mail mal.kline@academia.org
