Today I penned this e-mail to UMN's president Robert Bruininks (Bruin001@umn.edu), and encourage all of you to follow suit:
Dr. Bruininks,
It has come to my attention that the Catholic League has demanded that one of your professors, Dr. PZ Myers, be fired over his frank appraisal of their practices. It is my opinion, and the shared opinion of the more than 300 students in organizations I lead here at Missouri State University, that this would be highly unfair.
Academia is one of the last bastions of scrutiny and skepticism we have left, and its reliance on academic honesty and accountability are paramount. No claim can be sacred in the Ivory Tower - and especially not in regards to what professors do with their personal lives. The idea that Dr. Myers should lose his job over maintaining those standards, even when he is not bound to acting as a representative of your university, is so preposterous as to be offensive.
Your university must surely be proud to have a professor like Myers, who utilizes so much of his undoubtedly limited free time being a player in changing the world, and for you to lose him over those offended at his criticism would be more than a travesty.
Thank you for taking the time.
JT Eberhard
It has come to my attention that the Catholic League has demanded that one of your professors, Dr. PZ Myers, be fired over his frank appraisal of their practices. It is my opinion, and the shared opinion of the more than 300 students in organizations I lead here at Missouri State University, that this would be highly unfair.
Academia is one of the last bastions of scrutiny and skepticism we have left, and its reliance on academic honesty and accountability are paramount. No claim can be sacred in the Ivory Tower - and especially not in regards to what professors do with their personal lives. The idea that Dr. Myers should lose his job over maintaining those standards, even when he is not bound to acting as a representative of your university, is so preposterous as to be offensive.
Your university must surely be proud to have a professor like Myers, who utilizes so much of his undoubtedly limited free time being a player in changing the world, and for you to lose him over those offended at his criticism would be more than a travesty.
Thank you for taking the time.
JT Eberhard
1 comment:
Well I went and sent my letters off. You also might consider sending letters to President John Hitt of UCF(jhitt@mail.ucf.edu) in defense of Mr. Cook.
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