Wednesday, February 23, 2005

An old wound re-opens 

A few days ago a senior faculty member sent an open letter to President Saigo to the university's discussion list, indicating broken agreements surrounding the break-up of the former Applied Psychology program. At his request, I have uploaded the letter here. Please understand that this is his writing; however, a bit of background would help.

When I was interviewed by Doug Williams at Bogus Gold last weekend, I mentioned that the initial concept of SCSU Scholars was to be an internal mechanism for conservatives and other victims of the social justice McCarthyism that pervades this campus to communicate freely with each other and with alums, trustees and the public at large. This blog has become something different over time, mostly as a response to the pull of readership and to a smaller extent because I was doing all the writing and was not content to just write about that.

The impetus for this blog dates back to the row on campus over a series of letters published by a black graduate student who vented about racism in the APSY program. The fallout exposed a deep schism in the program which led to a split, which only one side wanted. The letter below tells the story in more detail. But I should point out that the story was already documented on a separate site by the side of the debate that is represented in this letter. I should disclose that I designed and installed the site for those faculty back in 1999 and 2000. The materials were collected from a variety of affected faculty and from web sources. You are invited to investigate that site if you wish to learn more.

Ironically, when this letter appeared, our friend Miss Median appeared, hoping that it would not make it into the press. To her, "sunlight is not the best disinfectant". That, and the author's request, are what lead me to post it. The university, in its usual fashion, has not responded to the letter.

I have no independent information, though, about this situation and cannot verify independently its claims. People seeking more information should contact him and not me. I am simply honoring a request from some old friends who have been through an ordeal professionally. I will also extend the courtesy shown here to other affected faculty.

Here then is the letter.

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