Feminist fascism at Canadian university

Fortunately, this bit of insanity is being seen for what it is outside of the hallowed distopian halls of Queen's University.

The following is an editorial from one of Canada's major national newspapers, the "Globe and Mail":

=====================

Globe editorial
Education by surveillance

From Thursday's Globe and Mail
November 20, 2008 at 4:55 AM EST

Queen's University in Kingston is so troubled by the expression of incorrect thought among its students that it has created a band of "student facilitators" to roam university residences and dining halls and stamp it out. These facilitators - spies, more like - will listen for offensive comments on race, gender and sexuality, and on behalf of officialdom take umbrage. The nanny state has hired the KGB.

Who thought this could work? Surely not someone who has ever been inside a university residence. Only someone bent on the perfectibility of humankind, a Soviet idea that sounds nice but led to the Gulag. Imagine these official facilitators for a moment. Queen's says they have been trained not only in "social-justice theory and practice" but in "community standards" and "alcohol issues." Perhaps they will talk to other students about their drinking, or their sexual behaviour. ("Sir, you are quite depraved, at least by the standards of our community." "Perhaps I should move to a different community?") Against such official intrusions into the private sphere, anarchy seems the most sensible response.

Queen's, which is not wet behind the ears, having been given its royal charter in 1841 by Queen Victoria, boasted of its commitment to "inclusivity" in its official organ, the Queen's Gazette: "The best universities make the most of every available teaching moment." Pravda couldn't have said it any better. The suppression and correction of inappropriate thought has become a "teaching moment."

This treatment of young people infantilizes them, and is at odds with the mission of a university. "Certainly a liberal education does manifest itself in a courtesy, propriety, and polish of word and action, which is beautiful in itself, and acceptable to others; but it does much more," wrote John Henry Cardinal Newman in The Idea of a University in the 1850s. "It brings the mind into form - for the mind is like the body." Well, never mind all that. Just send around the thought supervisors. Queen's apparently has little confidence in its mission.

"It's about learning shared humanity," says Arig Girgrah, the Queen's official who is in charge of the spies. No, it's about shovelling officially approved ideas into brains: One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, Queen's student. Queen's is teaching its students the lesson that the authorities don't trust them to make sense of the world on their own.

I think this is beyond ridiculous. Freedom of expression is what democracy is based on. I think those comparisons to Soviet Russia were appropriate. Something tells me this "committee" they have is going to disband eventually, when they hear from enough people that their attempt at censorship goes against the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. I will never understand universities... they have problems with people saying the words 'gay' and 'retarded', but they have no problem with women's studies instructors circulating flyers that claims the worst fate a man can suffer is "not violence", which is both untrue and irrelevant to women's studies. And of course, they also have problems with people parodying said women's studies flyers. Looks like we're all one step closer to 1984.

Evan AKA X-TRNL
Real Men Don't Take Abuse!

An army of feminarcs. Wow, I'm glad I graduated from college before it got too bad.

I'm sure it's still okay for women to go around male-bashing freely, of course.

Queen's University is known as the "women's university". Only one month after a coroner's inquest found that Jordan Heikamp’s starvation death in Anduhyaun shelter for women was a homicide, the shelter’s director, Cartherine Brooks received an honorary degree from Queen's University (Kingston, Ontario). Jordan died when he was only five weeks old in June, 1997 in spite that he had been frequently been seen by nurses, social workers and workers at Anduhyaun, under the supervision of Ms. Brooks who admitted that she told the investigating officers that "the person who is probably most guilty in this death of this child" was the infant's absent father. She later said she acted because the shelter's role, "was to support the client [the mother]. That's what we do."

Ms. Brooks was recognized for her commitment to developing programs geared toward stopping violence against women, the need for early childhood education and promoting healing through crisis intervention. "People have to look beyond the recent news coverage to see the long-term contributions Catherine Brooks has made to women, and in particular, aboriginal women. She's done tremendous work for women in need of shelter" Queen's University principal, Bill Leggett, said. [source: The National Post, May 8, 2001 "Queen's to honour head of shelter where baby died Jordan Heikamp starved"] Queen’s reputation as the “women’s university” is well earned. Blame the man and you get an honorary degree. Elementary, nicht Wahr?

In stark contrast a shelter worker in British Columbia, who in 1998 reported her suspicion that a nine year old girl was being abused by her mother in a shelter that received $300,000 a year in government assistance, was forced to resign. [Source: The National Post, Nov. 16, 1999: "Shelter in a storm: Sandra Cliffe thought she was doing her job as a women's shelter worker when she reported a suspected child abuser. Her co-workers disagreed" by Donna Laframboise] Donna has also lost her job since then.

avoid the problem and don't go there.

oregon dad