If you've never heard of Campusreform.org, you may think it's an advocacy group for students to help make their lives easier while earning a college degree. You'd be completely misled, however, because Campusreform.org takes its cues from far right extremist groups. Their mission statement includes:
Campus Reform, a project of the Leadership Institute, is America's leading site for college news.As a watchdog to the nation's higher education system, Campus Reform exposes bias and abuse on the nation's college campuses.
Our team of professional journalists works alongside student activists and student journalists to report on the conduct and misconduct of university administrators, faculty, and students.
Campus Reform holds itself to rigorous journalism standards and strives to present each story with accuracy, objectivity, and public accountability.
It sounds innocuous enough, except if you consider who the parent group of this organization is: The Leadership Institute. It reads as a who's who in the Republican science-denial realm when you look at some of its previous members. They include Mitch McConnell, Ralph Reed, Karl Rove, Grover Norquist and Mr. "You Lie" Joe Wilson. Rude Pundit explains more about the Leadership Institute here.
Now I'll get to my point. Our favorite catty Fox News 'personality,' Tucker Carlson interviewed a student at the University of Wisconsin, Whitewater regarding an assignment issued by a professor at UWW.
A University of Wisconsin-Whitewater professor offered her students extra credit for attending a rally in protest of Gov. Scott Walker's proposed budget cuts to the state's university system.
English professor Beth Lueck sent a memo Wednesday to her students that read, "UWW students have organized a non-partisan rally with students, faculty and community members on the UW-Whitewater campus against Gov. Walker's proposed $300 million cut to the UW system ... You may get extra credit by joining the rally or by observing it or by protesting it."
Gabriella Morrongiello, campus correspondent for CampusReform.org, noted on "Fox and Friends Weekend" this morning that Lueck has unsuccessfully tried to run for Senate twice as a Democrat. (heaven forbid!)
"When professors and administrators like this reward political activity that benefits one party, it's a gross abuse of their power, and it violates the university's responsibility to promote and accept all views and perspectives," Morrongiello said.
To make sure he appropriately demonized tenured professors, Tucker asks Gabriella if this professor has tenure. She replied with a lukewarm, "I imagine that she does." She then makes a note that with the Presidential campaign heating up, we need more diversity on campus. Not ethnic diversity, political diversity which includes pro-education Democrats and Green Party members while the other "side" consists of those who represent the plutocrats and corporatists who do their bidding. She says,
"let the Leadership Institute's CampusReform.org know, so that we can hold professors like this accountable."
This is absolutely an attempt to create a "both sides do it" issue out of one corrupt governor's kowtowing to giant, pollution-laden industries. This is not students with one viewpoint against students with another. This case is clearly students versus billionaires, and the billionaires want to make money off setting the agenda of higher learning facilities.
The CampusReform.org fascist-in-training was upset that other students criticized Governor Walker's cuts and called them Neanderthals. To this malarkey, Tucker Carlson replied,
"It's one thing for kids to get attacked by other kids on campus, fine, whatever, they can deal with it. But for a professor, paid for by the state to espouse and then give credit for students taking a certain political position is over the top."
No Tucker, what's over the top is a governor who has kissed the ring of royal Kochdom and decides to destroy a public education system that has been very highly regarded. It may also be because
He might be nursing a grudge from his own school days at Marquette University, where he got booted for cheating. It might be because he was a lousy student. It might be because he is sore at people like Professor William Cronon, who wrote an illuminating story on ALEC and the influence it had on Republicans. Or maybe it's just Walker following the orders of his corporate overlords.
I think we know why he's been so destructive to higher learning. What amazes me is that students who are trying to obtain a good education are falling for the idea that less money spent on their education which costs them a pretty penny is actually good for them. The mind marvels at the deception of the G.O.P. and CampusReform.org.
