Thursday, April 10, 2008

St Thomas Bans Black, Pro-Life Speaker - Welcomes Transgender Speaker and Al Franken

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Catholic university to black, pro-life speaker: You’re not Welcomed!

…but we’ll make room for Al Franken and transgender speakers

Star Parker

Herndon, VA – Liberal administrators at the University of St. Thomas, a Catholic university and private college in Minnesota, censored the appearance of prominent pro-life and black speaker Star Parker. On April 21, 2008, Star—the best-selling author of numerous books—was slated to speak on campus about the devastating impact abortion has on minority communities. UST Vice President of Student Affairs Jane Canney nixed the idea entirely, citing “concerns” that the lecture was being underwritten by Young America’s Foundation.

Katie Kieffer, a 2005 alumna of St. Thomas and founder of the independent conservative newspaper on campus, the St. Thomas Standard, as well as the non-profit Conservative Student News Inc., was an organizer of the Star Parker lecture. She confronted Canney on her refusal to allow Star on campus. “Our Catholic university has hosted two decidedly liberal speakers in the past year, Al Franken and Debra Davis, an outspoken transgender woman,” Kieffer wrote in the St. Thomas Standard.

Why, then, won’t St. Thomas welcome Star Parker—a pro-life, Christian speaker?

Jane Canney told Katie and her sister, Amie Kieffer, a senior at St. Thomas and editor of the St. Thomas Standard, “As long as I am a vice president at St. Thomas, the Young America’s Foundation will not be allowed on campus.” Canney didn’t return the Foundation’s phone calls seeking comment. The Student Life Committee, on which Jane Canney resides, denied the Students for Human Life and the St. Thomas Standard a room on campus for Star Parker’s lecture. The young conservatives only needed a room and advertising space to host Parker, as Young America’s Foundation and Conservative Student News Inc. were covering all other costs.

Canney’s hostility toward Young America’s Foundation originated when the Foundation sponsored Ann Coulter at St. Thomas two years ago—an event attracting more than 750 students. Canney claimed she felt “uncomfortable” and “disturbed” while listening to Coulter, adding that she will never allow another Foundation-sponsored speaker on campus again.

Campus liberals are unaccustomed to hearing conservative ideas in their echo chambers, so it’s not uncommon for them to become discomforted when hearing alternative opinions.

“Canney should not deprive students the right to hear Star Parker’s ideas,” said Jason Mattera, the spokesman for Young America’s Foundation. “Such guilt-by-association is unbecoming of a college administrator.”

“Just because some students and some administrators claimed to have been offended by what one conservative speaker says doesn’t mean you cut off the entire campus population from hearing conservatives viewpoints,” Mattera continued.

“It’s startling that a school named after one of the greatest thinkers in civilization is displaying such anti-intellectualism. Let’s treat college students like the adults they are—allow them to hear a variety of speakers and form their own conclusions.”

Young America’s Foundation sponsors more than 500 lectures annually featuring a wide array of the very best in the Conservative Movement, including John Ashcroft, Michelle Malkin, Dinesh D’Souza, Sean Hannity, Bay Buchanan, Ann Coulter, and many others.

Liberals speakers at St. Thomas receive full support from the school’s administration. Just this past year Canney’s Student Life Committee approved the appearances of Al Franken, the bombastic liberal commentator, and Debra Davis, a transgendered activist.

Katie Kieffer called Canney out on her duplicity: “As an alumna of St. Thomas, I am embarrassed that the vice president of Student Affairs, Jane Canney, makes key decisions based on impulse and feelings. I am embarrassed that a vice president at this Catholic institution is making it virtually impossible for conservatives to bring conservative speakers to campus. For a person in charge of Campus Life on a Catholic campus, she is closed to our efforts to present conservative and Catholic pro-life values.”

Jane Canney is violating the school’s speaker policy to boot. The policy states that decisions to invite speakers are governed by “fairness and equity toward various conflicting views and interests, being mindful of the needs for wider information on the part of students and the larger community…Another factor governing speakers on campus is our concern that a wide variety of issues and viewpoints be given expression.”

She’s also violating her school’s expressed convictions, including “intellectual inquiry,” “faith and reason,” “the pursuit of truth,” “diversity,” and “meaningful dialogue.”

“Star Parker is enthusiastic about educating young people about abortion’s demoralizing effects, ideas which are in complete alignment with St. Thomas’ stated positions and Catholic teachings. Based on her behavior, Jane Canney seems unduly hostile toward conservative values,” says Kieffer. “St. Thomas’ commitment to diversity and intellectual inquiry appears to be threadbare at best.”

It’s not the first time St. Thomas featured an unhinged administrator. On April 18, 2005, the university’s president, Father Dennis Dease, accused Ann Coulter of “vulgarizing” his campus even though Father Dease wasn’t present for the lecture and failed to enumerate any of Coulter’s “offensive” remarks. Father Dease’s ire should’ve been directed at the leftist hecklers who interrupted Coulter’s speech by yelling expletives at her. Jane Canney and Father Dease can be contacted at jwcanney@stthomas.edu and djdease@stthomas.edu. Young America's Foundation

Tip O' the Hat to Closed Cafeteria

8 comments:

Fr. Andrew said...

!Oye! Not sure what else to say about my UST.

Anonymous said...

That would seem to be a good subject for a Katherine Kersten column.

swissmiss said...

I wonder if I can get Vincenzo to photo shop my degree to change the name from UST to U of M or something along those lines. UST just keeps stepping in it lately.

Anonymous said...

My daughter is 1st in her class of over 400 high school students. She will have her choice of schools when she graduates. UST will not be on her short list. I will make sure that she chooses an authentically Catholic institution if possible. If she rejects those schools I would rather have her at a secular school than one like UST! They are loosing the best and brightest

The Ironic Catholic said...

I wonder--did the admin say no speakers from this organization because of the Ann Coulter mess there before? I have to agree, I think Ann Coulter is an embarrassment to her causes, and borders-- if not steps over the line-- on hate speech. UST: Once burned, twice shy?

Unfortunate, because this woman sounds like an interesting speaker for sure.

Fr Andrew, I wonder if we know each other. I used to teach at UST from 1996-2001.

Fr. Andrew said...

Ironic- I would have been their f00-s02. I was pulling double duty- finishing up my chem while working seminary required philosophy.

It was a brief encounter with 2115 Summit.

Anonymous said...

I wonder if Kersten reads your blog?

http://www.startribune.com/local/17648494.html

Anonymous said...

Since UST has been taken away from the diocese, I wish there was some way for them to start a small Catholic university similar to Thomas Aquinas College in California.

I realize there is little money to pursue such a venture, but I think that is model for rebuilding the Catholic university system in the U.S.