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Politics

FSU Faculty and Students Demonstrate Lack of Tolerance and Civility

September 23, 2014 - 6:00pm

I watched today as the Florida State University board of trustees took testimony from interested faculty and students on who should be selected as the next president of the university.

It was an interesting spectacle. Most faculty and students took turns propagating lies, half-truths and distortions about Sen. John Thrasher.

Thankfully, the thoughtful people in the room -- the trustees -- sat silently by and watched the parade of horribles displayed for all to see.

Many predicted that the reputation of FSU will suffer.

I absolutely agree.

But it was the comments from the faculty and students that were embarrassing.

Look, nobody was going to deny anyone the chance to have his say.Yet, when given the opportunity, the worst in most people was displayed.

One student went so far as to threaten that if Sen. Thrasher becomes president, we will make John Thrashers life here at Florida State a living hell.

The student body president, who by virtue of that position sits on the board, even remarked that he hoped Sen. Thrasher would step down by 5 p.m. on Wednesday from his position as chair of Gov. Rick Scotts campaign.

Now, I thought that part of the purpose of higher education was to instill students with the values and skills of critical thinking, a willingness to listen to divergent views and to respect civil discourse.

Obviously, I was mistaken.

Because it doesnt sound for one minute like any of these students have learned any of the above-cited qualities.

And worse were the demonstrably poor examples that many of the Ivory Tower professors displayed for their students.One faculty member even criticized Sen. Thrasher for the way he responded to students heckling him, as if that professor would allow that to happen in his own classroom.

Who are we kidding here?

This exercise in threats, innuendo, outright falsehoods and repeated references to the Koch brothers is nothing more than the literal brainwashing of students by far left professors who despise everything about conservatives.

With so many professors teaching students the far left agenda, no wonder our country is becoming more polarized. Students are being allowed -- perhaps even encouraged -- to be rude and nasty in public.

Mind you, not in their professors classrooms. That wouldnt be tolerated for one minute.

Its as if, if the professors instructed their students to jump off a cliff, the student lemmings would happily oblige.

If this is what theyre teaching in college these days, no wonder many of us are so worried about the future.

They teach tolerance for LGBT, for racial equality, for secularism and everything else the left can imagine, but dont for a minute listen to someone who has a different point of view.

And if you do listen, then do everything you can to put him down, dismiss his philosophy and demean his values.

This is one reason Ive become supportive of ridding our colleges and universities of tenure -- not only in public institutions of higher learning but in our public schools, too.

Its not really about teacher competency anymore, its about protecting the teaching of students that the left is always right and the right is always wrong.

Thats the scary part.

Because thats what Big Brother is all about.

That the government knows whats best for all of us.

That business and profit are dirty words.

Well, I suppose thats the way its always going to be and the left is going to continue to teach these principles, because diversity of thought is no longer appreciated.

As for me, I can respect people like former FSU President Sandy DAlemberte who unabashedly stands up and says that hes a liberal.But he also consistently preaches tolerance, integrity and looking deeper than the superficial.

I can respect him, though I dont always agree with him, because he has principles and he refuses to succumb to popular will.

Now, thats a real leader.

The faculty was also steadfastly against him when he was nominated.And yet he turned out to be a damn fine president one of the very best!

I hope our institutions of higher learning will produce more DAlembertes and fewer of the kind that forced the trustees at the conclusion of their meeting to retreat because the students started hollering and protesting.

The reputation of FSU damaged?

Yeah, by the faculty and students.

Barney Bishop III, one of the most familiar faces within the state business community, is CEO of Barney Bishop Consulting LLC in Tallahassee.

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