Posts: 652
Threads: 104
Joined: Feb 2008
Only one student had the balls to stand up against this? The libtards don't like seeing rams among the sheep.
PhD from Howard? What, Moe Howard?
Quote:Professor Makes Students “Stomp on Jesus”
Todd Starnes
Mar 22, 2013
A [regionally accredited] Florida Atlantic University student said he was suspended from class after he refused a professor’s directive to stomp on a piece of paper with the word “Jesus” written on it.
“I’m not going to be sitting in a class having my religious rights desecrated,” student Ryan Rotela told television station WPEC. “I truly see this as I’m being punished.”
Rotela, who is a devout Mormon, said the instructor in his Intercultural Communications class told the students to write the name “Jesus” on a sheet of paper. Then, they were told to put the paper on the floor.
“He had us all stand up and he said ‘Stomp on it,’” Rotela said. “I picked up the paper from the floor and put it right back on the table.
The young college student told the instructor, Deandre Poole, that the assignment was insulting and offensive.
“I said to the professor, ‘With all due respect to your authority as a professor, I do not believe what you told us to do was appropriate,’” Rotela said. ‘I believe it was unprofessional and I was deeply offended by what you told me to do.’”
Rotela took his concerns to Poole’s supervisor – where he was promptly suspended from the class.
Poole did not return calls seeking comment. According to his university profile, he has a PhD from Howard University and is authoring a book titled, “Obamamania: The Rise of a Mythical Hero.”
A university spokesperson told they could not comment about Rotela’s case due to student privacy laws.
However, the university is defending the instructor’s assignment to stomp on the name of Jesus.
“As with any academic lesson, the exercise was meant to encourage students to view issues from many perspectives, in direct relation with the course objectives,” said Noemi Marin, the university’s director of the school of communication and multimedia studies.
“While at times the topics discussed may be sensitive, a university environment is a venue for such dialogue and debate,” Marin added.
The lesson on bashing the name of Christ is included in a textbook titled, “Intercultural Communication: A Contextual Approach, 5th Edition.”
Fox News obtained a synopsis of the lesson that got Rotela in trouble.
“Have the students write the name JESUS in big letters on a piece of paper,” the lesson reads. “Ask the students to stand up and put the paper on the floor in front of them with the name facing up. Ask the students to think about it for a moment. After a brief period of silence instruct them to step on the paper. Most will hesitate. Ask why they can’t step on the paper. Discuss the importance of symbols in culture.”
Paul Kengor, the executive director of the Center for Vision and Values at Grove City College, told Fox News he’s not surprised by the classroom lesson.
“These are the new secular disciples of ‘diversity’ and ‘tolerance’ – empty buzzwords that make liberals and progressives feel good while they often refuse to tolerate and sometimes even assault traditional Christian and conservative beliefs,” Kengor said.
Kengor said classes like the one at Florida Atlantic University demonstrate the contempt many public institutions hold for people of faith.
“It also reflects the rising confidence and aggression of the new secularists and atheists, especially at our sick and surreal modern universities,” he said.
The university did not explain why students were only instructed to write the name of Jesus – and not the name of Mohammed or another religious figure.
“Gee, I wonder if the instructor would dare do this with the name of Mohammed,” Kengor wondered.
Rotela said the idea of stomping on the name of Jesus was beyond his comprehension.
“Any time you stomp on something it shows you believe that it has no value,” he told the television station. “If you were to stomp on the word Jesus – it says the word has no value.”
Posts: 506
Threads: 95
Joined: Nov 2008
Quote:
Here's a surprise. Vice Chair of the Palm Beach County Democrat Party? Deandre "Cess" Poole!
http://www.pbcdemocraticparty.org/index....mid=765#vc
Posts: 1,845
Threads: 86
Joined: May 2007
03-23-2013, 11:02 PM
(This post was last modified: 03-23-2013, 11:03 PM by ham.)
g-d bless America for that honest war...otherwise, who knows what might have happened to...well, you know...
A.A Mole University
B.A London Institute of Applied Research
B.Sc Millard Fillmore
M.A International Institute for Advanced Studies
Ph.D London Institute of Applied Research
Ph.D Millard Fillmore
Posts: 652
Threads: 104
Joined: Feb 2008
University apologizes, student "not suspended." Gotta love how that Star Trek-like rift in the time/space continuum has a student suspended one day and "never suspended" the next. Don't you get the feeling that FAU is apologizing for getting caught rather than for doing wrong?
Quote:University Apologizes for “Stomping Jesus”
Mar 22, 2013
By Todd Starnes
Florida Atlantic University has issued an apology for a classroom assignment that involving students writing the name “Jesus” on a sheet of paper and then stomping on the paper. The university also said the lesson will never again be used.
“We sincerely apologize for any offense this has caused,” the university said in a statement to Fox News. “Florida Atlantic University respects all religions and welcomes people of all faiths, backgrounds and beliefs.”
The university initially defended the Christ-bashing lesson which is included textbook titled, “Intercultural Communication: A Contextual Approach, 5th Edition.”
Fox News obtained a synopsis of the lesson taught by Deandre Poole, who also happens to be vice chair of the Palm Beach County Democratic Party.
“Have the students write the name JESUS in big letters on a piece of paper,” the lesson reads. “Ask the students to stand up and put the paper on the floor in front of them with the name facing up. Ask the students to think about it for a moment. After a brief period of silence instruct them to step on the paper. Most will hesitate. Ask why they can’t step on the paper. Discuss the importance of symbols in culture.”
Ryan Rotela, a devout Mormon, was in the classroom and refused to participate — telling television station WPEC that the assignment was insulting and offensive.
“He had us all stand up and he said ‘Stomp on it,’” Rotela said. “I picked up the paper from the floor and put it right back on the table. I’m not going to be sitting in a class having my religious rights desecrated.”
Rotela took his concerns to Poole’s supervisor – where he was promptly suspended from the class.
The university denied that anyone was forced to participate.
“Contrary to some media reports, no students were forced to take part in the exercise; the instructor told all of the students in the class that they could choose whether or not to participate,” the university stated.
They also denied that anyone was punished.
“While we do not comment on personnel matters, and while student privacy laws prevent us from commenting on any specific student at the University, we can confirm that no student has been expelled, suspended or disciplined by the University as a result of any activity that took place during this class,” the university stated.
"This exercise will not be used again. The University holds dear its core values. We sincerely apologize for any offense this caused. Florida Atlantic University respects all religions and welcomes people of all faiths, backgrounds and beliefs."
Paul Kengor, the executive director of the Center for Vision and Values at Grove City College, told Fox News he’s not surprised by the classroom lesson.
“These are the new secular disciples of ‘diversity’ and ‘tolerance’ – empty buzzwords that make liberals and progressives feel good while they often refuse to tolerate and sometimes even assault traditional Christian and conservative beliefs,” Kengor said.
Kengor said classes like the one at Florida Atlantic University demonstrate the contempt many public institutions hold for people of faith.
“It also reflects the rising confidence and aggression of the new secularists and atheists, especially at our sick and surreal modern universities,” he said.
The university did not explain why students were only instructed to write the name of Jesus – and not the name of Mohammed or another religious figure.
“Gee, I wonder if the instructor would dare do this with the name of Mohammed,” Kengor wondered.
Rotela said the idea of stomping on the name of Jesus was beyond his comprehension.
“Any time you stomp on something it shows you believe that it has no value,” he told the television station. “If you were to stomp on the word Jesus – it says the word has no value.”
Posts: 1,845
Threads: 86
Joined: May 2007
Am I the only one to find that ghetto look intimidating?
A.A Mole University
B.A London Institute of Applied Research
B.Sc Millard Fillmore
M.A International Institute for Advanced Studies
Ph.D London Institute of Applied Research
Ph.D Millard Fillmore
Posts: 506
Threads: 95
Joined: Nov 2008
(03-24-2013, 07:05 AM)ham Wrote: Am I the only one to find that ghetto look intimidating?
As a wise man once said, the cheaper the crook the gaudier the patter.
Posts: 506
Threads: 95
Joined: Nov 2008
Punishment is on again!
Quote:University Takes Action to Punish Student
Mar 25, 2013
By Todd Starnes
A Florida Atlantic University student who filed a complaint against his professor after he was ordered to stomp on the name of Jesus has been brought up on academic charges by the school and may no longer attend class, according to documents obtained by Fox News.
The “Notice of Charges” against Ryan Rotela is contrary to a statement the university released late Friday night saying no one had been disciplined as a result of the classroom activity.
“We can confirm that no student has been expelled, suspended or disciplined by the university as a result of any activity that took place during this class,” the university said in a prepared statement.
However, according to a letter written by Associate Dean Rozalia Williams, Rotela is facing a litany of charges – including an alleged violation of the student code of conduct, acts of verbal, written or physical abuse, threats, intimidation, harassment, coercion or other conduct which threaten the health, safety or welfare of any person.”
“In the interim, you may not attend class or contact any of the students involved in this matter – verbally or electronically – or by any other means,” Williams wrote to Rotela. “Please be advised that a Student Affairs hold may be placed on your records until final disposition of the complaint.”
Hiram Sasser, director of litigation at the Liberty Institute, told Fox News the university’s behavior is “outlandish” and called their press release “inaccurate.”
“We believe the university punished him in retaliation for him exposing the class assignment to the public,” Sasser said. “Sadly, it is a testimony to the indoctrination that some of the public schools and universities are engaging in – to demonize anything that was valuable in the culture.”
The Liberty Institute wants Rotela reinstated with full credit for the course – along with an apology.
“He’s being punished because he told the professor to never do the assignment again because it’s offensive and that he was going to complain to the university,” he said.
Rotela, a devout Mormon, ran afoul of the university after he refused to participate in a classroom assignment that involved writing the name “Jesus” on a piece of paper – and then stomping on it.
The university initially defended the Christ-bashing lesson which is included textbook titled, “Intercultural Communication: A Contextual Approach, 5th Edition.”
Fox News obtained a synopsis of the lesson taught by Deandre Poole, who also happens to be vice chair of the Palm Beach County Democratic Party.
“Have the students write the name JESUS in big letters on a piece of paper,” the lesson reads. “Ask the students to stand up and put the paper on the floor in front of them with the name facing up. Ask the students to think about it for a moment. After a brief period of silence instruct them to step on the paper. Most will hesitate. Ask why they can’t step on the paper. Discuss the importance of symbols in culture.”
The university issued an apology late Friday after a national uproar and said the exercise “will not be used again.”
Rotela told Fox News he was baffled by the university’s latest statement.
“The university has a huge problem with integrity,” he said. “They are tripping over their own words.”
The “Notice of Charges” accused the student of using threatening language. The school did not return calls seeking clarification. Rotela’s attorney said he believes the perceived threat came when Rotela told the teacher “don’t do that again” – in reference to stomping on the paper. The student also told the instructor, “You’ll be hearing from me.”
Florida Atlantic University also denied that anyone was forced to participate in the assignment.
“Contrary to some media reports, no students were forced to take part in the exercise; the instructor told all of the students in the class that they could choose whether or not to participate,” the university stated.
Sasser said Rotela’s case has generated national outrage and a number of high-profile attorneys have offered to volunteer their services.
“The textbook reveals the agenda,” he said. “So-called intellectual enlightenment is stomping on everything that has held western civilization together for the past 2,000 years.”
Paul Kengor, the executive director of the Center for Vision and Values at Grove City College, told Fox News he’s not surprised by the classroom lesson.
“These are the new secular disciples of ‘diversity’ and ‘tolerance’ – empty buzzwords that make liberals and progressives feel good while they often refuse to tolerate and sometimes even assault traditional Christian and conservative beliefs,” Kengor said.
Kengor said classes like the one at Florida Atlantic University demonstrate the contempt many public institutions hold for people of faith.
“It also reflects the rising confidence and aggression of the new secularists and atheists, especially at our sick and surreal modern universities,” he said.
The university did not explain why students were only instructed to write the name of Jesus – and not the name of Mohammed or another religious figure.
“Gee, I wonder if the instructor would dare do this with the name of Mohammed,” Kengor wondered.
Rotela told Fox News he has been overwhelmed by the support he’s received from Christians across the nation.
“The response and support I have gotten has been beautiful and uplifting,” he said. “I have never seen such a strong wave of Christians thank me for this. Looking back – the whole incident was one of the best and worst moments of my life.”
Posts: 595
Threads: 117
Joined: Oct 2007
Quote:However, according to a letter written by Associate Dean Rozalia Williams, Rotela is facing a litany of charges...
Rozalia Williams
Am I detecting a sort of pattern here???
Let's all sing it together, shall we:
Mm, mmm, mm!
Barack Hussein Obama
He said red, yellow, black or white
All are equal in his sight
Mmm, mmm, mm!
Barack Hussein Obama
Posts: 173
Threads: 33
Joined: Feb 2008
George Orwell Wrote:“All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.”
Posts: 685
Threads: 110
Joined: Jan 2008
Quote:Scott to FAU: Explain this Jesus-stomping incident to me, please
posted at 10:01 am on March 27, 2013 by Ed Morrissey
I missed this incident of Academia Gone Wild when it happened, as I was in Rome covering the papal conclave, but it has all the hallmarks of cluelessness and faux “tolerance” that we’ve come to expect from higher education. It started with a professor of intercultural communications (no, seriously) at state-run Florida Atlantic University requiring students to write the name Jesus in large block letters on a piece of paper, and then stomp on it. One student — one? — refused to comply and told the professor that he would file a complaint over the assignment, which offended his religious beliefs. The school promptly punished the student, who might still have been suspended had the case not attracted a large amount of media and legal attention, and hopefully a large number of jaws hitting the pavement.
Now Governor Rick Scott wants an explanation of this incident, and a very detailed plan on how FAU would never let it happen again:
Quote:Florida Atlantic University has apologized for a controversial classroom lesson that led critics to accuse the school of religious intolerance. But that didn’t stop Gov. Rick Scott for stepping into the fray on Tuesday.
Scott penned a letter to State University System Chancellor Frank Brogan demanding an investigation. “I am requesting a report of the incident, how it was handled and a statement of the university’s policies to ensure this type of ‘lesson’ will not occur again,” Scott wrote.
Earlier this month, FAU instructor Deandre Poole told students in an intercultural communications class to write the word “Jesus” on a piece of paper, throw it on the floor and stomp on it. Ryan Rotela, a junior at FAU’s Davie campus, later complained he was thrown out of class when he refused to participate. …
Rotela, who describes himself as a devout Mormon, went to Poole’s supervisor two days later to discuss the incident.
FAU officials defended the professor last week, but Rotela told The Palm Beach Post that he and an attorney from the Texas-based Liberty Institute met with FAU Dean of Students Cory King at the school’s Boca Raton campus on Monday and received an apology and a pledge that the disciplinary charges against him would be dropped.
Greg Lukianoff, president of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), has an excellent and nuanced look at the competing interests of academic freedom in play in this incident. The school, the professor, and the student all have varying levels of protection for their speech in and out of the classroom, and that can make it very difficult to sort these incidents out to anyone’s satisfaction. Lukianoff’s concern focuses on the school’s reaction to the incident more than the Jesus Stomp itself:
Quote:Further, charging the student with an offense for complaining about the assignment brings up serious free speech and due process concerns. If the professor had stepped on the word Jesus on his own, it could be argued that it was simply a provocative pedagogical technique. Instead, however, FAU saw fit to charge Rotela with violating a speech code FIRE has given a “yellow light” (on a red, yellow, and green light scale, depending on the severity of the First Amendment violation) because of the ease with which it can be unconstitutionally applied. And unconstitutionally applying its speech code to a student guilty of nothing except complaining about a professor’s class looks to be exactly what FAU did here.
Under any circumstances, the case highlights disturbing trends I highlight in my book Unlearning Liberty: Campus Censorship and the end of American Debate. First of all, the double standard is glaring. I have zero doubt that a professor would have immediately understood the problem with the assignment if the name to be written on the paper had been “Mohammed” or “Martin Luther King” instead of Jesus. I also hope that a professor would understand he had crossed a line if he asked an atheist, like me, to bow down to a shrine. The fact is that universities these days rely on double standards to function, as the overwhelming majority of colleges, like FAU, maintain unconstitutional speech codes that typically ban inappropriate, offensive, or hurtful speech. If the plain language of these codes were followed, they would not last a day, since every professor and student would be found guilty of violating them. In order to exist, these kinds of codes must be selectively applied.
The incident also highlights attitudes about Christian students on America’s campuses. In my time at FIRE, I’ve seen a sustained effort to punish evangelicals or push them off campus to a degree that would never be tolerated if aimed at other religious groups. In my book, I talk at length about the University Wisconsin’s ban on RAs leading Bible study meetings in their own rooms and on their own time. Administrators on the university’s Eau Claire campus argued that if students found out an RA was a Christian, they might not feel comfortable talking to him or her. Meanwhile, following the pattern I’ve seen cases over the country, Christian students at Vanderbilt University in Tennessee, and now at Tufts University in Boston, are being told that they cannot be recognized student groups because their constitutions and beliefs “discriminate” against people who do not share their Christian beliefs. FIRE came to the defense of a Muslim group at Louisiana State University when it faced similar arguments, and, tellingly, the college quickly understood there was something wrong with telling a religious group that it could not exclude people who do not share the group’s faith. I wish campuses understood that the same principle applies to Christians as well.
There are more practical considerations, too. If a professor of “intercultural communications” couldn’t see how offensive this might be to some of his students, he doesn’t sound too terribly qualified to teach the course in the first place. Besides that, what purpose did this particular exercise serve, other than to denigrate a specific set of beliefs? The tuition at FAU is $200 per credit hour for undergrad residents and over $700 per credit hour for undergrad non-residents. That’s a lot of money for a dance course.
Well, guvnah, here's your explanation. Your incompetent affirmative action prof stepped in crap, and your incompetent affirmative action admins fell into the Cess Poole trying to cover up for the brother. Hopefully no one is naive enough to think this exact sort of thing doesn't happen all the time.
FAU Dean of Students Cory King
Doesn't take a genius to figure out how to solve these problems. Hire people based on demonstrated competence and not demographics.
|