Rally at Hope

[puszysty]

We had a rally yesterday at Hope College. This was in response to the resignation of a religion professor under suspicious pretenses. Basically, the president had voiced some concerns about what this prof was saying in articles he wrote for the local newspapers and expressed that donors were unhappy about what this prof had to say. This particular prof explains what the Bible means to minorities, and in particular gays. The article that got people flared about was prodding a little at the leader of Focus on the Family and his whole 'we can't be having gay cartoon characters like Spongebob' type rant.
The president had a town hall type meeting with the students Tuesday, but basically nothing got answered. The prof is resigning- he's already got a job elsewhere. The students (me included) were rallying to support the free speech of professors, that we should be able to hear an array of viewpoints in the classroom even if they differ from what the Reform Church believes, and that donors should not be influencing what is taught in the classroom.


Here's a picture from the rally yesterday.

Comments

[ledadada.livejournal.com]

wow, looks like it went well--getting attention and what not.

[zifnab15.livejournal.com]

Although, from reading the related articles it seems that Dobson never said that Sponge Bob was gay. The issue was a little bit more involved than that (although it's difficult to tell from just the professor's letter because he misrepresents Dobson's speech a little bit).

[basslikesitruff.livejournal.com]

I've read Dobson's speach, and there is no question that he was claiming the whole Spongebob character is gay thing. A CROCK, but I digress. Rock on Steph. I'm shocked and appalled that any institution of higher learning would, in this century, gripe about people having varying opinions! Freakin' me out is what it's doing. Good Lord knows I can't wait to get the heck out of the mid-west and back to the east coast.

[zifnab15.livejournal.com]

Do you know of any place online where I can read his speech? I've only read the article by the professor and the response that Dobson wrote for the editorial section. In Dobson's response he says that he only said that a particular promotional movie that was distributed to elementary schools was funded by an obviously pro-homosexual group and that the movie reflected their agenda. Similarly he says that the other cartoon characters in the movie are not gay, but that they are used in the movie to promote a homosexual standpoint. So yeah... if you could provide me with a link or other information about where I could find the speech I would be most appreciative. Thanks!