Thursday, September 25, 2008

Unethical "Ethics"

I can understand setting certain common sense limits on the type of political activity university faculty may engage in, but the University of Illinois (sadly, one of my alma maters) has gone too far. Under prohibited activity they include:

1) Wearing a pin, bumper sticker or t-shirt in support of the Democratic Party or Republican Party, or a Democratic/Republican candidate.

2) "Attending a rally on University property specific to a political candidate or party - regardless of whether or not you are on University time."

It's outrageous. The university is a public forum and employees of the university have a right to enjoy the same access to that forum as any other citizen, particularly on their own time. Candidates often use university facilities to speak to crowds. To ban faculty from such events is promoting ignorance. Funny, I thought universities were against ignorance?

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