Editor, The Channels
In her March 10 guest column, Adjunct Instructor Lisette Davies Austin rebuts charges made in the Independent by a City College student, Kerry Gilmour, that two teachers and indeed City College as an institution displayed a bias toward Christians.
Most of Ms. Austin’s commentary is an articulate exposition and defense of teaching methods at City College. The last paragraph, however, veers sharply to a dismaying message which would, if heeded, have a chilling effect on student self-expression.
In that paragraph Ms. Austin advises Ms. Gilmour that “if you’re not ready for this type of learning experience, you’re not ready to find you way on our campus. So go back to your ‘conservative hometown’ until you are.”
Paradoxically, in a piece titled “Faculty open-minded to all views,” a member of the faculty is telling a student that if she can’t handle the all inclusive embrace and open atmosphere of City College, then she doesn’t belong here and should take a hike.
Or, in others words, City College: Love it or leave it.
Ms. Austin then suggests that Ms. Gilmour “do us all a favor: Stay the heck away from writing inflammatory newspaper columns.” Since “inflammatory” is in the eye of the beholder, Ms. Gilmour that if she is thinking about saying anything someone at City College might deem offensive, she should keep her mouth shut.
Ms. Austin notes that Ms. Gilmour claimed she had been “intimidated” and “belittled” by her teachers. Knowing the teachers in question, I find these claims hare to believe. Yet, ironically, the terms “intimidate” and “belittle” seem very apt in describing Ms. Austin’s message to Ms. Gilmour, which boils down to “Shut up or go home.”
I found Ms. Gilmour’s allegations of bias off the mark. Moreover, she should have approached her instructors with these concerns and allowed them to respond before going public.
That said, Ms. Gilmour was participating in the free marketplace of ideas, which all too few students do. Prof. White responded with his thoughtful letter to the Independent. That’s the way the free marketplace is supposed to work.
But while Prof. White focused exclusively on Ms. Gilmour’s ideas, the anger in the last paragraph of Ms. Austin’s commentary seems directed more at the audacity of a student daring to question the rightness of all things at City College.
I’m sure Ms. Austin would agree that City College should be nurturing student free expression, even though inevitably that expression may sometimes seem misguided or provocative, rather than enforcing passivity and conformity.
Yet in her zeal to defend City College as a shining citadel of learning, Ms. Austin seems unaware that her admonitions to Ms. Gilmour may send the signal to students that it’s best not to make waves, that to get along they should go along, and that silence is golden.
Fred Hofmann
Adjunct Political Science Teacher
