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Jan 22 09 1:09 AM
Fan
usd2010 wrote: http://cbs5.com/education...t.mary.race.2.691621.html
Anyone who has ever attended St. Mary's College can affirm the WASC report was complete and utter bull $%!*. We are a very diverse school with a 35-40 percent Hispanic population. The poll found a correlation of minority students and a lack of high graduation rates. The WASC instantly concluded without merit, there must be a casual relationship between these two groupings and St. Mary's must be systematically discriminating. Anyone introduced to high school level logic realizes this inference is invalid. A far more likely explanation, which I can affirm personally, is that St. Mary's is taking way under qualified minority students via the "HP" (or High Potential Program). In attempt to play the affirmative action game, the school brings in these students who lack the fundamental tools (as their low SAT and GPA in high school attest to) to succeed in a rigorous academic environment. They drop out, and the WASC concludes that is simple phenomenon is a discrimination problem. It's a damn admission problem and one that stems from a affirmative action programme.
And this is coming from someone who is a "left-leaning cattle", as described so beautifully earlier.
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Bleeding Red and Blue
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Jan 22 09 12:29 PM
Brother Ron.....
As a loyal Alumni of St. Mary's I am deeply disappointed in the decision you outlined in your message.
I have attempted to express my disagreements in notes within your message below. I am sending this to other members of the Class of '62 and other grads and members of the St. Mary's Community I am familiar with in the hopes that they will also express their thoughts to you. Our Class is well known at SMC as a very supportive group and have three members on your Boards of Regents and Trustees.
My education was Christian Brothers from the 7th grade on, starting at Garces Jr. High and High Schools in Bakersfield. Not much was made of the Lasallian principles in those days, but allowing Bill Ayers to speak on the SMC Campus does seem to me to be at odds with this philosophy which I understand guides the College these days.
Please change your mind and rescind the invitation as so many other reputable institutions of higher learning have done.
Milton E. Fletcher
SMC '62
MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT
Dear Members of the Saint Mary's College Community,
You've likely heard that some members of our College community and some beyond are concerned with the decision to invite Professor William Ayers to campus as part of the January Term speaker series for this year's theme of Against the Grain. I'm writing to clarify the circumstances regarding Professor Ayers' selection, to share the College's official position on the matter and to provide additional information regarding his visit.
Professor Ayers was selected by the January Term Committee, a group composed primarily of faculty members, to speak about "Trudging Toward Freedom: Building a Movement and Living Our Lives for Peace and Justice." Professor Ayers' selection in no way constitutes an endorsement by the College of any past actions, viewpoints or political opinions. Nor is his invitation an attempt on the part of the College to honor him in any way.
This wide ranging topic will allow Ayers to expand on his beliefs in violent protests. If the intent is to allow him to speak on educational topics, which seem to be his area of expertise..then the topic should reflect this.
Some have called on me or the College to rescind or overrule the January Term leadership's invitation to Professor Ayers. To do so would be to undermine the educational principles and values upon which our College is based. Institutions of higher education serve society and their local communities by providing a place for opinions and ideas of all types to be examined, questioned and discussed. It is in these "academic cities" that the arts of reason and of inquiry, the fruits of the liberal arts, are brought to bear on the controversial issues of today and of all time. For students, faculty members and the public, colleges provide a special opportunity to step away from the often overheated and polarized rhetoric of contemporary culture and examine difficult and controversial issues in the somewhat cooler light of reason.
Not to recind the invitation would be to recognize the criminal actions (not prosecuted due to a district attorney's mistake) as a viable manner of protest. This is not an example that should be brought before the SMC Student Body--nor the faculty.
As a College with a Great Books tradition, we have a responsibility to defend the rights of those with controversial viewpoints to speak. To live up to our great tradition, we must remain an academic community where the free and open discussion of ideas, even those with which we strongly disagree, is possible.
Controversial viewpoints..yes--not Criminal. People died due to the actions of this man, property was destroyed, lives were ruined.
Let me be clear, I strongly disagree with many of Professor Ayers' past actions, statements and viewpoints; nevertheless, I support the January Term Committee's right to invite him to the College, and will insist that he is treated with the respect and courtesy all of our invited academic speakers deserve. Professor Ayers has indicated that he will take questions after his address. I am certain that our students, faculty and staff members will raise probing, difficult and thoughtful questions.
While I regret that some are disappointed in the January Term's decision to invite Professor Ayers, I am aware of the provocative conversation that the announcement of his talk has already engendered and anticipate the vigorous discourse that his remarks and visit are likely to elicit. Those who wish to protest Professor Ayers' presence on campus will be given the opportunity, within reasonable limits, to do so as long as their activities do not interfere with or harm the academic work of the college or the access of students and faculty to Professor Ayers' address.
A major protest is being organized by moveamericaforward.org (See the e-mail below). While I definitely would not want to espouse anything that would forbid any protests, thus harming our freedom of speech, do you really want this kind of action on our campus when the protestors have it right that this individual should be in jail and not spouting his anti-American thoughts?
John Parziale, SMC '62 was hired as Dean back when the unrest from Berkeley spilled over to the SMC Campus. He stopped the unrest. Do you really want to ignite this kind of action once again?
I am also grateful for the input and engagement by many of our College constituents in this issue. Offering a forum for an exchange of diverse opinions is essential to fulfilling our mission. We are a community committed to conversations focused on essential questions, which ignite a lifelong passion for learning.
Sincerely, Brother Ronald Gallagher, FSC President
Here is the E-mail referenced above.
Just when our nation is in the middle of a war against terrorism, why would a liberal arts California college invite Bill Ayers, leader of the notorious 1960s group Weather Underground, to speak? It is hard to imagine why they would at this time to give a platform for this character who proudly boasts of his terrorist bombings of the United States in the 1970's. We need your financial help to get the word out to as many people as possible so we can get the college to withdraw this invitation before it is too late:
Even the liberal government in Canada refused to let Bill Ayers into their county this week where he was scheduled to speak at the University of Toronto, http://www.thestar.com/article/573462 href="http://www.thestar.com/article/573462">according to The Star. Remember, it was Canada that took in all of our draft dodgers during the Viet Nam War. They were not picky about who to let in.
But even they were smart enough to say enough is enough with Bill Ayers, stopping Ayers at the airport and putting him back on the airplane to the United States. It's about time somebody said "NO!" to Ayers, who takes credit for multiple acts of terrorism . Being a friend and neighbor of Barack Obama, Ayers probably thought the sordid legacy of his past was behind him, but some of us will still willing to stand for what's right, and against this domestic terrorist! What is most shocking is that colleges such as St. Mary's in Moraga, Calif., would even INVITE a man such as Ayers to speak in the first place. Instead, they should have a speaker who would explain the threat our country faces from terrorists who do the same thing Ayers did. "I don't know why I was turned back," Ayers said in an interview Monday morning with TheStar.com. "I got off the plane like everyone else and I was asked to come over to the other side. The border guards reviewed some stuff and said I wasn't going to be allowed into Canada. To me it seems quite bureaucratic and not at all interesting ... If it were me I would have let me in. I couldn't possibly be a threat to Canada." How about this for a reason: the Weather Underground set off multiple bombs in the 1960s and '70s, including explosives that hit the Pentagon, the Capitol, the U.S. State Department, a New York City police headquarters, and government prison officers in San Francisco and Sacramento, among others. While planning to bomb and kill soldiers at Fort Dix, New Jersey, three of Ayers' group were killed by their own bombs that malfunctioned.
"In what sane world would anybody allow Bill Ayers around students?" said MAF chairman Melanie Morgan. "Ayers is an unrepentant thug who terrorized innocent people, just like the radical jihadists who are at war with America today."
Move America Forward is working with other pro-American groups to convince St. Mary's - and all other universities - that Ayers should never step foot on a campus. But, we cannot succeed unless we can get the word out to good Americans so they can protest directly to the College. Please help us get the word out now.
"It is important for people to understand that Bill Ayers was not just a political friend of the Obama family - he was a radical hatemonger who used bombs to make his case," Morgan said. "That doesn't sound like much of an academic, does it? There are better reasons for him to be in Guantanamo Bay than out making money by selling books and speeches to students." MAF wants to persuade St. Mary's College to show some good sense and disinvite Ayers before it is too late. At a time when we are fighting terrorists who are trying to kill Americans around the world, we should not be providing proponents of terror a forum for speaking to our university students. If we can't bring some sense to the college, then we have to organize a protest so this man can be seen for what he really is: an America-loathing radical who still proudly calls himself a communist. No one who is unrepentant of a bombing campaign against our own government should be given a pulpit to preach to our kids. After all, if liberal Canada won't let Ayers visit, why should St. Mary's?
In addition to helping us by contributing to Move America Forward, you can also help by contacting the officials at St. Mary's College and express your disappointment in their horrible decision to reward a terrorist at this time in our history. Demand they cancel the speech by Bill Ayers. Contact List for St. Mary's College: St. Mary's President Brother Ronald Gallagher, F.S.C., Ph.D. (925) 631-4203 (925) 376-2150 Provost & Vice President for Academic Affairs Bethami Dobkin, Ph.D. (925) 631-4408 bethami.dobkin4@stmarys-ca.edu Chairman Board of Trustees James Quandt, Co-founder, Thomas James Capital Incorporated 31501 Rancho Viejo Road Suite 101 San Juan Capistrano, CA 92675 Phone: 949-481-7026 Phone: 800-692-2595 Fax: 949-481-7465
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Jan 22 09 5:26 PM
20Gaels06 wrote: what does "generating money outside of tuition" mean exactly? Alumni donations? Corporate donations? Not attacking, just want to know what other avenues schools have to make money. If it is the alumni donations, why are our levels so low compared to other schools? Has anyone really looked in depth at this. As an alum, I feel that the school does a great job reaching out and keeping us in touch. Also, since we do not have a law school, which produces those rich lawyers, we are probably at a disadvantage.
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