Shame on us

Submitted by Alexander (Canada), Jan 30, 2003 at 21:32

The behaviour of York and Concordia campuses is certainly deplorable. As a Canadian academic and a Moslem, I want to distance myself from such colleagues as those described in Mr. Pipes article. If a university is not a place where people can disagree civilly, then what is it?

I think part of the problem in North American universities today vis a vis the barbarity displayed by Concordia and York is the long-lasting legacy of the radicals of the 1960s. Weak-minded professors learned then and in the aftermath of that era that "protest" could turn a mediocity into celebrity. Greed for celebrity, I submit, is part of the motivation behind such behaviour.

If you put that kind of behaviour into the hands of a sociopath, then what you will have is a terrorist. Terrorists, like serial killers, kill for the sake of notoriety. It's all about TV.

But most academics by a long shot in Canada and in America are decent, fair-minded people. I would like to apologize to Mr. Pipes for the dreadful behaviour of my brothers and colleagues.

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