Michael Ejercito
2017-09-08 19:31:44 UTC
https://ethicsalarms.com/2017/09/08/the-unacceptable-word-fiasco-ok-now-i-really-want-to-know-how-many-progressives-seriously-endorse-stuff-like-this/
SEPTEMBER 8, 2017 · 12:22 PM ↓ Jump to Comments
The “Unacceptable Word” Fiasco: OK, Now I Really Want To Know How Many
Progressives Seriously Endorse Stuff Like This?
I just received an email from the Democratic National Committee urging me to
protest Betsy DeVos’s (completely valid and overdue) withdrawal of the “Dear
Colleague Letter” by which the Obama Department of Education pressured
universities into dispensing with due process when a male student is accused
of sexual assault. “Tell Trump and DeVos not to undo President Obama’s
policies to combat sexual assault on campus!” it bleats. The e-mail blast
(if I ever find out who put me on this list, there will be blood), quotes
DeVos, as if this advances their case, as saying, “If everything is
harassment, then nothing is harassment.”
The Education Secretary was exactly right, and a story today from Reason
shows why.
Joshua Zale, a student at Moraine Valley Community College, was asked by his
drama instructor to play a pimp asking for money from another student,
playing the role of a prostitute in an improvisation exercise. Improvisation
means that the actors work without a script. In the process of the improv,
Zale used an “unacceptable word” according to the instructor, who was
apparently improvising the role of a fool. The teacher immediately
reprimanded Zale, who later insisted on a private meeting to learn why he
had been attackedfor using a word he felt was consistent with the role he
had been assigned. Assistant Dean Lisa Kelsay subsequently accused Zale of
violating Title IX—the weapon of choice in the “Dear Colleague Letter”—and
school conduct policies by sexually harassing his acting partner “as a
woman.”
No one has yet divulged what this “unacceptable” word was. I have taught
improvisation. I am a pretty creative guy, with a fairly extensive
vocabulary. I cannot imagine any word, from
Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis to
supercalifragilisticexpialidocious to Bill Maher’s favorite, cunt, to “penis
breath,” uttered by a child in the opening minutes of “E.T.”, that would be
“inappropriate” in an improv, especially in a scene involving a sex worker
and a pimp.
As you know, ethics stories often remind me of TV shows and movies. This one
(see the video clip above) reminds me of a famous “MASH” episode, “The
General Flipped At Dawn,” in which Harry Morgan, later to play lovable,
crusty old Col. Potter, played an insane general. Reviewing the MASH squad,
he asks Radar, “Where are you from, son?” Radar answers, “Iowa, sir..” only
to have the General scream, “NO TALKING IN RANKS!!!!”
Maybe the improv instructor, Craig Rosen, flipped too. That would be an
excuse, at least. But how do you explain the Assistant Dean?
School administrators demanded that Zale write an mea culpa essay called
“What I learned from this incident” to include a demonstration of his fealty
to the college’s core values, or else he would have a hold placed on his
student account that would prevent him from registering for classes.
I also can’t imagine a harsh word that would be inappropriate to describe
that demand.
I couldn’t fit it into the headline, but Josh Zale is an Ethics Hero. He
refused to write the indoctrination essay, he refused to attend a
subsequent disciplinary hearing, contending the school refused to allow him
to confront his accusers, and he’s suing his school.
Bravo, Josh!
Administrators have retaliated by blocking his registration, claiming he
violated the student conduct code on “physical/verbal abuse or harassment.”
I want to know if there are really progressives and Democrats out there who
think this kind of conduct by the school is “acceptable,” and if any one of
them can mount an intelligent argument for keeping the Obama standards that
led directly to the improv “gotcha!”
Freedom of speech, academic freedom, fairness, creativity, common sense,
proportion, due process: is there anything the new Left won’t throw on the
bonfire in its mad worship of political correctness and victim mongering?
_______________________
Pointer: Other Bill
SEPTEMBER 8, 2017 · 12:22 PM ↓ Jump to Comments
The “Unacceptable Word” Fiasco: OK, Now I Really Want To Know How Many
Progressives Seriously Endorse Stuff Like This?
I just received an email from the Democratic National Committee urging me to
protest Betsy DeVos’s (completely valid and overdue) withdrawal of the “Dear
Colleague Letter” by which the Obama Department of Education pressured
universities into dispensing with due process when a male student is accused
of sexual assault. “Tell Trump and DeVos not to undo President Obama’s
policies to combat sexual assault on campus!” it bleats. The e-mail blast
(if I ever find out who put me on this list, there will be blood), quotes
DeVos, as if this advances their case, as saying, “If everything is
harassment, then nothing is harassment.”
The Education Secretary was exactly right, and a story today from Reason
shows why.
Joshua Zale, a student at Moraine Valley Community College, was asked by his
drama instructor to play a pimp asking for money from another student,
playing the role of a prostitute in an improvisation exercise. Improvisation
means that the actors work without a script. In the process of the improv,
Zale used an “unacceptable word” according to the instructor, who was
apparently improvising the role of a fool. The teacher immediately
reprimanded Zale, who later insisted on a private meeting to learn why he
had been attackedfor using a word he felt was consistent with the role he
had been assigned. Assistant Dean Lisa Kelsay subsequently accused Zale of
violating Title IX—the weapon of choice in the “Dear Colleague Letter”—and
school conduct policies by sexually harassing his acting partner “as a
woman.”
No one has yet divulged what this “unacceptable” word was. I have taught
improvisation. I am a pretty creative guy, with a fairly extensive
vocabulary. I cannot imagine any word, from
Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis to
supercalifragilisticexpialidocious to Bill Maher’s favorite, cunt, to “penis
breath,” uttered by a child in the opening minutes of “E.T.”, that would be
“inappropriate” in an improv, especially in a scene involving a sex worker
and a pimp.
As you know, ethics stories often remind me of TV shows and movies. This one
(see the video clip above) reminds me of a famous “MASH” episode, “The
General Flipped At Dawn,” in which Harry Morgan, later to play lovable,
crusty old Col. Potter, played an insane general. Reviewing the MASH squad,
he asks Radar, “Where are you from, son?” Radar answers, “Iowa, sir..” only
to have the General scream, “NO TALKING IN RANKS!!!!”
Maybe the improv instructor, Craig Rosen, flipped too. That would be an
excuse, at least. But how do you explain the Assistant Dean?
School administrators demanded that Zale write an mea culpa essay called
“What I learned from this incident” to include a demonstration of his fealty
to the college’s core values, or else he would have a hold placed on his
student account that would prevent him from registering for classes.
I also can’t imagine a harsh word that would be inappropriate to describe
that demand.
I couldn’t fit it into the headline, but Josh Zale is an Ethics Hero. He
refused to write the indoctrination essay, he refused to attend a
subsequent disciplinary hearing, contending the school refused to allow him
to confront his accusers, and he’s suing his school.
Bravo, Josh!
Administrators have retaliated by blocking his registration, claiming he
violated the student conduct code on “physical/verbal abuse or harassment.”
I want to know if there are really progressives and Democrats out there who
think this kind of conduct by the school is “acceptable,” and if any one of
them can mount an intelligent argument for keeping the Obama standards that
led directly to the improv “gotcha!”
Freedom of speech, academic freedom, fairness, creativity, common sense,
proportion, due process: is there anything the new Left won’t throw on the
bonfire in its mad worship of political correctness and victim mongering?
_______________________
Pointer: Other Bill