To give Roger Kimball some fair due, I am also appalled at Ward Churchill's analogy of victims of 9/11 to Adolf Eichmann, the Nazi technical bureaucrat who abetted the Holocaust. There's not an ounce of scalable criticism to that analogy—it's unworkable and repugnant. I'm less appalled by the invitation that Hamilton College extended to Churchill to speak on a panel, because it's important to be exposed to and understand arguments with which you disagree. But very stunning was Hamilton's invitation to Susan Rosenberg, a former member of the Weather Underground, to be a professor. Speaking, okay, but teaching? What the fuck? Kimball's right: The trustees ought to be raising some serious hell over this.
However—I'm not giving an inch on the meta point that Kimball hopes to make with every breath: roughly, that the university installed a right-minded Western civic education once before these effin' kids got to it with their mothereffin' multi-culti crap. I like these effin' kids! But really, Hamilton, you're not making it easy over here.
Posted by Kriston at January 27, 2005 1:04 PMHmmm. Just what were they teaching Charles up there, I wonder?
Posted by: tom at January 27, 2005 1:38 PMI did in fact graduate from Hamilton College, but I don't know where I stand on this issue. I appreciate attempts to bring a diversity of opinions to the school, diversity being one of the main things my school lacks. In Kimball's post he one of his quotes refers to its "77% Caucasian student body." That number seems a little low to me. I don't know Churchill's other work, but I am not sure I want my college implying that this man's 9/11 analogy has some academic worth.
As to Susan Rosenberg, my school has had crazier people teach at it.
My biggest problem with my college was that they fought a court case to deny their students constitutional rights because it is a private institution. (Sorry I can't find any links, but Hamilton has been getting a lot of press unrelated to this case) So I guess any acknowledgement of a basic rights is a good thing.
Posted by: Charles at January 28, 2005 10:59 AM1. What's Weather Underground?
2. Could you elaborate on Ward Churchill's analogy just a bit, since it doesn't make any sense at first glance?
3. What's the deal with this Hamilton place?
I guess I missed out on all of this context.
Posted by: matty at January 28, 2005 4:10 PMOkay, having now followed the link, all I am left to wonder is, why does Kimball care? So what if some small college wants to make some dumb decisions or if some people in this country go so far left as to reach incoherence and stupidity?
He's free to voice his displeasure, but unless he has a link to Hamilton I'm not aware of, I don't understand why this is important enough projecting to world. I guess it's a "moral (anarchy)" issue for him, which I don't really get — as if dumb ideas were that threatening.
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