U. Wisconsin Professor Protests Obama Visit
At least one professor at the University of Wisconsin is very unhappy about the Obama campaign event which happened there Thursday, shutting down the campus.
The College Fix reports.
Professor protests Obama visit
A University of Wisconsin – Madison political science professor lambasted President Barack Obama’s campus visit today, saying it effectively shut down school, violated students’ privacy, and wrongly endorsed the Obama candidacy, among other complaints.
He is one of several high-profile political science professors at the campus to complain, reports the Althouse blog.
Political science professor Kenneth Mayer says Obama’s visit completely upsets him and raises several serious issues, and he cites those problems in a letter to campus officials, parts of which have been posted on Althouse:
For one, to get a ticket to the event, students must give their contact information and cell phone number.
“In a very real sense, we are forcing them to become participants in the campaign and express their support for the campaign,” Mayer states. “Should (the university) be in the business of helping a campaign farm thousands of email addresses?”
Mayer goes on to express his frustration over how the visit effectively closes school for the day, noting “it hardly seems appropriate to shut the central campus down for an entire day, closing offices and seriously disrupting our mission. I have several colleagues who had scheduled exams for Thursday.”
Mayer also criticizes how some campus employees will have to “take a vacation or personal day, arrange to work at another location on campus, or work at home” because of the visit.
Finally, he sums it up by saying the visit is somewhat akin to a university endorsement:
“It is not a Presidential visit. It is not a Presidential speech. It is a campaign event.”
Comments
You can always use a temporary e-mail address, there are plenty of free e-mail services out there and use a phone number like (610) 867-5309 on your application for tickets.