For Kossacks of an investigative bent, I have a modest proposal: let's do some spade work to demonstrate what an astroturf organization David Horowitz's Students for Academic Freedom really is.
One way to fight back against his proposed Academic Bill of Rights, now before perhaps a dozen state legislatures, is to show lawmakers that his organization and its complaints have no support on the campuses of their own state universities.
SAF's website claims 150 student chapters, but for most of them lists only a single student contact, with no information about membership, etc. Many entries refer inquiries to the "National Campus Director," Sara Dogan, at an email address at studentsforacademicfreedom.org.
I'd suggest that Kossacks use those links to investigate SAF on their campus, and report back on what they can (and can't) find out about the grassroots of this alleged "student" movement.
I'll start things off, on the flip, with a discussion of Horowitz's appearance yesterday before a committee of the Florida state house, and his rather pathetic attempt to display student support.
At yesterday's hearing in Florida, after Horowitz droned on for some time about the leftist bias of American universities, a Democratic legislator jumped in:
news.tbo.com
``I understand that you feel the right is underrepresented at universities, but what is the case in Florida that would suggest this legislation is necessary?'' Rep. Dan Gelber, D-Miami, asked Horowitz.
In response, Horowitz introduced Matthew Farrar, a 19- year-old student at Florida State University who sent a mass e-mail to FSU's College Republicans asking whether they had experienced discrimination because of their views.
Since Thursday, Farrar said, he had received nearly a dozen e-mail messages from students claiming they were told to drop a course after challenging professors' views.
He would not identify the students or professors.
Not only does this attempt to find "complaints" appear pretty pathetic in itself--a last-minute effort to dig up some examples for Horowitz to present--but it also suggests that SAF has no real presence at FSU.
And lo and behold, that appears to be the case.
SAF's website lists Farrar as the group's contact at FSU, but provides no further information about when the group was organized, how many members it has, etc.
It does, however, provide this link to a yahoo group, fsu_saf.
So I checked it out. It was set up less than a week before Horowitz's testimony, for the purpose of desperately trolling for complaints:
groups.yahoo.com
We are a group of concerned students at the Florida State University. We are working towards academic freedom and intellectual diversity in the State of Florida. We are currently working with both the FL House & Senate to support legislation that makes this possible.
URGENT!!! PLEASE READ:
WE HAVE A DESPERATE NEED FOR CASES HERE AT FSU. DAVID HOROWITZ WILL BE COMING TO TALLAHASSEE TUESDAY, AND WE NEED ALL THE CASES WE CAN GET TO GIVE HIM FOR THE COMMITTEE MEETING. CHECK THE 'FILES' SECTION OF THE SITE TO DOWNLOAD THE COMPLAINT FORM AND SEND IT BACK AS AN ATTACHMENT TO:
xxxxxx@yahoo.com
THANK YOU FOR YOUR HELP!!
Most of the identifiable members (fewer than 20) appear to be members of the FSU College Republicans, to whom Farrar sent his initial plea for complaints.
The day of the meeting, Farrar posted another message, pleading for "as many of you out there as possible" to show up for Horowitz's appearance, and giving them pointers about not blowing their partisan cover or discrediting their revered leader.
groups.yahoo.com :
Dear Members of FSU SAF,
As you know, Tuesday is the big day. David Horowitz
will be flying into Tallahassee in the morning, and
will be in meetings with Senators, Representatives and
the Governor most of the day. If you would like to
attend the committee meeting, please note the
following:
[snip]
2.) Please dress and behave appropriately (business
attire) - this is an important meeting, you will be
representing FSU as well as our organization.
[snip]
4.) If approached by the media, do not identify
yourselves as being there for ANY type of
Conservative/Republican organization - this is a
bipartisan bill and organization, we do not want to
sway any of legislators' opinions based on party
grounds. Feel free to defer to us or ask us anything
if you are not sure how to answer a question. Don't
try to explain it if you can't!
[My emphasis]
The point here is not to pick on these poor misguided youth, but to emphasize how they're being played by this huckster. SAF is just Horowitz's latest attempt to grab some headlines and line his pockets with funding from right-wing foundations.
And if you doubt how lucrative a line of work it is, click here to see some of the grants he's getting.
Update [2005-4-6 22:32:47 by Hprof]:: Apparently, the SAF's national campus director admits that the group may have no more than a member or two on many of those 150 college campuses. This, from the April 2005 American Prospect:
To give them [budding conservatives] a voice, Horowitz has founded what one opponent calls a "gotcha club," a CSPC subsidiary called Students for Academic Freedom (SAF), which claims chapters -- most of them consisting of "one or two or three members," according to SAF field director Sara Dogan -- at 150 colleges.