It is hard for me to imagine that college students can have their grades affected by their political views, or how in many courses their veiws would even become known. Yet College Republicans here in Maine seem to think that they are
persecuted.
"I am here today with my fellow College Republicans because I feel you must be made aware of a scary trend occurring on all Maine campuses," said Mia Dow, a member of the College Republicans at the University of Maine, Orono. "I have been taunted, sworn at and humiliated beyond the realm of imagination, and I am sick of this treatment," she said.
I love this statement as Ms. Dow does not name her tormentors. Are they members of the faculty, administration, or perhaps just her more compassionate fellow students?
My wife received her Master's from UMaine-Orono, and taught freshman english composition. I cannot recall a time when she, or any of her fellow TA's (liberals all) allowed her students' political views to influence her grading. (She certainly was dismayed at the poor level of writing skills that she had to correct.)
What intrigues me is that these young Republicans, who support a platform of exclusion and bigotry, can paint themselves as victims and insist that they receive special protections. And worse, they can't demonstrate actual harm to their academic careers. While I disagree with much of what the GOP stands for, I fully support their rights to espouse these views, and would be the first to decry any attempt to limit them on our college campuses. But the idea that they feel pressure that their fellow students think those views untenable is not censorship.
The irony is that the Maine Legislature just passed a gay rights law.
