LIBRARIAN ACCUSED OF ‘SEXUAL HARASSMENT’ AFTER RECOMMENDING ‘MARKETING OF EVIL’

The Nutty Professors
WorldNetDaily.com
http://www.worldnetda ily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=49809
Wednesda y, April 19, 2006

Book-banning ‘gay’ profs forced to drop allegations

After the entire faculty voted, with no dissenters, to brand their head
librarian as a sexual harasser because he recommended the bestselling
book “The Marketing of Evil” as required reading for freshmen, Ohio
State University has finally dropped its controversial charges in
the glare of national media attention.

But, warns the librarian’s attorney, who calls this one of the most
“astonishing” and “shameful” instances of campus persecution he’s
ever seen, the damage to his client’s reputation and career has been
done. They’ve already filed a complaint against three professors
for false accusations of harassment and are discussing a more
“substantial” response – including possible litigation – to “deter
any future tyranny or bullying of others.”

As WND first reported, Scott Savage, a devout Quaker, is head of
Reference and Instructional Services at the Bromfield Library on Ohio
State University’s Mansfield campus. As a member of the university’s
First Year Reading Experience Committee, Savage had suggested four
books be considered as required reading for incoming freshmen:
“The Marketing of Evil” by David Kupelian, “The Professors” by David
Horowitz, “Eurabia: The Euro-Arab Axis” by Bat Ye’or, and “It Takes
a Family” by Sen. Rick Santorum. Savage made the recommendations
after other committee members had suggested a series of books with
a left-wing perspective, by authors such as Jimmy Carter and Maria
Shriver.

However, three professors – two of them openly homosexual – filed
a complaint of discrimination and harassment, contending Kupelian’s
book was “hate literature” which “threatened” them and made them feel
“unsafe” on campus. After a 21-0 faculty vote (with 9 abstentions)
on March 13, the school’s Office of Human Resources put Savage under
“investigation.” The full-faculty vote was rescinded two days later
for legal reasons, and the three offended professors filed the
harassment complaint.

The professors who filed the complaint against Savage are Hannibal
Hamlin, Norman Jones and J.K. Buckley. Jones teaches courses in
lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender literature, and according to
his bio, “his current research focuses on sexuality and spirituality,
particularly exploring the phenomenon of the ‘post-secular queer’
in contemporary literature.” Buckley has written “The Social Critic:
The Rise of Queer Performance Within the Demise of Transcendentalism”
as well as “articles on sexual orientation in Hemingway and Melville.”

Stepping up to defend Savage has been the Arizona-based public-interest
law firm, the Alliance Defense Fund, which on March 28 filed a “Cease
and Desist” letter to OSU Mansfield officials.

Undeterred, the university pressed on in its “investigation” of Savage,
insisting it takes “any allegation of sexual harassment seriously.”

The ADF filing linked above includes, as evidentiary exhibits,
the condemnations of Savage and Kupelian made by OSU professors in
intra-faculty e-mails March 9. The professors’ comments include:

Hannibal Hamlin: “Re Kupelian’s book, would you advocate a book
that was racist or antisemitic, or are you arguing that homosexuals
are not in the same category and that homophobia is not therefore a
matter of discrimination but of rational argument? And what are we
supposed to make of the fact that Kupelian’s Armenian family died
in the holocaust? Does this mean that he then has the right to spout
bigotry about other minorities with impunity?”

Norman Jones: “The anti-gay book Scott Savage endorses falsely claims
that ‘the widely revered father of the “sexual revolution” has been
irrefutably exposed as a full-fledged sexual psychopath who encouraged
pedophilia.’ This is a factually untrue characterization of Dr. Kinsey
and his work on every point. … I am frankly embarrassed for you,
Scott, that you would endorse this kind of homophobic tripe.”

J.K. Buckley: “As a gay man I have long ago realized that the world
is full of homophobic, hate-mongers who, of course, say that they
are not. So I am not shocked, only deeply saddened – and THREATENED –
that such mindless folks are on this great campus. … You have made
me fearful and uneasy being a gay man on this campus. I am, in fact,
notifying the OSU-M campus, and Ohio State University in general,
that I no longer feel safe doing my job. I am being harassed.”

Finally, since WorldNetDaily, Sean Hannity, MSNBC, Fox News’ Brit Hume
and dozens of bloggers and talk show hosts have brought the case to
national attention over the last few days, Ohio State University has
reportedly reversed course. That is, the Mansfield campus’s dean and
director, Evelyn B. Freeman, has now notified the faculty that the
charges have been dropped, although – strangely – neither Savage nor
his ADF attorneys have been notified of that fact.

Here’s the e-mail the faculty received from Freeman:

Dear Faculty and Staff,

The Ohio State University is strongly committed to the free, open,
and civil exchange of views as part of the educational process. To
prepare our students for success, we must have an atmosphere where
students, staff and faculty are free to express opinions and where
different points of view are not only tolerated, but welcomed. I want
to affirm President Holbrook’s April 5 message to the campus community:
“Ohio State is a caring community that rejects racism, homophobia,
gender-bias, religious intolerance and other forms of prejudice,
exclusion, and disrespect.”

It is unfortunate that conflicting viewpoints on the Mansfield campus
escalated to charges of harassment.

After a thorough investigation of complaints raised by faculty members
against a reference librarian, the University has determined that
there were no findings of harassment. However, the news media has
now picked up on this incident and you will likely be seeing some
coverage in the state and national news.

I hope we can all learn from this incident. We recognize that in the
course of robust intellectual debate in and out of the classroom,
there exists the potential for conflict. But we have to handle that
conflict responsibly and with collegiality. We will be taking a number
of steps to help create a more welcoming atmosphere on the Mansfield
campus by offering additional training for faculty and staff. We also
will work to reinforce a better understanding of the principles of
academic rights and responsibilities, and to ensure the respect for
diversity of all kinds.

Sincerely,

Evie

Evelyn B. Freeman, Dean and Director The Ohio State University at
Mansfield

So is the case over?

Not by a long shot, says David French, Savage’s attorney and director
of ADF’s Center for Academic Freedom, who says the librarian is
carefully “weighing his options.”

“Scott’s exploring litigation – he has already filed an internal
complaint accusing the professors of a false allegation of
harassment. But he is definitely exploring possibilities of
litigation,” said the ADF attorney.

“While we’re glad there was no finding of harassment – that’s merely
common sense on the part of the university – we’re upset there hasn’t
been a direct communication of that fact to Scott or his attorneys.”

Much more importantly, said French, “the damage has been done” to
Scott’s career and reputation. “Ohio State University allowed its
resources to be used in a campaign of slander and defamation.” Saying
Savage “wants to do something substantial to deter any future tyranny
or bullying of others,” French concluded: “We’re certainly glad Scott
has been exonerated, but by no means is this over.”

One consequence of the case, surely unintended by the professors
condemning Kupelian’s book as “homophobic tripe” and “hate literature,”
is that “The Marketing of Evil” has shot up the nation’s bestsellers
lists, where it currently is ranked No. 1 on Amazon.com’s “Current
Events” bestseller chart.

The reason for the massive interest in Kupelian’s book? The following
letter, one of many sent in response to the column about the case by
Rebecca Hagelin, tells the story.

I hope you can forward the information to the faculty of OSU-M
that I, for one, had not yet heard of the book, “The Marketing of
Evil.” But because of their hysteria and hypocritical intolerance, I
have decided that it is something I should definitely read. I intend
to buy a copy, and perhaps an extra to pass. In spite of themselves,
these would-be thought controllers are serving as a beacon of light,
showing the way to valuable literature!

Released in August, “The Marketing of Evil” has become one of the
nation’s most talked-about books, widely praised by Dr. Laura,
David Limbaugh, Michelle Malkin, D. James Kennedy and many others
and garnering over 100 five-star reader reviews on Amazon.com.

In one final irony: “The Marketing of Evil” is readily available in
the Ohio State University bookstore.

____________

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