Blowing up the Pentagon

By Jeremy Reynalds
web posted October 1, 2001

I've been getting coffee regularly for a couple of years at the
Starbucks located at Los Angeles International Airport. And
there's always been a line; how long depends on the time of day;
nevertheless there's always a line. But not Monday. The two
Starbucks baristas on duty looked bored. "Quiet?" I asked one.
"Yeh, really quiet. Since the terrorist attack. It's sad."

Trying to make some light conversation I commented, "You
know, it's safer than ever to fly now..." "Oh, I don't know," the
barista replied a little skeptically. "I don't know."

I made my way up to the gate to check in and after doing so sat
down. After finishing the latte (grande breve extra foamy for any
of you who may be interested) I looked around the section of the
airport in which I was located.There were scarcely 20 people. A
cowardly terrorist attack just two weeks ago had succeeded in
turning the once bustling LAX into a shadow of its former self.

My adopted American homeland is a different place today from
what it was a couple of weeks ago. Even my wife, the most
rational sensible and down-to-earth person on whom you could
ever set eyes, says she can't see a jet anymore without mentally
visualizing the terrible video footage showing the planes crashing
into the World Trade Center.

But we'll make it, as will most other Americans, and we'll come
out stronger. While my entire family has always been strongly
patriotic, the experiences of the last couple of weeks have
served as a reminder that we often take our wonderful country
for granted.

While I know many are praying right along with us, I know there
are some people who hold a different philosophy of life.
Apparently one of them is University of New Mexico tenured
history professor Richard Berthold, who told a history class he
teaches that "Anyone who can blow up the Pentagon has my
vote." Admittedly Berthold, who has a long history at UNM as
being somewhat of a colorful eccentric, did apologize, saying in a
telephone interview to the Albuquerque Journal that his statement
was "inexcusable ... I am sorry for acting like a complete and
utter jerk. No, I'm certainly not applauding the slaughter of
thousands of innocent people."

Now although a UNM Regent, two New Mexico state
legislators and a former UNM student would like to see Berthold
fired, the history professor's contrition doesn't extend quite that
far. He apparently told local media that any attempt to fire him
would amount to "a slippery slope to get on when it comes to
academic freedom and expression." A written statement from
UNM President William Gordon which was printed in local
media last week, said that Berthold's comment was
"irresponsible and deeply offensive." And the university this week
has announced that it does plan to discipline Gordon in some
manner, although the exact nature of that discipline is still being
reviewed.

However, Gordon has pointed out that the consequence of the
university being a place that fosters the free exchange of ideas is
that "sometimes people will say things that are outrageous,
disrespectful and hateful."

However, I see a problem right there: "The free exchange of
ideas." Whose ideas? Berthold's ideas? One student's ideas?
Everyone's ideas?" A so-called free exchange of ideas sounds
more like a graduate level seminar than an undergraduate level
lecture by Berthold. In other words, such an exchange should be
a dialogue rather than a diatribe.

In graduate seminars I have experienced both at UNM and my
current university, professors who are really engaging in the free
exchange of ideas have bought up controversial subjects in a
manner designed to encourage even the most intimidated student
to participate in the discussion. THAT's free exchange of ideas.

However, it seems that a number of professors at UNM and a
number of other state universities really want nothing more than
to indoctrinate impressionable students and to foist an agenda--
their agenda--on them and yet cloak it in the blanket of
protected First Amendment
speech. 

I recall one professor during my graduate days at UNM snidely
denigrating literature written by "dead white males." This lady
didn't want to foster any sort of open academic discussion and
free exchange of ideas unless those ideas agreed with hers. If she
had, she would have bought up the term "dead white males" as a
question to initiate round table discussion and not as a
conclusion. For example, she could have said "A lot of people
are glad the academic climate is changing and we're reading
more diverse literature than just that genre written by authors
thought of by some as ‘dead white males.' Now I've got my
opinions but I want to know what you think."

There's a huge difference in those two methods of presentation.
Dare I say that one is and should always be protected speech
and the other when articulated in a university classroom should
be grounds for possible disciplinary action up to and including
suspension and termination? We need to continue our cherished
freedom of protected speech and the free exchange of ideas in
university classrooms. However, if we're to do that, it needs to
be for everyone; including Christians and conservatives. Many
times at institutions like UNM, it's conservatives who get the
short end of the stick and people like Berthold who get a free
ride. Thankfully that doesn't appear to be the case this time.

So let's openly dialogue in the classroom but stay away from the
diatribe. And let's remember that while Berthold is getting all of
the attention this week, he's not the only guilty party at UNM.
Berthold's totally inappropriate remark reflects just the tip of the
academic iceberg at UNM, an institution which while employing
many wonderful patriotic faculty who are dedicated to their
student's growth and intellectual advancement is also home to a
number of bizarre academics with outlandish ideas whose
philosophies would never get a hearing outside the walls of the
university. The problem is that many of their bizarre philosophies
should never get a hearing INSIDE the walls of UNM.

Jeremy Reynalds is a freelance writer and the founder and
director of Joy Junction, New Mexico's largest emergency
homeless shelter. He has a master's degree in communication
from the University of New Mexico and is pursuing his PhD in
intercultural education at Biola University in Los Angeles. He is
married with five children and lives in Albuquerque, New
Mexico. His work can be viewed here and weekly at
www.americasvoices.org. He may be contacted by e-mail at
reynalds@joyjunction.org.

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