Academic Freedom 101: Can Students Think for Themselves?

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Is a university professor’s job to make students regurgitate his own views? Or is it, rather, to call attention to the most noteworthy extant interpretations, and encourage students to use critical thinking to come to their own conclusions?

My academic training favored the latter approach, perhaps because I was fortunate enough not to study under any egotistical academic superstars. (My dissertation advisor, the late Harold Scheub, was only a semi-superstar in the somewhat marginal field of African Languages and Literature.)

But plenty of people, inside and especially outside the academy, are terrified of teachers who encourage students to think for themselves. My long-time 9/11 truth colleague Prof. Anthony Hall, who spent years being hounded by the ADL over an incriminating image that someone planted on his Facebook page, knows that better than anyone.

Tony recently posted on the “Free Speech Crisis at our Universities.”

Left-wing censors want students indoctrinated with the “Canadian residential school holocaust” narrative (among other holocaust narratives). They want to silence skeptics, and fire professors who “platform” them.

Right-wing censors want students indoctrinated with pro-Israel narratives. They want to fire administrators and professors who have encouraged the on-campus critical thinking that produced the current wave of anti-genocide protests. These Zionist-financed ConInc inquisitors are pushing today’s version of Hannity and O’Reilly’s 2006 crusade against the 9/11 truth movement in general, and its academic wing in particular.

Should professors profess only approved ideas, and force students to regurgitate them verbatim? That might be a good educational philosophy at Bill O’Reilly University. Below is the still-amusing transcript of Bill O’Reilly’s unbelievably smarmy, moronic, arrogant hectoring of two of my “Islam: Religion and Culture” students on October 11, 2006.

Bill O’Reilly Interviews “Madman” Kevin Barrett’s Students

Bill O’Reilly: Impact segment tonight: You may remember University of Wisconsin instructor Kevin Barrett saying that the USA attacked itself on 9/11 and that America is behind the terrorism in Iraq. That caused a great outcry, but Barrett hasn't pulled back a bit.

Kevin Barrett audio clip: It's happening, you know, largely through this false flag terrorism. It looks to me like, not only 9/11, but also Madrid, the Bali hotel bombing, and probably most of these so-called Zarqawi-style bombings in Iraq are all false flag operations being carried out by a special wing of probably U.S. or Western military intelligence.

Bill O’Reilly: Now this is just insane. Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle said the university should fire Barrett, but of course it's not happening. University Provost Patrick Farrell has retained Barrett, but has warned him to stop seeking publicity. However, the story doesn't end there. Barrett is now requiring his students to buy his book, which compares President Bush to Adolf Hitler. Joining us now from Madison is Molly Sessler, a student in Barrett's “Islam: Religion and Culture” class, and Jenna Pryor, the managing editor at the conservative student newspaper at UW.I'll begin with you, Ms. Pryor. You know, there comes a point where academic standards have to be held, upheld, at any major university. And here, this man runs around saying all these things with no backup, no proof, nothing. He's considered a crank and a kook by most academics. And how's it going down on the University of Wisconsin campus?

Jenna Pryor: You know, you're absolutely right. And it's becoming more and more embarrassing. You know, a few years ago when I applied and was accepted to the UW, it was my number one choice because of the prestige it had not only in Wisconsin, but nationwide. And I just feel like day by day with Mr. Barrett, that prestige is slowly eroding. I mean, we have this guy saying these things, which are perfectly reasonable for his own personal opinions, but are not facts, are not peer-reviewed scientific evidence by any means, are just basically his opinions on Republicans and President Bush, and passing them off as testable knowledge in his class, forcing students to read it, forcing students to take tests on it, forcing students to repeat it. It's embarrassing. And you're absolutely right when it comes to academic standards. I mean, for other professors at the UW, it must be extremely embarrassing for them to have a peer of theirs—

Bill O’Reilly: Is it embarrassing, though? Is it embarrassing? Have other professors said anything about it?

Jenna Pryor: I think they are. I've seen some comments online from some other professors that are embarrassed by this.

Bill O’Reilly: I don't know if that's true. I haven't seen any outcry by the university officials, the hierarchy, or the professors at all. And Ms. Sessler, you're actually taking this course. Now, why would you take a course from a guy who basically is putting forth a preposterous scenario and making statements that he can't back up with facts? Why would you take the guy's course?

Molly Sessler: Well, to be fair, when we signed up for the course, we didn't know who was going to be teaching it or really anything about it other than the description of the course.

Bill O’Reilly: But you had a chance to drop it. You know, all courses, all kids can drop whatever course you want. I know the drill.

Molly Sessler: I didn't want to drop it. I wanted to learn about his opinions.

Bill O’Reilly: Why? They're backed up by nothing. They're backed up by nothing. I mean, why don't you just go take a course by the Rajneesh Baruch someplace? I mean, come on. Don't you want to learn from somebody who has facts backing up what he says?

Molly Sessler: He does have facts backing up his beliefs on Islam, and that is what the course is about. The course is about Islam, and he's taught us very well about that.

Bill O’Reilly: All right, now let me challenge you on that, Ms. Sessler. You are going to be required to read a book that he has an essay in, and this is what he says, quote: “Like Bush and the neocons, Hitler and the Nazis inaugurated their new era by destroying an architectural monument and blaming its destruction on their designated enemies,” unquote. Do you know what monument he's talking about, Ms. Sessler?

Molly Sessler: Couldn't tell you—

Bill O’Reilly: Okay it's the Reichstag fire that's what he's talking about and he is basically putting forth to you a person with no historical background because you couldn't answer my very—it's it's not an easy question by the way what I just asked you—but it's a question that if you knew history you would know. You can't answer that question, madam. And what I'm submitting to you is that you are a young woman, sincere, who's now ensnared in this class, and you don't have the background to know whether this man's lying to you or not. Am I wrong? The book that you're speaking of that he's requiring us to read, his article is in that book.

Molly Sessler: We are not required to read his article that you're quoting from. There are three other articles from that book that we are going to be reading. His is not one of them.

Bill O’Reilly: Okay, but what I'm trying to tell you is this guy could sell you a rainbow and you would buy it because you don't have the frame of reference to know what he's talking about.

Molly Sessler: Bill, I really don't—

Bill O’Reilly: It's not a matter of being gullible. It's a matter of knowing what you're talking about. This man is saying that -was... orchestrated by President Bush, just like Hitler orchestrated the Reichstag fire, so that Bush could take power. There is not one shred of evidence, Ms. Sessler, to back that insane assertion up. You are sitting there. Your parents, I guess, are paying tuition for you to sit there in front of a madman. He's a madman.

Molly Sessler: I don't think he’s a madman.

Bill O’Reilly: I know you don't, but you're not qualified, with all due respect, because you don't know the facts of history, to make the assessment.

Molly Sessler: I'm not just going to take whatever he says as fact. That's what this class is about. That's what all university courses are about, taking them and deciding what you think about what the professor says that's controversial.

Bill O’Reilly: Ms. Pryor, all university courses are about credibility in the classroom with an instructor who is an expert in his field. That is what you pay tuition to get. All right? That's why I went to Meyers College, to Boston University, and to Harvard, because the instructors there knew what they were talking about.

This man has problems, all right? He's got problems. But the bottom line is that Ms. Sessler and other students will be sitting there and listening to this guy, and the university is allowing it to happen. Ms. Pryor, can you explain why?

Jenna Pryor: Could I explain why? No. I really wish I could. I mean, if there was a field of offensive lies, he would be an expert in that field. But there's not. And he's passing himself off as an expert on not only Islamic history, which he may or may not be, but also an expert on buildings and engineering and things like that when it comes to how the Twin Towers fell. He's not an expert. What he's saying is not facts. And he's passing them all as facts to these students. And it's unfortunate. I am shocked that the University of Wisconsin is allowing this man to teach when the things he has said are so crazy, it's frightening.

Bill O’Reilly: And I'm sorry I was a little tough on you, Ms. Sessler. I didn't mean to be. But I had to ask those questions, and I had to show the audience, you know, what your frame of reference is. You read about the Reichstag fire, read about all this stuff, and you'll come to the same conclusion that I have. Ladies, thanks very much.

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