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It's Getting Harder To Call Penn State A Prestigious University
Get Schooled
By Dom Giordano, For The Bulletin
I have known for some time the face of Penn State University is Joe Paterno and the Penn State football team. But there is another side to Penn State that fits the template of the far left-leaning universities that engage in activities that often offend parents and taxpayers.
In the past, I’ve talked about Penn State allowing a student group called Womyn’s Concerns to hold an event called “C Fest” in which they graphically celebrated the female vagina. They had one event called the “Tent of Consent,” in which the students (in groups of two or more) would be allowed two minutes of sexual contact behind a private curtain after they had passed through “checkpoints” emphasizing the need for consent.
This event was a sad and sorry example of our tax dollars being shamelessly wasted. It had absolutely no educational purpose. As a matter of fact, it was something I would expect to see on spring break than on the campus of a prestigious university. But then again, it is becoming harder and harder to put the words “prestige” and “Penn State” together in the same sentence.
Penn State also made news in a negative way for its institution of speech codes that were widely viewed to stifle discussion and advance the agenda of those who wanted to set up politically correct groups that couldn’t be criticized. There have been, over the years, a variety of incidents that stamp Penn State as a typical university that has the institutional mentality of those universities that many view as havens for left-wing indoctrination.
However, all these past incidents did not draw nearly the reaction with my listeners as did the story involving Penn State’s training vignettes for their teachers. The vignettes featured actors role-playing situations, like one student potentially sexually harassing another and invited teachers to figure out how to deal with it.
The vignette that caused the controversy involved the “Worrisome Student.” This student was doing poorly in English class and had poor grammar skills. The teacher is depicted expressing her fears of potential violence from the student and reveal that he is a military veteran. The vignette shows this angry veteran confronting the teacher and stating that maybe the teacher’s grading is influenced by the teacher’s anti-Iraq War stance.
State Rep. Stephen Barrar, a Navy veteran, watched the tape at my request and saw it clearly illustrating the far-left agenda and insensitivity of Penn State to veterans. He wondered if they would dare have a potentially violent Muslim student or football player give the teacher a hard time.
I think this whole situation reflects the views that many in academia have toward veterans. They don’t see them as the best and the brightest. They don’t see them as Americans who put their lives on the line to defend all of us.
Penn State has issued a written statement that doesn’t apologize for this insensitivity and stereotyping, but regrets that their training film has been taken out of its proper context.
Former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum, a Penn State alum, told me that he won’t contribute to them anymore. He added that the only way to stop this is to stop the money flow. So please think about this if you are an alumni of Penn State. Think about this if you are a taxpayer. Think about this if you appreciate the service and sacrifice of our nation’s veterans.
Penn State gets about $400 million of your tax dollars every year from the state. Remember getting mad doesn’t stop it. Not writing the check starts to turn it around.
Teacher-turned-talk show host Dom Giordano can be heard weeknights on WPHT Radio (1210 AM). You can send questions to Dom via e-mail at askdomg@aol.com. You can also write to him with questions at PO Box 355, Lumberton, N.J. 08048.
In the past, I’ve talked about Penn State allowing a student group called Womyn’s Concerns to hold an event called “C Fest” in which they graphically celebrated the female vagina. They had one event called the “Tent of Consent,” in which the students (in groups of two or more) would be allowed two minutes of sexual contact behind a private curtain after they had passed through “checkpoints” emphasizing the need for consent.
This event was a sad and sorry example of our tax dollars being shamelessly wasted. It had absolutely no educational purpose. As a matter of fact, it was something I would expect to see on spring break than on the campus of a prestigious university. But then again, it is becoming harder and harder to put the words “prestige” and “Penn State” together in the same sentence.
Penn State also made news in a negative way for its institution of speech codes that were widely viewed to stifle discussion and advance the agenda of those who wanted to set up politically correct groups that couldn’t be criticized. There have been, over the years, a variety of incidents that stamp Penn State as a typical university that has the institutional mentality of those universities that many view as havens for left-wing indoctrination.
However, all these past incidents did not draw nearly the reaction with my listeners as did the story involving Penn State’s training vignettes for their teachers. The vignettes featured actors role-playing situations, like one student potentially sexually harassing another and invited teachers to figure out how to deal with it.
The vignette that caused the controversy involved the “Worrisome Student.” This student was doing poorly in English class and had poor grammar skills. The teacher is depicted expressing her fears of potential violence from the student and reveal that he is a military veteran. The vignette shows this angry veteran confronting the teacher and stating that maybe the teacher’s grading is influenced by the teacher’s anti-Iraq War stance.
State Rep. Stephen Barrar, a Navy veteran, watched the tape at my request and saw it clearly illustrating the far-left agenda and insensitivity of Penn State to veterans. He wondered if they would dare have a potentially violent Muslim student or football player give the teacher a hard time.
I think this whole situation reflects the views that many in academia have toward veterans. They don’t see them as the best and the brightest. They don’t see them as Americans who put their lives on the line to defend all of us.
Penn State has issued a written statement that doesn’t apologize for this insensitivity and stereotyping, but regrets that their training film has been taken out of its proper context.
Former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum, a Penn State alum, told me that he won’t contribute to them anymore. He added that the only way to stop this is to stop the money flow. So please think about this if you are an alumni of Penn State. Think about this if you are a taxpayer. Think about this if you appreciate the service and sacrifice of our nation’s veterans.
Penn State gets about $400 million of your tax dollars every year from the state. Remember getting mad doesn’t stop it. Not writing the check starts to turn it around.
Teacher-turned-talk show host Dom Giordano can be heard weeknights on WPHT Radio (1210 AM). You can send questions to Dom via e-mail at askdomg@aol.com. You can also write to him with questions at PO Box 355, Lumberton, N.J. 08048.
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