Marquette University teaching assistant Cheryl Abbate doesn’t like the fact that Professor John McAdams criticized her for not allowing students to discuss gay rights. His article got noticed by Inside Higher Ed, so instead of defending her possibly indefensible actions, Cheryl Abbate cried to the publication:

Abbate, however, said she hoped Marquette would “use this event as an opportunity to create and actively enforce a policy on cyberbullying and harassment.” She added: “It is astounding to me that the university has not created some sort of policy that would prohibit this behavior which undoubtedly leads to a toxic environment for both students and faculty. I would hope that Marquette would do everything in its power to cultivate a climate where Marquette employees, especially students, are not publicly demeaned by tenured faculty.”

That’s right, folks. McAdams discussing Abbate’s classroom actions is bullying. Stop your doctoral studies now, Cheryl. If you, as an adult, can’t take criticism of your teaching methods, you ought not be in academia.

The original incident included a student approaching Abbate after the class (called “Theory of Ethics”) to discuss her decision to not allow discussion of gay rights. At one point, this happened:

Abbate explained that “some opinions are not appropriate, such as racist opinions, sexist opinions” and then went on to ask “do you know if anyone in your class is homosexual?” And further “don’t you think it would be offensive to them” if some student raised his hand and challenged gay marriage? The point being, apparently that any gay classmates should not be subjected to hearing any disagreement with their presumed policy views.

Then things deteriorated further as the student said that it was his right as an American citizen to make arguments against gay marriage. Abbate replied that “you don’t have a right in this class to make homophobic comments.”

The student was then told that if he didn’t like her policy against homophobic, racist, or sexist comments, he should drop the class. Suddenly any discussion of gay marriage that may not support it is automatically labeled as homophobic?

How sad that in a philosophy class, students are not even allowed to discuss their views and opinions. Abbate would rather have Marquette University censor McAdams, than own her own classroom decisions. If the answer to the problem is to yell CYBERBULLYING (rather than respect that McAdams was discussing a legitimate, debatable topic), maybe Abbate should rethink her classroom tactics and/or career choice.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=2761222&forum_id=2#26963794)

lol @ a philosophy phd student spouting this

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=2761222&forum_id=2#26963953)

Marquette University professor Cheryl Abbate told a 20-year-old student that gay right issues couldn't be discussed in her classroom. (Cheryl Abbate Wordpress)

Students who oppose gay marriage are homophobic, according to an audio recording of a Marquette University instructor who went on to say that gay rights issues cannot be discussed in class because it might offend homosexuals.

I reached out to the 20-year-old student at the center of this outrageous episode and the story he tells should serve as a warning to anyone who thinks religious schools are safe havens for open discourse.

The story was first reported on a blog run by a Marquette University professor and was picked up by the good folks over at The College Fix.

The young man, who asked not to be identified, explained what happened when his ethics instructor, Cheryl Abbate, led a conversation in "Theory of Ethics" class about applying philosophical theories to modern political controversies. There were a list of issues on the board—gay rights, gun rights and the death penalty.

"We had a discussion on all of them—except gay rights," the student told me. "She erased that line from the board and said, 'We all agree on this.'"

Well, as it so happened—the student did not agree with instructor Abbate.

So after class he approached the instructor and told her he thought they should have discussed the issue of gay rights. He also recorded their conversation—without her permission.

"Are you saying if I don't agree with gays not being allowed to get married that I'm homophobic?" the student asked.

"I'm saying it would come off as a homophobic comment in this class," the teacher replied.

"Regardless of why I'm against gay marriage, it's still wrong for the teacher of a class to completely discredit one person's opinion when they may have different opinions," the student said.

Abbate disagreed.

"There are some opinions that are not appropriate—that are harmful—such as racist opinions, sexist opinions," she said. "And quite honestly, do you know if anyone in the class is homosexual?"

The student said he did not know the answer to her question.

"Do you not think that would be offensive to them if you were to raise your hand and challenge this," she asked.

At that point, the student told the instructor he had a right to challenge that—"that's my right as an American citizen."

"Actually," the teacher replied, "You don't have a right in this class, especially [in an ethics class], to make homophobic comments."

The student retorted that the comments were not homophobic.

"This is about restricting rights and liberties of individuals," he said. "Because they're homosexual, I can't have my opinions?"

And that's when the teacher dropped the bombshell.

"You can have whatever opinions you want but I will tell you right now—in this class homophobic comments, racist comments, sexist comments will not be tolerated," she said. "If you don't like it, you are more than free to drop this class."

So the student dropped the class.

"I understand that other people have very different views than I do and that's understandable," the student told me. "But when a student is not allowed to have an open discussion in a discussion-type class on a specific issue because it's regarded as homophobic—that really irks me."

Marquette Professor John McAdams, who runs the Marquette Warrior blog, accused Abbate of using a tactic "typical among liberals now."

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=2761222&forum_id=2#26963829)

Cheryl Abbate is the Marquette Philosophy instructor who told a student who wanted to discuss gay marriage in class that any expressions of opposition would be “homophobia,” and further that any gay students who happened to be in class should be protected from hearing such arguments.

Our post generated a huge brouhaha, and eventually was the subject of an article in Inside Higher Ed. According to the article:

Abbate, however, said she hoped Marquette would “use this event as an opportunity to create and actively enforce a policy on cyberbullying and harassment.” She added: “It is astounding to me that the university has not created some sort of policy that would prohibit this behavior which undoubtedly leads to a toxic environment for both students and faculty. I would hope that Marquette would do everything in its power to cultivate a climate where Marquette employees, especially students, are not publicly demeaned by tenured faculty.”

Thus Abbate adds “cyber bullying” to “offensive” and “harassing” and “racist, sexist and homophobic” to the repertoire of terms that politically correct academic leftists use to shut up people whose opinions they dislike.

If simply providing news coverage of an event that reflects badly on somebody is bullying, the Fox News website has been consistently bullying Barack Obama, and the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel doing the same to Scott Walker.

Abbate feels she has been demeaned, but was happy to demean a student by clearly implying that his views were homophobic and “offensive.” We reported that fact. It was the facts that made Abbate look bad.

The “toxic environment” business is ironic. Abbate created a toxic environment for the student by labeling his views on gay marriage homophobic. There is no doubt that the “climate” feels better for politically correct students and faculty if their views and behavior are not allowed to be challenged. In other words, when there is no diversity of opinion, or when diverse opinions are silenced.

In academia, politically correct people apparently get to attack and demean whomever they want, and then play the victim when their own behavior gets publicized.

Politically correct academics are so entirely convinced their own attitudes are righteous that they cannot accept people disagreeing with them, and even criticizing them. It’s the result of an extremely inbred, narrow and parochial culture.

As an article on the website of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education notes:

Abbate and her defenders come off in the Inside Higher Ed article as believing it’s perfectly fine for them to silence students if they hold views based on sources they don’t like.

They apparently apply that standard to professors, too.

Labels: Cheryl Abbate, cyberbullying, Gay Marriage, Intolerance, Leftist Intolerance, Leftist Professors, Liberal Intolerance, Marquette, Philosophy Department, Political Correctness

http://mu-warrior.blogspot.com/2014/11/cheryl-abbate-to-marquette-silence.html

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=2761222&forum_id=2#26963835)

seriously, die already.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=2761222&forum_id=2#26963904)

https://mariomurilloministries.files.wordpress.com/2014/11/cheryl-abatte-copy1.jpg

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=2761222&forum_id=2#26963917)

http://www.xoxohth.com/thread.php?thread_id=2761219&mc=1&forum_id=3

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=2761222&forum_id=2#26963932)

(actual lib argument)

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=2761222&forum_id=2#26963933)

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=2761222&forum_id=2#26963848)

Free Thought No More: Teacher Cheryl Abbate at Marquette U to student: If you don’t support gay marriage, drop my class

I reached out to the 20-year-old student at the center of this outrageous episode and the story he tells should serve as a warning to anyone who thinks religious schools are safe havens for open discourse.

The story was first reported on a blog run by a Marquette University professor and was picked up by the good folks over at The College Fix.

The young man, who asked not to be identified, explained what happened when his ethics instructor, Cheryl Abbate, led a conversation in “Theory of Ethics” class about applying philosophical theories to modern political controversies. There were a list of issues on the board – gay rights, gun rights, and the death penalty.

“We had a discussion on all of them – except gay rights,” the student told me. “She erased that line from the board and said, ‘We all agree on this.’”

Well, as it so happened – the student did not agree with instructor Abbate.

So after class he approached the instructor and told her he thought they should have discussed the issue of gay rights. He also recorded their conversation — without her permission.

“Are you saying if I don’t agree with gays not being allowed to get married that I’m homophobic?” the student asked.

“I’m saying it would come off as a homophobic comment in this class,” the teacher replied.

“Regardless of why I’m against gay marriage, it’s still wrong for the teacher of a class to completely discredit one person’s opinion when they may have different opinions,” the student said.

Abbate disagreed.

“There are some opinions that are not appropriate – that are harmful – such as racist opinions, sexist opinions,” she said. “And quite honestly, do you know if anyone in the class is homosexual?”

The student said he did not know the answer to her question.

“Do you not think that would be offensive to them if you were to raise your hand and challenge this,” she asked.

At that point, the student told the instructor he had a right to challenge that – “that’s my right as an American citizen.”

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=2761222&forum_id=2#26963852)

Dude sounds almost as insufferable as the professor.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=2761222&forum_id=2#26963955)

Teacher to student: If you don't support gay marriage, drop my class

Students who oppose gay marriage are homophobic, according to an audio recording of a Marquette University instructor who went on to say that gay right issues cannot be discussed in class because it might offend homosexuals.

I reached out to the 20-year-old student at the center of this outrageous episode and the story he tells should serve as a warning to anyone who thinks religious schools are safe havens for open discourse.

ADVERTISEMENT

The story was first reported on a blog run by a Marquette University professor and was picked up by the good folks over at The College Fix.

The young man, who asked not to be identified, explained what happened when his ethics instructor, Cheryl Abbate, led a conversation in “Theory of Ethics” class about applying philosophical theories to modern political controversies. There were a list of issues on the board – gay rights, gun rights, and the death penalty.

“We had a discussion on all of them – except gay rights,” the student told me. “She erased that line from the board and said, ‘We all agree on this.’”

Well, as it so happened – the student did not agree with instructor Abbate.

So after class he approached the instructor and told her he thought they should have discussed the issue of gay rights. He also recorded their conversation -- without her permission.

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“Are you saying if I don’t agree with gays not being allowed to get married that I’m homophobic?” the student asked.

“I’m saying it would come off as a homophobic comment in this class,” the teacher replied.

“Regardless of why I’m against gay marriage, it’s still wrong for the teacher of a class to completely discredit one person’s opinion when they may have different opinions,” the student said.

Abbate disagreed.

“There are some opinions that are not appropriate – that are harmful – such as racist opinions, sexist opinions,” she said. “And quite honestly, do you know if anyone in the class is homosexual?”

The student said he did not know the answer to her question.

“Do you not think that would be offensive to them if you were to raise your hand and challenge this,” she asked.

At that point, the student told the instructor he had a right to challenge that – “that’s my right as an American citizen.”

“Actually,” the teacher replied, “You don’t have a right in this class especially [in an ethics class] to make homophobic comments.”

The student retorted that the comments were not homophobic.

“This is about restricting rights and liberties of individuals,” he said. “Because they’re homosexual, I can’t have my opinions?”

And that’s when the teacher dropped the bombshell.

“You can have whatever opinions you want but I will tell you right now – in this class homophobic comments, racist comments, sexist comments will not be tolerated,” she said. ‘If you don’t like it, you are more than free to drop this class.”

So the student dropped the class.

“I understand that other people have very different views than I do and that’s understandable,” the student told me. “But when a student is not allowed to have an open discussion in a discussion-type class on a specific issue because it’s regarded as homophobic – that really irks me.”

Marquette Professor John McAdams, who runs the Marquette Warrior blog, accused Abbate of using a tactic “typical among liberals now.”

“Opinions with which they disagree are not merely wrong, and are not to be argued against on their merits, but are deemed ‘offensive’ and need to be shut up,” he wrote.

The student told me he filed a complaint – but he said university officials dismissed his concerns.

McAdams wrote that he was not surprised because the university officials held the same intolerant views as the instructor.

“Like the rest of academia, Marquette is less and less a real university,” he wrote. “And when gay marriage cannot be discussed, certainly not a Catholic university.”

A university spokesman told me they were viewing “both a concern raised by a student and a concern raised by a faculty member.”

“We are taking appropriate steps to make sure that everyone involved is heard and treated fairly,” the spokesman told me. “In compliance with state and federal privacy laws, we will not publicly share the results of the reviews.”

Abbate told the website Inside Higher Ed that the “class discussion was not meant to be an opportunity for students to express their personal beliefs about political issues.”

She said she hoped Marquette would “use this event as an opportunity to create and actively enforce a policy on cyberbullying and harassment.”

“It is astounding to me that the university has not created some sort of policy that would prohibit this behavior which undoubtedly leads to a toxic environment for both students and faculty,” she told Inside Higher Ed.

The only thing toxic at Marquette are teachers who oppose Catholic doctrine and try to silence dissenting opinions.

I would be remiss if I did not address the student’s behavior. A full review of the audio tape reveals the student was in fact disrespectful to the instructor. And when the instructor asked if she was being recorded, the student did not tell the truth.

I asked the young man about his behavior and he admitted to me that it was wrong. He told me that he “regretted” his actions.

Nevertheless, the student’s behavior does not excuse Marquette University’s successful attempt to silence the free exchange of ideas.

So let’s review -- an instructor at a Catholic university taught material that is contrary to the teachings of the Catholic Church and when a Catholic student brought this information to the attention of Catholic administrators – the student was the one who got rebuked.

I’m not a Catholic – but it seems to me Marquette University is one of those CINO schools – Catholic in Name Only.

Todd Starnes is host of Fox News & Commentary, heard on hundreds of radio stations. Sign up for his American Dispatch newsletter, be sure to join his Facebook page, and follow him on Twitter. His latest book is "God Less America."

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=2761222&forum_id=2#26963857)