Spare the rod

And spoil the student. Katie's Thursday column University's praise for 1969 violence sets ugly precedent bemoans the University of Minnesota's muted, non-violent response to a student "take over" of Morrill Hall in 1969. The demand was for a black history department, which was created. What really cheeses Katie off is that the U commorated the incident recently:

Last weekend, the U honored the leaders of the 1969 assault on Morrill Hall as heroes. A romantic folklore now surrounds their actions. "We are thankful for you," Sue Hancock of the university's Office for Multicultural and Academic Affairs told them. "You put your lives on the line so that the ... people who followed you would have a different experience."

Katie says that President Malcolm Moos was just not up to snuff:

. . . Moos didn't lift a finger against them, or even criticize their actions. He didn't call in the campus police. He didn't subject the students to discipline or ask them to help defray repair costs. A few students were charged with crimes, but serious charges were later dropped. Two were eventually put on probation for the misdemeanor charge of unlawful assembly.

You're absolutely right, Katie. It's a damn good thing those uppity black students didn't go to a good Christian college like, say, St. Thomas. Spotty bets that Rev. President Dease would have seen to it that these upstarts got a good thrashing! It was in those evil '60s that we started letting the darkies get notions, and the country hasn't been the same since.

Tag: Katie

BTW, Wege, Spotty thinks he beat you this time.