Loading ...CATCH 22
There’s not much I agree with when it comes to NUVO columnist Dave Hoppe, but in his column this week he hits the nail on the head. He writes about an IUPUI employee who got in trouble for reading a book about the KKK while on break.
He wasn’t reading ”Klan for Dummies” or The KKK in 3 Easy Steps”, but “Notre Dame vs. the Klan: How the Fighting Irish Defeated the Ku Klux Klan” According to Hoppe, Keith John Sampson, the employee, was notified by IUPUI’s Aafirmative Action office that he was being investigated for racially harrassing his fellow employees.
Yes, Sampson was accused of racially harrassing his fellow employees for reading a book about how Catholic students in 1924 took on the KKK. And the sad part is when he tried to explain to his fellow employees and the school no one would listen to him. Sampson was told to either not bring the book to the campus or read the book away from his fellow employees. By the way, he got the book from the library.
I honestly don’t know which is more ridiculous. Someone complaining or the University officials who launched an investigation over a book that none of them read.
You would think that reading would be promoted at an institution of higher learning; obviously it has become a lost art along with a few other things on campus.
February 29th, 2008 at 7:37 am
“Three minutes thought would suffice to find this out; but thought is irksome and three minutes is a long time“, A.E. Houseman
February 29th, 2008 at 8:33 am
Abdul, why are you surprised. Fire the ingrate without benefit of a hearing! This is the “New” USA, Time for Change. Let’s rewrite history to our liking, make thought other than our liberal PC doublespeak illegal, saturate the country with Illegals, enter into social unions with frogs (insert animal of choice), persecute religious belief, criminalize gun ownership for law abiding citizens, dumb down our education system, pay thugs millions to play B-ball for the Pacers, prosecute individuals for not liking others (insert protected group here)and raise our taxes to support the system that spends more than ever before and doesn’t work. Sounds like what the USA has become. Burn Baby Burn
Vote OBama in 08, yeah
February 29th, 2008 at 8:50 am
I am SO glad I am out of that God-forsaken rat-hole.
February 29th, 2008 at 9:41 am
This is America, where we have an obscure blessing called FREEDOM. Part of that freedom is the fact that sometimes you will hear or see things with which you disagree. Some people in the administration of this institution of higher “learning” need to put on their big girl panties and get over it!
February 29th, 2008 at 9:53 am
Well, IUPUI has certainly gone into the sh*tter since I was there 15 years ago.
Too bad. Used to be a nice place.
February 29th, 2008 at 9:55 am
This is typical ignorance that I see on an increasing basis when it comes to racial and cultural sensitivities.
I’ve seen the exact same reaction in the past towards people who are discussing Israeli policies - all of a sudden they’re labeled anti-semites if they believe that the Israeli government is wrong about certain things.
There’s enough ignorance currently out there that were’s going to reach a point at which enough people will demand thought police rather than reject them. FYI, Germany just prosecuted a lawyer for defending a holocaust denier. Obviously the holocaust took place, but the German government actually prosecuted a guy for believing otherwise - and then they proceeded to prosecuted his attorney for representing him.
That was within the last few months.
Let’s not be naive enough to think it would never happen here. I’m extremely polarized in my beliefs on patriotism and protecting national sovereignty, but in terms of free flow of beliefs and idea’s, polarization becomes a very dangerous and self-defeating political tool. It’s a slippery slope that needs to be overcome before we end up like modern-day Germany, where you can be imprisoned for defending a persons rights to their own beliefs.
February 29th, 2008 at 9:58 am
BTW, a quick search of IUCAT indicates that there is a copy in the holdings of the IUPUI library, and other copies at the Richmond, Fort Wayne, and South Bend libraries. The copy at IUPUI is currently checked out (do you suppose the Affirmative Action officer is reading it?).
What blatant hypocrisy.
February 29th, 2008 at 10:02 am
(Before anyone notes that Abdul says Mr. Sampson got the book from the library so it’s obvious why the book is checked out, the first part of that is true; but the library Mr. Sampson got it from was the public library, not the IUPUI library, according to the NUVO article.)
February 29th, 2008 at 11:45 am
I love NUVO for their arts, food & environmental pieces. Refreshing to agree with Mr. Hoppe on something political.
February 29th, 2008 at 2:01 pm
sounds like a good basis for a law suit. is there and federal employment statutes that pertain to employers just being plain ol’ idiots?
February 29th, 2008 at 2:16 pm
I would pursue the hell out of the employee making the claim and Mr. Sampson’s employers. While proving that one is not a racist could be nearly impossible, I would certainly look into a civil action for the defamation.
February 29th, 2008 at 6:30 pm
Read the letters Nuvo scanned and posted on their website. I believe this guy has been libeled and should seek out a lawyer immediately. Did you see what the Affirmative Action office has posted on it’s website: http://www.iupui.edu/~aao/kkk.html
The simple fact is that I have heard from some employees that everyone fears this office. They are the judge and jury. I don’t think they have the last say in firing someone, but they can recommend it. Instead of one person, it should be a panel of folks from a variety of backgrounds. Some people that work on the campus do just what is required. They are not pro-active for fear someone they interact with brings up some false and malicious charges.
February 29th, 2008 at 6:30 pm
If one was to look carefully at staffing and budget, one would likely find a curious amount of employees within the AA office, many with fanciful titles that reveal nothing in the manner of duties. Even the most obtuse administrator understands that an overbudgeted office must make itself known publicly every once in a while if it is to continue its immersion in graft.
February 29th, 2008 at 6:33 pm
Read the letters Nuvo scanned and posted on their website. I believe this guy has been libeled and should seek out a lawyer immediately. Did you see what the Affirmative Action office has posted on it’s website: http://www.iupui.edu/~aao/kkk.html
If he is guilty of “racial harassment,” then isn’t the office guilty of the same thing for putting something about the KKK on their webpage?
The simple fact is that I have heard from some employees that everyone fears this office. They are the judge and jury. I don’t think they have the last say in firing someone, but they can recommend it. Instead of one person, it should be a panel of folks from a variety of backgrounds. Some people that work on the campus do just what is required. They are not pro-active for fear someone they interact with brings up some false and malicious charges.
February 29th, 2008 at 7:15 pm
Yeah, this reminds of an incident a few years ago, when stupid folk in a supposedly progressive, small southern Indiana community got all in a tizzy because someone used the word niggardly in the presence of black people.
If the case at IUPUI is true, the party or parties harrassing this gentleman should be fired as they obviously are not qualified for any position at a University.
February 29th, 2008 at 8:28 pm
I am astonished that it has taken this long for this story about administrative idiocy to be publicized.
Reading a BOOK in front of one’s coworkers seems to be hanging offense at IUPUI!
February 29th, 2008 at 10:58 pm
Has anyone checked on Indystar the salary these people are bringing in at the IUPUI afirmitive action????? I did and I cannot believe my eyes.
Lillian Charleston, also of IUPUI’s Affirmative Action Office earns $106,219.00.
Marguerite Watkins at the IUPUI Affirmative Action Office makes $68,377.00 a year.
Should we really be paying these types of salaries?????? How much of our tax money is paying for these jobs?
March 1st, 2008 at 4:01 am
Should we really be paying these types of salaries?????? How much of our tax money is paying for these jobs? - SICK, 29 Feb 08
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Too fracking much!!!!!
March 1st, 2008 at 6:30 am
I can’t believe they make that much money. This is the last straw. I work at IUPUI and don’t even break $40,000/year. I will admit that I don’t have to do very much, but I could go elsewhere and make into the mid-$50Ks. I have procrastinated too long. It is time to take my 12 years of experience and leave IU. Unless you are an administrator, they don’t want to pay you anything. I know so many administrator types who have gotten raises with no increase in their workload.
March 1st, 2008 at 3:37 pm
I don’t object to the salaries - I object to the positions/department. $1/yr is too much salary for anyone who promotes racial and gender discrimination.