The Berkeley Beacon

Issue date: 11/9/06 Section: News

Media Credit: Kevin Mastman This summer, protestors on Boston Common displayed signs against the war in Iraq. The Faculty Assembly recently voted to condemn the Military Commissions Act of 2006, which outlines military policies. [Click to enlarge]

Media Credit: Steve Klise At the Max Mutchnick Campus Center the same day, a whiteboard urged students to vote. [Click to enlarge]

Media Credit: Tenley Wilson Boston voters take to the polls on Tuesday. [Click to enlarge]

On Oct. 24, Emerson's faculty assembly voted 46-4 to publicly oppose The Military Commissions Act of 2006. The act, signed into law by President Bush on Oct. 17, allows for controversial methods, such as torture, to be used when interrogating and imprisoning terrorist suspects.

Jerry Lanson, associate professor for the department of journalism and the drafter of the original public statement, admitted the vote was largely symbolic but said he considers the commissions act, which eliminates habeas corpus rights, a breach of the Constitution and basic human rights.

"Though it's symbolic, it gets people engaged," Lanson said. "My concern has been and is the extent to which a law with such remarkably broad ramifications has been largely ignored."

The statement went to The Boston Globe and Associated Press and included the exact voting numbers.

"It passed with little debate," Lanson said. "It's become law with little discussion. Its implications have barely been discussed."

Yoni Vendriger, a senior film major and president of Emerson Students for Peace, an anti-war, non-political organization on campus, commended the faculty's decision to open a dialogue on the commissions act.

"Deep down, we all want this idea of peace and co-existence," Vendriger said. "Torture is the outcome of war and resorting to violence. It creates enemies and promotes hate."

Conservatives on campus, however, have not embraced the vote. Some argued that
it will only deepen the perception of Emerson as an overwhelmingly liberal school.

Amy Levesque, a freshman marketing communication major who classifies herself as conservative, found offense with what she sees as the faculty making a very political statement.

"By voting and making a political statement like that, they are completely offending those students that oppose that opinion," Levesque said. "It is their job to teach us how to think, not influence us on what to think."

Gregory Payne, associate professor of organizational and political communication, disagreed.

"Emerson is a campus that has tolerance for all types of views," Payne said. "I have a large number of conservative students who've been very successful here. I don't care if they express their views as long as the student has good research and critical thinking skills."

Levesque's feelings, however, were echoed during the assembly vote, in which only 50 out of more than 100 eligible chose to participate. Some faculty members walked out because the vote was taking place.

Lanson said all faculty and members of the library staff were invited to vote in the assembly but that it is common for the turnout of such assemblies to be below 50 percent.

Before the vote, Lanson said his original proposal was much more focused on opening a dialogue but that during the assembly, his colleagues felt the language and content needed to be more overtly political.

"I originally called for vigorous debate and discussion," Lanson said. "My real problem is silence."

Janis Andersen, interim dean of the school of communications, corresponded with Lanson by e-mail after the vote, debating the decision.

"Institutions of higher education sacrifice some of their ability to be 'honest brokers' in public discourse when they take positions on political issues," Andersen said in an e-mail to the Beacon.
"[Colleges] serve the greatest good by educating, by raising the level of public dialogue, by sponsoring forums for discussion, debate and public engagement."

Payne did not attend the assembly but spoke positively of the faculty's decision.

"Emerson should be on the cutting edge of exposing fallacies," Payne said. "We've always been leaders in the community. I'd be more surprised if Emerson wasn't engaged than by the idea that we are."

Payne also said that during the assembly both points of view were presented and that the conservative/liberal divide is evident at Emerson.

"College professors should take a position," Lanson said. "I don't try and hide my own views nor do I believe in suppressing views in the classroom. The role of an educator is not to have no political views, it's to foster debate."

Lanson said he sent the resolution to other campuses and has been encouraging his faculty to do the same. He suggested that conservative students who feel strongly about the issue should rally together.

"They should write letters to the editor, opinion pieces to The Beacon or put together their own resolution supporting it," Lanson said. "If there are faculty who believe their voice hasn't been heard or views haven't been heard, then I would ask, 'Why not? Why aren't they speaking out?'"

Though it is Andersen's first semester on campus, she defended Emerson's treatment of its conservative students and faculty.

"Emerson is a place that teaches and values communication as a vital component of a democracy," Andersen said. "That means that the ability to engage in discourse is elevated here, and with that comes a heightened respect for diversity of opinion."

Levesque disagreed with this view of the college. She said that while she doesn't necessarily feel affected by a liberal bias in the classroom, she does feel a need to be cautious when speaking about her views to other students.

"A lot of times, I feel like I just have to shut my mouth and deal with what they're saying," Levesque said. "I don't feel like I can argue back because I'll just simply be criticized and ridiculed for having an opposite opinion."

Lanson and Payne said students with conservative views made the choice to attend Emerson, which Lanson described as a "liberal campus."

"Those who feel Emerson's too liberal, it's like putting on a coat and saying it's too hot," Payne said. "You have a choice of where to go to school."

Levesque said she found this logic hypocritical.

"How would they like being told to stay out of Texas ... or any other red state for that matter?" Levesque said.

Andersen said the vote was misguided.

"Institutions of higher education have greater influence when they operate from an educational platform rather than from a political one," Andersen said. "But I also recognize and respect that others see the world differently."

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