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None Dare Call it
Hypocrisy: The Left’s Outrage Over Teaching Free-Enterprise in
Universities
Posted by LaborUnionReport
Saturday, May 14th
For the last few years, America has been slowly awakened to the level
of Marxism taught in American classrooms. From the of taking public
school students to Cuba and the NEA’s recommendation of Saul Alinsky to
the most recent revelation of the University of Missouri’s
“Introduction to Labor Studies” taught by two Marxists who, in addition
to allegedly giving a Communist organizer two hours of class time to
recruit, also shared the finer points of industrial sabotage and cat
electrocutions.
According to a student who was enrolled in the class, the professors
politicized the classroom by bashing Scott Walker and Republicans,
allegedly stating at one point:
“The Republican party has done a great job of reducing class to a bunch
of tastes, and demonizing liberals because their taste is different
from ‘rednecks.’”
Moreover, regarding the Communist organizer who was given two hours to
recruit in class, the student noted:
Pecinovsky also described the dues requirements and initiation
procedures of the Communist Party, and gave out his phone number
several times, offering to stay as long as anyone wanted to talk to him
about joining.
Prof. Ancel acknowledged that joining the Communist Party could cost
students their future security clearances, make them less desirable to
future employers, and potentially put them on federal watch lists.
Still, she and Prof, Giljum invited this organization into class to
recruit. Call me crazy, but I thought universities and professors were
supposed to help students become more appealing to employers, not hook
them up with questionable organizations that by their own admission
could cost students their future livelihood.
Given the level of Marxism and outright socialism raging through
America’s publicly-funded institutions, it is somewhat ironic (and not
the least bit hypocritical) that the Left becomes hysterical when
individuals who donate their private money to universities and have the
audacity to place some conditions on their donations.
Last week, Bloomberg reported on former BB&T Corp. chairman John
Allison’s giving of grants of up to $2 million to schools if they
create a course on capitalism and make Atlas Shrugged required reading.
Allison’s crusade to counter what he considers the anti- capitalist
orthodoxy at universities has produced results — and controversy. Some
60 schools, including at least four campuses of the University of North
Carolina, began teaching Rand’s book after getting the foundation
money. Faculty at several schools that have accepted Allison’s terms
are protesting, saying donors shouldn’t have the power to set the
curriculum to pursue their political agendas, Bloomberg Markets
magazine reports in its June issue.
“We have sought out professors who wanted to teach these ideas,” says
Allison, now a professor at Wake Forest University’s business school in
Winston-Salem, North Carolina. “It’s really a battle of ideas. If the
ideas that made America great aren’t heard, then their influence will
be destroyed.”
In Florida, the Left’s favorite boogeymen du jour, the Koch Brothers,
are taking heat for putting stipulations on the $1.5 million the
Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation is giving Florida State
University for a new program promoting “political economy and free
enterprise.” Not surprisingly, for its money, the foundation wants the
ability to “screen and sign off on” new hires. Given the amount of
Marxistsm in academia, it’s easy to see why a donor like Koch would
want to ensure an instructor being hired to teach free enterprise isn’t
one like those who teach the University of Missouri’s Introduction to
Labor Studies. For all the angst the donors like Allison and Koch are
causing the Left, even the New York Times notes the schools could
refuse to accept the donations:
One could argue that such conditions compromise academic freedom, and
allow the education of today’s impressionable youth to be dictated by
the highest bidder. But colleges are not required to accept these
gifts. If they found the conditions truly objectionable — or at least
if their objections outweighed the additional good the money could do —
they could always graciously decline the money.
Meanwhile, as the Left protests private money “compromising” academic
freedom, taxpayer money (as well as private) still pours into colleges
and universities to teach students about union activism and, to varying
degrees, social justice (aka socialism). Here are just a few (with
partial descriptions):
Cipriani College of Labor and Co-operative Studies
City College of San Francisco The City College Labor Studies program
was created by the San Francisco labor movement in association with the
college. Its aim is to prepare students for careers in the labor
movement and in labor relations, and to educate workers about their
rights.
Cornell University ILR School: ILR Extension Labor Programs are
designed to deepen the knowledge and strengthen the skills of union
leaders and activists, as well as unorganized workers interested in
joining together for protection and benefits on the job. Partnering
with unions and other worker-focused organizations, ILR Extension labor
faculty conduct critical research, provide comprehensive education and
training, and offer a variety of customized services focused on labor,
employment and workplace issues.
CUNY Murphy Institute for Worker Education & Labor Studies Queens
College (NY) Provides credit and non-credit courses to union members
who receive tuition support from their unions. [Note: The unions
probably would not want a proponent of capitalism teaching these
courses, would they?]
DePaul Labor Education Program: The DePaul Labor Education Center
offers a three-year certificate program in Labor Leadership that trains
union members to become union leaders.
Florida International University Center for Labor Research and Studies:
Houses projects such as the Immigration and Ethnicity Institute, the
Human and Labor Rights Institute, Applied and Theoretical Research
Projects, Florida Labor Archives, International Labor Program Union
Leadership Academy Certificate Program, and Workplace Issues
Certificate Program.
GA State University Labor Studies Program: Classes are usually
sponsored by local unions, central bodies, union regional offices, or
the Ga. State AFL-CIO.
Harvard Trade Union Program: The Labor and Worklife Program is a public
policy and research center at Harvard Law School, which sponsors the
Harvard Trade Union Program an annual, 6-week residential session for
approximately 30 experienced union officials and senior staff focusing
on strategic planning and leadership skills. Additionally, the program
organizes conferences, symposiums, and shorter educational sessions on
important issues facing the labor movement.
Indiana University Division of Labor Studies …Institute for the Study
of Labor in Society that provides technical consulting in economic
policy, labor resources, market research, public opinion and workplace
education programs policy, etc.
Jefferson State Community College Center for Labor Education and
Research CLEAR CLEAR designs and presents university level education
programs for workers and their representatives.
Middle Tennessee State University The Tennessee Center for
Labor-Management Relations (TNCLMR) is funded by the Department of
Labor and Workforce Development and is associated with Middle Tennessee
State University.
Pennsylvania Center for the Study of Labor Relations: Workshops
currently being offered by the center include steward training, worker
safety and health, and negotiations.
Rutgers Labor Education Program Labor studies and employment relations
examines work, workers, the organizations employees create to defend
their interests and non-work phenomena that affect and are affected by
workers.
South Seattle Community College Labor Center: The Labor Center at South
Seattle Community College is Washington State’s only statewide higher
education outreach program providing direct educational and research
services to labor unions. The Labor Center’s mission is to help union
and community members develop the skills, confidence, and knowledge
that will enable them to become more effective leaders, staff, and
rank-and-file activists.
UC Berkeley Center for Labor Research and Education Our curricula and
leadership trainings serve to educate a diverse new generation of labor
leaders.
UCLA Center for Labor Research and Education As part of the Institute
of Industrial Relations (IIR), the UCLA Center for Labor Research and
Education plays a unique role as a bridge between the university and
the labor community in Southern California….Through its extensive
connections with unions and workers, the Labor Center also provides
labor with important and clearly defined access to UCLA’s resources and
programs. An advisory committee comprised of about forty Southern
California labor and community leaders (representing more than one
million members in the public and private sectors) provides advice and
support for the center
UMass Amherst Labor Center With course work in history, law, economics,
research, organizing, and bargaining, we equip our graduates to work in
the labor movement and associated social justice organizations.
UMass Boston Labor Resource Center The Center advocates for economic
and social justice for working families as they seek to gain control
over their futures at work, in their communities, and in the political
arena. We lend our skills, expertise, and resources to workplace and
community activists, assisting them in building a powerful, inclusive
labor movement that can effectively advocate for all working people.
UMass Dartmouth Arnold M. Dubin Labor Education Center The Arnold M.
Dubin Labor Education Center was established in 1975 to meet the
educational needs of workers as members and leaders in the labor
movement and as active and responsible citizens in the community.
[Note: Mr. Dubin may have had some input as to how his money was used
to promote the labor movement.]
Of course, there is also the aforementioned University of MO Kansas
CIty Institute for Labor Studies:
The Institute for Labor Studies offers credit and non-credit courses on
a wide range of labor issues including bargaining, grievance handling,
internal organizing, the global economy, labor history. It offers
custom training for unions and a Labor Studies Credit Certificate
Program on the Interactive Video Network in cooperation with other
Missouri labor education programs. It’s Labor in the Schools program
has developed a 15-hour curriculum appropriate for high school 11th
grade social studies classes and adaptable for apprenticeship and union
education programs. ILS also sponsors and coordinates The Heartland
Labor Forum, a one-hour weekly radio show on community radio in Kansas
City. ILS does programming and tours on maquiladora issues in Mexico.
You probably noted in the program description, there is nothing about
teaching the finer points of industrial sabotage, the electrocution of
cats, and the recruitment of young Communists. Then again, since the
program is at least partially funded with tax-payer money, they
wouldn’t want to be that blatant.
While there are others of more or less Marxist leanings, the University
of Wisconsin School for Workers (in Madison, Wisconsin) is noted as the
“oldest University labor education program in North America.”
And, of course, let us not forget that unions donate money to colleges
to influence academia, like Harvard’s Jerry Wurf Memorial Fund, which
is paid for by AFSCME.
The Jerry Wurf Memorial Fund of the LWP was established in 1982 in
memory of the late President of the American Federation of State,
County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME). Its income is used to initiate
programs and activities that:
[R]eflect Jerry Wurf’s belief in the dignity of work, and his
commitment to improving the quality of lives of working people, to free
open thought and debate about public policy issues, to informed
political action…and to reflect his interests in the quality of
management in public service, especially as it assures the ability of
workers to do their jobs with maximum effect and efficiency in
environments sensitive to their needs [...]
Last, but not least, is the National Labor College/George Meany Center:
The National Labor College (NLC) is one of a kind, the only college in
the United States with an exclusive mission to serve the educational
needs of the labor movement. It is an activist institution made up of
students, faculty and alumni who together form a learning community
based on a common understanding of the world of work and the ecology of
the labor movement. The College respects that its student body is made
up of experienced, highly skilled working adults who have multiple
commitments to family, job, union and community. In its academic
programs, the NLC honors higher learning that takes place both inside
and outside the collegiate community.
The National Labor College is partially funded by the AFL-CIO (paid for
by member dues) and is affiliated with numerous (publicly-funded)
universities. Though this is just a guess, the AFL-CIO would probably
strenuously object to a free-market economist like Walter Williams
being hired to teach at the National Labor College.
It’s unfortunate that businessmen are being chastised for donating
money to colleges and having to stipulate that the money be used to
promote free-markets. Then again, with so many schools openly embracing
Marxist ideology, the hypocrisy of the Left-wing academia in this area
is not one that is unexpected.
Read it with links at Redstate
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