Michelle Malkin covers an appalling local story because, especially during the Christian Holy Week, it’s a national disgrace:
A professor at Northern Kentucky University said she invited students in one of her classes to destroy an anti-abortion display on campus Wednesday evening.
Stop, right, there. Would this professor even be on campus now if she had invited students to destroy a gay advocacy display, or a diversity display?
Let’s go on:
NKU police are investigating the incident, in which 400 crosses were removed from the ground near University Center and thrown in trash cans. The crosses, meant to represent a cemetery for aborted fetuses, had been temporarily erected last weekend by a student Right to Life group with permission from NKU officials.
….. Witnesses reported “a group of females of various ages” committing the vandalism about 5:30 p.m., said Dave Tobertge, administrative sergeant with the campus police.
Sally Jacobsen, a longtime professor in NKU’s literature and language department, said the display was dismantled by about nine students in one of her graduate-level classes.
“I did, outside of class during the break, invite students to express their freedom-of-speech rights to destroy the display if they wished to,” Jacobsen said.
Asked whether she participated in pulling up the crosses, the professor said, “I have no comment.”
This is unbelievable. A tenured professor believes that destroying a display is exercising free speech? I’m tempted to ask “Where’s your car? I’d like to exercise some free speech on it,” but I of course wouldn’t do that.
But brave soul Ms. Jacobsen doesn’t have the guts to tell us whether she exercised her destructive freedom-of-speech rights. (see below — she was caught red-handed on film)
Later in the article, we get an idea of why Ms. Jacobsen came to a boil:
The Right to Life organization formed last month in response to activity by faculty members on the other side of the issue.
The faculty group is called Educators for Reproductive Freedom. So far, it has held two lunchtime discussions on campus with speakers from the American Civil Liberties Union and Planned Parenthood.
The group’s purpose is to learn more about laws and pending legislation that affect women’s reproductive rights, said philosophy professor Nancy Hancock, one of the organizers.
Pro-life students got wind of the meetings and passed out literature near the doors. They also quickly elected officers, wrote a constitution and mounted the cross display.
Hancock said she considered the student activity an overreaction.
How dare those skulls full of mush push back! It must be infuriating to propagandist faculty to see students thinking for themselves, and acting effectively.
Too bad, folks, and get used to it. I’m reading that today’s students are in general the most ideologically conservative to show up on campus in many years.
The article notes that the kids rebuilt the display, and camped out overnight to protect it. Impressive, but depressing. Impressive because of the dedication they’re showing to their cause; depressing because they had to do it to protect it from “free-speech” hypocrites like Ms. Jacobsen.
In the meantime, Ms. Jacobsen and her fellow destroyers deserve nothing less than a perp walk, with expuslion for the students (grad students no less), and termination for the professor. A little jail time for everyone involved would not be out of order either.
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UPDATE: The Life News story about the destruction has the following additional information about Sally “No Comment” Jacobsen, and in the process shows how The Cincinnati Enquirer whitewashed the story:
Meanwhile, Northern Kentucky University President James Votruba has confirmed that Dr. Sally Jacobsen encouraged students in her British literature class to “exercise their free speech” by vandalizing the display.
Jacobson’s class meets on Wednesday evening and reporters from The Northerner caught her and NKU student trashing the pro-life display.
“I am very disappointed that this happened,” Votruba told The Northerner. “At a university, the opposing views should be able to bump up against each other. Responding with pamphlets or speeches would have allowed the power of ideas to compete.”
….. David Tobergte, an administrative sergeant with the University Police said those involved could face felony theft charges and any students could also face university sanctions regarding the incident.
Dean of Students Kent Kelso apologized for the incident and said those involved would be punished. He indicated he would press for a full police investigation.
So Ms. Jacobsen was SEEN and FILMED (see below) participating in the destruction. Why didn’t the Enquirer report that?
UPDATE 2: Yet another Enquirer “oversight,” this time from NKU’s student newspaper The Northerner (bold is mine):
Members of the Northern Right to Life are camping out Thursday to protect their display of anti-abortion crosses, following the damage and removal of the display on Wednesday by protestors.
The group has decided to press charges against those responsible.
“We called the police and told them that we decided to press charges,” said Julie Broering, treasurer for the group. The members reached their decision after a day-long deliberation.
This information was published Thursday, and should have been known to the Enquirer in time for Friday publication.
UPDATE 3: From the Northerner’s slide show (warning: clicking on link will make your browser window smaller) — I’d say this constitutes participation in the destruction:
Michelle Malkin has updated her post and added a picture of the professor actually tearing down the “Cemetery of Innocents” sign.
UPDATE 4: Mark at Weapons of Mass Discussion writes on behalf of himself and fellow NKU alum Matt, justiably demanding Jacobsen’s termination and the closing of wallets until it happens.
