http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2014/12/18/college-professor-writes-column-confessing-her-hate-for-republicans-heres-the-universitys-response/College Professor Writes Column Confessing Her ‘Hate’ for Republicans — Here’s the University’s Response
Dec. 18, 2014 10:00pm Oliver Darcy
A department chair at the University of Michigan wrote a column this week confessing her “hate” for Republicans — and the school responded Thursday saying “the university values viewpoint diversity and encourages a wide range of opinions.”
Communications professor Susan Douglas penned a column titled “We Can’t All Just Get Along.” The sub-headline said, “In our era of polarization, one party is guiltier than the other.”
Douglas then began her column expressing her distaste for those identifying with the GOP.
“I hate Republicans,” she wrote. “I can’t stand the thought of having to spend the next two years watching Mitch McConnell, John Boehner, Ted Cruz, Darrell Issa or any of the legions of other blowhards denying climate change, thwarting immigration reform or championing fetal ‘personhood.’”
The professor, who said she once worked for a Republican, wrote that her “loathing is a relatively recent phenomenon” because the “brand of Republican” she is okay with is “now extinct.”
Douglas’ column resulted in her receiving threats to her life and personal safety, according to an editor’s note now attached to her article.
Students have also reacted, slamming the professor for intolerance toward those with differing political beliefs.
“This is blatant intolerance, and the university should take action on the behalf of intellectual diversity and all of the students who are intimidated into silence,” Grant Strobl, chairman of U-M’s chapter of Young Americans for Freedom, told M-Live.
On Thursday, university released a statement saying that the “views expressed are those of the individual faculty member and not those of the University of Michigan.”
“Faculty freedom of expression, including in the public sphere, is one of the core values of our institution,” university spokesman Rick Fitzgerald said, according to M-Live. ”At the same time, the university must and will work vigilantly to ensure students can express diverse ideas and perspectives in a respectful environment and without fear of reprisal. The university values viewpoint diversity and encourages a wide range of opinions.”
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