No, not the one you think. Churchill is still being vigorously defended in the hallowed halls of U. of Colorado academia. But Phil Mitchell must go. (hat tip: Michelle Malkin) Folks, you just can't make up stuff like this.
He began teaching history in 1984, and in 1998, Mitchell won the prestigious SOAR Award for teacher of the year.
Recently, William Wei, director of the Sewall Academic Program, let Mitchell know that CU would not be renewing his contract after this year because "his teaching was not up to the department standards."
(While Wei confirmed this to me, Joyce Nielsen, associate dean for Social Sciences, denies she gave that reasoning for Mitchell's deal.
He must have done some awful things while teaching to earn dismissal. Let's see what's hidden in the closet, shall we?
Mitchell taught at the Hallett Diversity Program (ed: Diversity Program?!) for 24 straight semesters. That is, until he made the colossal error of actually presenting a (gasp!) diverse opinion, quoting respected conservative black intellectual Thomas Sowell in a discussion about affirmative action.
Sitting 5 feet from a pink triangle that read "Hate-Free Zone," the progressive head of the department berated Mitchell, calling him a racist.
"That would have come as a surprise to my black children," explains Mitchell, who has nine kids, as of last count, two of them adopted African-Americans.
Then, Mitchell had the audacity to use a book on liberal Protestantism in the late 19th century. So repulsed by the word "god" was one student, she complained, and the department chair fired him without a meeting, he said.
Oh, I see. Quoting a black conservative who dissents from the affirmative action mantra of the liberal black establishment and actually using a book in class that mentions God are enough to get you canned. Surely there's more. Perhaps Mitchell is as unqualified as Churchill.
Mitchell isn't as alluring as Churchill. He doesn't hold tenure - or a plastic AK-47. Only bachelor's and master's degrees in education, as well as a doctorate in American social history from CU.
Perhaps students have given him uniformly bad reviews?
Wei, hardly a conservative, says that in his perspective, "Phil is a great person, a good teacher and highly regarded by his students."
Faculty course questionnaires confirm what students think of him. You'll be hard-pressed to find anything but an A+.
So just exactly what "department standards" did Mitchell fail to meet. I know that's a loaded question. I'm sure the answer will be loaded also.
Comments