A California college student who was blocked last year from handing out copies of the Constitution gave his school a lesson in civics and the law, winning a $50,000 settlement and an agreement to revise its speech codes. Robert Van Tuinen, 26, settled with Modesto Junior College just five months after his run-in with school officials on Sept. 17 – National Constitution Day. Van Tuinen said he’s more excited about getting the school to revise its speech codes, which previously confined the First Amendment to a small area students had to sign up to use.
Van Tuinen, 26, is a veteran. He volunteered for military service, and he swore the same oath which all service members take upon induction to " ... defend and protect the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic ..." even to the point of giving up his own life in battle.
Some people tend to discount the part about "enemies, foreign and domestic" as if it were unrealistic to expect Americans to become an enemy of the Constitution.
But the college in the town he grew up in determined, arbitrarily and unilaterally, that they had an institutional right to control, limit, abrogate and infringe upon his right to speak as guaranteed by the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America.
The purpose of "higher education" is to teach people how to think critically. Toward that end, colleges and universities provide knowledge, which is a tool in critical thinking.
Unfortunately, Colleges don't have classes in "Civics", which I was taught (very long ago) in High School. There, among other knowledge, we learned about Government and important documents ... among them, the Constitution.
Do they still teach Civics in High Schools? Do College Administrators have any background training in this area?
I love college students. I worked on a university campus for over 15 years, and I learned to view students as fluffy puppies; still a little awkward in their gait when they stretch their legs, still quite full of themselves, but full of delight as they discover a new thing every day.
I admire veterans. They've learned the real "higher education". The know that sometimes you have to fight for what you believe in.
Van Tuinen, and other veterans who go back to school after the complete their term of service, are the Best of the Best. They marry academic curiosity with practical experience, and sometimes they teach their fellow students lessons which are not otherwise available in Academia. Veteran Scholars bring real-world experience, and maturity, to campus life. These are traits which are not usually not part of the 18 - 23 year-olds who are their fellow students.
And sometimes, they can have a lesson for Academia itself, in the person of the people who make the rules about what you can and cannot do on campus.
1 comment:
Did you ever consider that much of modern American higher education now considers it's primary (but unspoken) mission is to indoctrinate students. Teaching critical thinking is very low on their to do list.
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