Face The State has learned that Colorado College has denied the appeal of student Chris Robinson, who was found guilty last month for violating the school's anti-violence code.
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His "crime": Satirizing "The Monthly Rag," a newsletter published by the school's Feminist and Gender Studies program. After reviewing copies of Robinson's competing "Monthly Bag," we've got to say: He should have won an award for good sophomoric political satire. Instead, he is left with a permanent scar on his academic record.
College President Richard Celeste is on record calling the parody “threatening and demeaning.” He has gone on to say that “The Monthly Bag” violates the college’s values.
While Robinson's "conviction" drew the ire of local and national talk radio and columnists, pundits and serious analysts alike should be also reflecting on the critical lack of due process for students charged with violating the political correct ethos that is so pervasive on today's campuses.
As the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education - a Philadelphia-based non-profit - points out, Robinson's appeal was doomed to fail. It was reviewed by the same administrator, Dean of Students Mike Edmonds, who originally found Robinson guilty.
But Edmonds and Celeste are the guilty ones. They have failed to uphold university policy stating that “on a campus that is free and open, no idea can be banned or forbidden. No viewpoint or message may be deemed so hateful that it may not be expressed.”
Edmonds and Celeste should give Robinson a fair hearing. While Robinson wears his conviction as a badge of honor, the chilling effect left on Colorado College in the months and years to come cannot be understated.
