I very much remember you. I had you in my 110 class and we chatted a number of times in the hallway. I feel your pain and also your perspective on the experiments up there. I have landed a job elsewhere for next year. While it was once my dream to come back and teach there on a permanent basis, I just cannot sustain the educational direction of the institution.

I’m not sure you remember me but I did have you for a class or two while you were still up here at BYU-Idaho. Although we greatly disagreed on several political issues, I feel that you hit the nail on the head with this one. I feel that I am a prisoner of an Administration that feels that it always knows best. Unfortunately the Administration relies too much on its “revelatory” skills instead of its common sense. I am sure that had this issue come up at Harvard, a certain administrator would feel a little bit different about the issue.

Unbeknown to me that the club had been broken up while I was on a mission, I spoke up about this issue during a debate for the SRC President which is no more than a bullet point on a resume. After the debate I asked an administrator if they really considered the long term impact that this would have on the career of students in the political arena. I was told that they were testing it out to see if it really did have an impact or if their was another way we could make contacts.

What gets me about this whole “Rethinking Education” model is that we are the Guinea Pigs for the experiment of those who have already had successful careers and are trying to make a name for themselves. On that note, thank you for writing about this. I really appreciated it.

You might be sad to hear this, but your accusations about BYU-Idaho have come true. I took part in the Jefferson Public Policy Society for a short time and found it to be a joke. Although the leaders had good intentions, it is ludicrous to think that a dominately right wing population at BYU-I would give equal time to left wing thought within a single organization — it took only three days for my pro-gay marriage stance to prompt a discussion on my spiritual adherence. If the school really wanted “neutrality” they would step back to allow any and all groups to sign up for representation.

Something that caught my eye, was how you stated the “administration” didn’t want you to be there before the Rex Rammell ordeal. Are you referring to just the college democrats or all political organizations? After reviewing the documents on the honor code here, it’s pretty obvious to me that there are safeguards in place to prevent any outward political activity (i.e. protests and demonstrations).

As someone who has followed Rex Rammell on my blog, I’ve always heard rumors that he was the cause of the removal of the group. It’s nice to have such information come from a first-hand source.

Sorry for this beast of a comment, I was just super excited to see this post. I feel this is a blog I will need to add to my blogroll.

There was actually a push to start a conservative free-market club. Not sure if it would have been considered libertarian or not (I tend to view Ron Paul as reactionary rather than libertarian). This club made the administration nervous. “If we allow the Democrats and the Republicans, we will have to allow the Greens, the Communists, and the Nazis.” This comment made me laugh at the time (still does), but it showed a general lack of knowledge about political parties (amongst other things). Of course, this is a place that says you cannot allow capris, because if you do then you have to allow all shorts.

Me? I’m a Liberaltarian.

The College Republicans collected letters and statements from former College Republicans. Many threatened that they would never give to the school as a result of this action. I do not think it was a great tactic (came across very angry). However, it did not really matter. The administration has been cultivated relationships with big donors lately and the threats of former students under 30 carried little punch.

I wouldn’t give up on church schools, but we should be keeping a close eye.