CU making sure faculty sign loyalty oaths

[DearAbby]

CU making sure faculty sign loyalty oaths
posted by: Dan Werner (Web producer)
Created: 2/26/2005 12:58 PM MST - Updated: 2/26/2005 12:59 PM MST



BOULDER, Colo. (AP) - In the wake of the controversy over professor Ward Churchill's essay about September 11th, the University of Colorado is making sure all faculty have signed a loyalty oath.

State law requires anybody who teaches at a higher education institution to sign an oath affirming they will uphold the U.S. and Colorado constitutions.

University officials said somewhere between 80 percent and 90 percent of staff have signed loyalty oaths. Those who haven't, will be required to do so.

Churchill was among the minority that hadn't before the controversy. But he subsequently has signed.



http://www.9news.com/acm_news.aspx?OSGNAME=KUSA&IKOBJECTID=503fe100-0abe-421a-0126-4bbb5a77ab34&TEMPLATEID=4525fe63-ac1f-02d8-002a-f131478a1f55

[IndianaGreen]

1. Make those that voted for PATRIOT and supported the Iraq War

sign those oaths, because they already violated them.

There is a whiff of fascism in the air

-- Gus Hall

[FreedomAngel82]

13. Bye-bye to

freedom of speech. It's been nice knowing you. I guess I should go and hide all my political books and movies huh?

[mim]

2. Loyalty oaths

I'm amazed. :wow: They're stuck in a time warp, aren't they?

[DearAbby]

3. There is a whiff of fascism in the air..More like a strong gale! n/t

[Ken Burch]

4. Jesus! this is happening in "the People's Republic of Boulder"?

Granted, Churchill was an insensitive prick to say what he did, but then again, the Bush people have been just as insensitive to death in Iraq as he was about 9/11.

[DearAbby]

6. Had Churchill said that those in Fallujah were Little nazis

He would have been invited to the White house for a state dinner.

[neebob]

5. How did Churchill violate the U.S. or Colorado Constitution?

Or is it just an implication? Excuse me; I've been in a hobbit hole since about the time Ward Churchill started dropping out of the news. I can't even imagine how he might have violated anybody's constitution.

[CatholicEdHead]

9. That's what I also think

what I have heard about Churchill is he attacked many government policies, but nothing directly related to either the federal or state Constitutions.

There are many gray areas of Constitutional law.

[depakid]

7. I see something of a problem with this

While I have twice sworn oathes to uphold state and federal constitutions, it was for the purposes of becoming a member of the state bars of the respective states- in other words- an officer of the Court.

I don't see a professor at a state university as having the same sort of fiduciary duty- and, in fact, I think that there are some pretty good reasons that militate against any sort of comperable duty. For example, there are certain unwise provisions the US but particularly the state constitution (which, since it can be changed by simple majority vote, has little doctrinal integrity).

There are times when certain professors ought to feel free to criticize and perhaps even advocate citizen nullification of those provisions. That's the sort of thing that gets people thinking and which academics throughout the centuries have been known to do. That kind of questioning and re-examination helps push society forward. I'm not necessarily saying it should be encouraged, but simply left up to the professor's discretion.

[Cleita]

8. Upholding the State and Federal Constitutions shouldn't be hard.

However, shouldn't our elected officials be held to the same standards before anyone else is expected to declare their loyalty with a signature? I mean didn't our elected officials take an oath to uphold the Constitution of their respective branch of government and hasn't this oath been broken over and over again at the federal level at least? This is not a whiff of fascism. It's the real thing.

[tishaLA]

10. In the University of California system we sign them too

It struck me as odd when I did it as a first year teaching assistant, but it doesn't ask much of me to affirm I will uphold the Constitution of the US and of California.

[jdots]

11. used to have to go thru crap to join the muscians union

that was absurd,but this college oath for teachers has to be dealt with now .When the fascists take over schools ( and they are ) that is the last straw,it's time to get ugly back at these maggots..

[AnnInLa]

12. These days, interpreting the Constitution is like

interpreting the Bible....everyone has his/her own idea of what certain parts mean. So, wouldn't signing such an oath be kinda meaningless? Couldn't Churchill (and others) sign the damn oath, then still criticize the gov't any time they felt compelled...without violating the oath? Isn't "supporting the Constitution" in the eye of the beholder?