A Day in Academia
Posted by: Scott W. Graves | 11/16/2007 6:11 PM
By Elizabeth Moyer
As the final months of my college career unfold, I've spent a good deal of time reflecting on the memorable moments, both good and bad, of my tenure at the University of San Francisco. My experiences as a campus conservative have run the gambit, and I can say in hindsight that for my every infuriation at the hands of insane Leftists, I've enjoyed at least three hearty laughs at their expense.
I knew I was in for a wild ride from the first day of my first class. It was an introductory course in Comparative Politics. Our initial exercise was to determine the most desirable features a country could have. As it was the first day, the older students were the first to speak up, and they agreed unanimously that "equal distribution of wealth" was the best indicator of a good country. With that established, no further discussion was had on the subject, and a new question was introduced.
An even crazier memory was the Chicano activism that took place on campus last year. The highlight was a five-day hunger strike for immigrants' rights; it is still unclear to me what the participants hoped to accomplish. As if those in the federal government would cave for fear these kids were not getting their vitamins.
For all their foolishness, the communists and the Chicano-pride people at least offer a predictable set of material. Radical feminists, on the other hand, are a surprise every time. Feminism has gone in a very bizarre direction and has begun to take a toll in the classroom, where I've been "taught" a whole host of wacky things by feminist instructors. For instance, that a careful reading of Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet reveals Romeo is actually a homosexual. For instance, that only a "masochistic neurosis" could explain America reelecting President Bush. For instance, that the Salem Witch Trials were "the Holocaust for women"--not only a repulsive affront to the victims of the German Holocaust, but also utterly stupid considering twenty people were put to death as a result of the Salem Witch Trials, and six of them were men.
The crown jewel of the feminist presence on campus is the annual production of the play The Vagina Monologues on or around the corresponding holiday, V-Day. These days, instead of burning their bras in response to perceived injustice, the permanent-victim-mentality crowd organizes vulgar, rowdy tributes to female sexuality and the vilification of men, and celebrates a contrived holiday on February 14 in lieu of Valentine's Day, which allegedly glorifies patriarchal oppression.
The fact that the administration permits and even finances these sorts of shenanigans, in spite of USF's Catholic religious affiliation, initially surprised me. However, through a bit of research I discovered the university has been Catholic in-name-only ever since the conservative religious and political elements were driven out in the wake of a major leadership change. My next theory, that the madness on campus is a symptom of being located in San Francisco, also proved to be wrong. My various College Republican activities have put me in the company of conservative students from throughout the state and across the country, and they all tell the same story: the insanity of the Left goes completely unchecked on their campuses. If it's any indication of how rampant this problem is, The Vagina Monologues are preformed at over a thousand American colleges during the week of Valentine's Day every year.
My final anecdote is my most quintessential USF experience. It took place in the middle of campus on an ordinary afternoon as I was manning a College Republican recruitment table: somebody threw an oversized burrito at me. Luckily, liberals throw like pansies, so nobody was hurt. Plus, a leftist went hungry as a direct consequence of his/her own foolishness, which is priceless.
I have survived (and even enjoyed) my time in college thanks to my knack for laughing at cult-like stupidity and my stubborn refusal to succumb to it. Hardened by the rigor of the battle on campus, I will leave USF with a firm political resolve... and maybe a weird aversion to burritos.
As a student at the University of San Francisco, Miss Moyer offers a unique center-right perspective from the nation's hotbed of liberal activism.
As the final months of my college career unfold, I've spent a good deal of time reflecting on the memorable moments, both good and bad, of my tenure at the University of San Francisco. My experiences as a campus conservative have run the gambit, and I can say in hindsight that for my every infuriation at the hands of insane Leftists, I've enjoyed at least three hearty laughs at their expense.
I knew I was in for a wild ride from the first day of my first class. It was an introductory course in Comparative Politics. Our initial exercise was to determine the most desirable features a country could have. As it was the first day, the older students were the first to speak up, and they agreed unanimously that "equal distribution of wealth" was the best indicator of a good country. With that established, no further discussion was had on the subject, and a new question was introduced.
An even crazier memory was the Chicano activism that took place on campus last year. The highlight was a five-day hunger strike for immigrants' rights; it is still unclear to me what the participants hoped to accomplish. As if those in the federal government would cave for fear these kids were not getting their vitamins.
For all their foolishness, the communists and the Chicano-pride people at least offer a predictable set of material. Radical feminists, on the other hand, are a surprise every time. Feminism has gone in a very bizarre direction and has begun to take a toll in the classroom, where I've been "taught" a whole host of wacky things by feminist instructors. For instance, that a careful reading of Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet reveals Romeo is actually a homosexual. For instance, that only a "masochistic neurosis" could explain America reelecting President Bush. For instance, that the Salem Witch Trials were "the Holocaust for women"--not only a repulsive affront to the victims of the German Holocaust, but also utterly stupid considering twenty people were put to death as a result of the Salem Witch Trials, and six of them were men.
The crown jewel of the feminist presence on campus is the annual production of the play The Vagina Monologues on or around the corresponding holiday, V-Day. These days, instead of burning their bras in response to perceived injustice, the permanent-victim-mentality crowd organizes vulgar, rowdy tributes to female sexuality and the vilification of men, and celebrates a contrived holiday on February 14 in lieu of Valentine's Day, which allegedly glorifies patriarchal oppression.
The fact that the administration permits and even finances these sorts of shenanigans, in spite of USF's Catholic religious affiliation, initially surprised me. However, through a bit of research I discovered the university has been Catholic in-name-only ever since the conservative religious and political elements were driven out in the wake of a major leadership change. My next theory, that the madness on campus is a symptom of being located in San Francisco, also proved to be wrong. My various College Republican activities have put me in the company of conservative students from throughout the state and across the country, and they all tell the same story: the insanity of the Left goes completely unchecked on their campuses. If it's any indication of how rampant this problem is, The Vagina Monologues are preformed at over a thousand American colleges during the week of Valentine's Day every year.
My final anecdote is my most quintessential USF experience. It took place in the middle of campus on an ordinary afternoon as I was manning a College Republican recruitment table: somebody threw an oversized burrito at me. Luckily, liberals throw like pansies, so nobody was hurt. Plus, a leftist went hungry as a direct consequence of his/her own foolishness, which is priceless.
I have survived (and even enjoyed) my time in college thanks to my knack for laughing at cult-like stupidity and my stubborn refusal to succumb to it. Hardened by the rigor of the battle on campus, I will leave USF with a firm political resolve... and maybe a weird aversion to burritos.
As a student at the University of San Francisco, Miss Moyer offers a unique center-right perspective from the nation's hotbed of liberal activism.
