Bill Ayers and Marquette

First, it was Alverno.

Then, Mount Mary.

Now, John McAdams points out that the Marquette Educational Policy and Leadership program of the University's College of Education also was an official sponsor of the Rethinking Schools celebration that highlighted that most venerated educator Bill Ayers.

I'm confused about Marquette's alleged Catholic identity.

As a Catholic institution, how can it support an event associated with Bill Ayers and an agenda that is against school choice?

Among the respected reformer Ayers' "accomplishments" is being a founding member of the radical, violent Leftist group the Weathermen, later called the Weather Underground Organization.

Terrorist Bill Ayers does not apologize for his efforts to overthrow the U.S. government via violent means. However, he does regret he didn't cause more destruction and damage to the country.

Ayers, the expert on educating our children, was an author of Prairie Fire.

The manifesto states:

We are a guerrilla organization. We are communist women and men, underground in the United States for more than four years. We are deeply affected by the historic events of our time in the struggle against U.S. imperialism.

Our intention is to disrupt the empire, to incapacitate it, to put pressure on the cracks, to make it hard to carry out its bloody functioning against the people of the world, to join the world struggle, to attack from the inside.

There's more: The distinguished Ayers is an admirer of Sirhan Sirhan, Bobby Kennedy's assassin.

The following snippet is taken from the book's dedication page, and shows that the Weather Underground dedicated the book to Robert F. Kennedy's killer Sirhan Sirhan, among many other now-obscure '60s-era radicals, criminals and revolutionaries:



Here's the two-page spread of the dedication page and copyright page in high-resolution, showing the full list of people to whom the book is dedicated:

SIRHAN SIRHAN.

The Weather Underground manifesto is dedicated to Bobby Kennedy's assassin.

"To All Who Continue to Fight and To All Political Prisoners in the U.S."

Ayers and his fellow radicals equate Sirhan Sirhan with Harriet Tubman in their dedication!

Ayers has never apologized for any of this.

Rethinking Schools made no apologies for having Ayers as their keynote speaker.

In case anyone is wondering why we chose Bill Ayers as our special guest for the 25th anniversary celebration this weekend, among his accomplishments are Citizen of the Year Award, Chicago, IL, 1997 and Distinguished Professor of Education, University of Illinois at Chicago, 1999-2010. Dr. William Ayers is a distinguished educator we are proud to have him as a Rethinking Schools supporter.

They were proud to have Ayers as a supporter.

PROUD!

Ayers is a distinguished educator?

Really?

A distinguished educator doesn't dedicate a manifesto to Sirhan Sirhan.

Ayers is a hardcore militant. He can't divorce himself from that.

Apparently, Marquette's Ellen Eckman, Chair of Educational Policy and Leadership, didn't have a problem with giving $250 to sponsor an event that highlighted and honored Ayers.

From Marquette Warrior, via Sykes Writes:

The Marquette Education College as a whole did not support the event, but rather only the Educational Policy and Leadership program. Education College Dean William Henk disclaimed any knowledge of the sponsorship, but noted that a particular department or program might have sponsored the event.

Ellen Eckman, Chair of Educational Policy and Leadership, confirmed that her department had ponied up the $250 for the sponsorship.

Eckman, asked whether she was put off by the fact that Ayers is an unrepentant former terrorist, replied that “I see him as an educational professor dealing with reform.” She added “We use a tremendous amount of Rethinking Schools materials. . . .”

Asked whether she saw their agenda as hostile to choice schools or private schools or Catholic parochial schools, Eckman said she didn’t see this as being the case, and that they are “interested in creating really good thoughtful teachers.”

...So it seems we have Marquette’s College of Education contributing not merely to an organization that honors an unrepentant terrorist, but one that opposes any competition with government-run schools, including that from Catholic schools.

Welcome to our “Catholic university.”

Eckman said “we’re in there with Mt. Mary and Alverno . . . they sponsored them too.”

What a lame response!

Eckman doesn't focus on the terrorism. She compartmentalizes that and focuses on Ayers' credentials in education, which includes active opposition to school choice programs.

This is extremely disturbing to me.

Marquette, as part of its Catholic foundation, should be an advocate for choice schools in its mission of social justice by providing children with a quality education.

Marquette looks the other way when it comes to Ayers but it boldly supports an organization and former terrorist on offense when it comes to blocking choice schools.

John McAdams concludes:

So as is typical at places like Marquette, if there is a conflict between a Catholic perspective, and secular political correctness, secular political correctness wins.

I have a BIG problem with Marquette's connection to this event.

It runs counter to its alleged mission as a Catholic university.

Marquette should put this photo on its recruiting materials for its College of Education:


Bill Ayers - Unrepentant terrorist, keynote speaker and special guest for the 25th anniversary celebration of Rethinking Schools in Milwaukee. Official sponsor: Marquette Educational Policy and Leadership program.

WE ARE MARQUETTE!