Ithaca College is living up to its reputation of being one of the country's leading left-wing institutions.
Next month, the school will welcome Al Franken to campus. The Air America host will broadcast his show live from Ithaca and follow it up with a book-signing according to The Ithacan Online.
Among those sponsoring his visit are a local liberal radio station and the Roy H. Park School of Communications. In fact, when the school's dean, Dianne Lynch, posted a story about Franken's planned trip on her blog, a number of readers voiced their frustration.
One poster replied:
"al franken has to come here because its one of the 4 or 5 places in America where he'll actually get a crowd of more than 2 or 3 people to actually listen to his show…."
In a follow-up post, Dean Lynch writes to assure her readers that "diversity of opinion is essential to an open and informed debate on any subject, and we're committed to ensuring that we contribute to an intellectual climate on campus that celebrates and engages that kind of diversity."
But Lynch also states,
"I've asked a couple of faculty to submit recommendations for conservative media representatives; Jon Stossel's name is already on the table. I would welcome recommendations or suggestions from students as well."
Lynch's own words attest to the fact that the school is not actively inviting conservative speakers to campus. In essence, it's not a major priority. If the school was dedicated to a "diversity of opinion" it wouldn't wait for recommendations, it would simply go get a conservative and bring him/her to campus.
Since Dean Lynch doesn’t seem to know where to find a conservative or which one to invite, let me suggest, or "recommend," the following right-wingers:
- Ann Coulter
- Michelle Malkin
- Phyllis Schlafly
- David Horowitz
- Alan Keyes
- Sean Hannity
- Glenn Beck
- Neal Boortz
This list of obscure conservative speakers is just a "recommendation." Although, why wouldn't I be surprised if after reading all these names, the school invited John McCain or Arlen Spector to campus…you know…a "real conservative."
