Crossing That Line

My second post was supposed to be happy - about starting up my fall classes, finally moving all my stuff into my room and having it be livable, and getting to hang out with all the friends that I hadn't seen in months - but somethings have been happening at Macaulay and Hunter recently that I couldn't not say anything about. I'm sure everyone knows about General Petraeus' class and about much of the attention that his position at Macaulay has garnered. Well, last week was the first class and there was a group of students protesting outside. Now, I wasn't there but I have seen a video documenting a group of students' verbal harassment of General Petraeus while he's walking on the streets that day.

I am not an expert on Petraeus' past, I don't particularly have any personal interest in taking his class, but I know when something is crossing a line. And I'm not talking about him teaching here, I'm talking about these students verbally abusing a man that has been approved of by the faculty at this institution they are a part of. Watching the video of them doing so actually made me feel ill. Petraeus remains silent and continues to walk, even crossing the street in an attempt to get away from these students (though they follow him). In response, Dean Kirschner put out a statement that did not outright ban the students from protesting again (as they promised to do to Petraeus' face), as she obviously cannot censor them that way, but more asking them to reconsider acting so disgustingly (not using that word, of course).

I don't think that there is any problem with students not wanting Petraeus to teach here. I don't think that there is any problem with any student not wanting any professor to teach here. However, shouting about Petraeus being a war criminal, in my opinion, is really ridiculous because he has never been convicted - he's never even been brought to trial. Also, no matter how much you don't want something - making yourself look like more of the bad guy is never the solution. I think the bottom line is that I, personally, don't believe that one should cross ethical lines to get one's viewpoint across. Now the question would be, I suppose, is protesting the way those students are crossing an ethical line? To me, when I'm watching a recording of it and feeling ill, yes it is. And, personally, I am really embarrassed to call these people my classmates/schoolmates, because their reactions to what has become a controversial appointment is very childish and, as I've said, has made me ill to watch. I don't think that anyone should be stopped from protesting or talking about why they don't want Petraeus to teach at Macaulay, but I don't think anyone should resort to the manner these students have.

If people are interested, here is the link to the video and you can find Dean Kirschner's statement on the homepage of the Macaulay website.