Perhaps someone on Brown’s honorary degree committee has a keen sense of ironic humor. Though I suspect most would not find much to laugh about.

During commencement ceremonies this weekend, Cecile Richards (Brown ‘80), president of Planned Parenthood, is to receive an honorary degree: Doctor of Humane Letters.

It is one thing to consider abortion an acceptable (though unfortunate, i.e. “safe, legal, and rare”) medical service; quite another to consider its provision an act of the highest human morality. Among the other recipients of this award in 2010 is Nelson Mandela — a man whose great accomplishments are now placed at moral equivalency with those of Mrs. Richards.

Why is Planned Parenthood controversial, even among many who accept abortion in principle? After all, the organization does a great deal of health counseling and other genuinely helpful work. The answer lies in its history: Planned Parenthood was founded by eugenicists for the express purpose of limiting the growth of “undesirable” minority populations. (Cf: Sanger, Margaret.) Indeed, while more subtle in modern times, over 40% of abortions today are performed on black women — an over-representation of nearly 400%. The organization serves primarily in poorer communities, heavily biasing the demographics of the clientèle served. And, while clearly an exceptional case (though not out of line with the above), a recent sting operation found a number of Planned Parenthood clinics eagerly willing to accept donations earmarked specifically for abortion procedures for black mothers. (Not to mention illegally covering up cases of statutory rape.) So extreme is Planned Parenthood in its advocacy of abortion that it opposed legislation in Illinois designed to protect babies “born alive” following botched abortion procedures, and has admitted to a policy of “negligent homicide” in these cases elsewhere.

But the situation regarding Cecile Richards is actually more complex. Mrs. Richards is not simply the president of Planned Parenthood. She has in fact been championing the most extreme causes on her side of the spectrum for her entire career. She she spent the 1990’s attacking religious groups in Texas (some admittedly deserving of criticism, though many far from it), and serving as a labor activist for the most forceful and politicized labor unions, such as the SEIU (of which her husband is a high ranking director). In 2004, she presided over the “Get Out the Vote” efforts of ACORN, MoveOn.org, and an assortment of large labor unions, under the auspices of her umbrella organization “America Votes.” And she was deputy chief of staff to (of course) Nancy Pelosi.

My point in saying all of this is simply that one would be hard-pressed to find a more intensely partisan individual than Mrs. Richards, or a more controversial organization than Planned Parenthood. Brown has given its highest endorsement to the left-wing equivalent of Jerry Falwell or Pat Robertson. Declaring America’s foremost abortionist to be a “doctor of humane letters” is a political statement of unprecedented magnitude, even for Brown.

Regardless of how one feels about abortion per se, therefore, I believe that it is in the interests of the entire alumni community to oppose the conferring of this award: at the very least, this action is likely to ostracize a significant number of graduates. Personal belief is one thing; institutional advocacy quite another.

At the Foundation for Intellectual Diversity, we endeavor to not only create awareness about some of the political radicalism taking place on campus, but also to offer constructive alternatives. Over the course of this year, we have exposed Brown’s plan to make reparations payments to Providence public schools, the University’s hiring of a radical, postcolonial professor, and a number of left-wing race-related events. The most recent example of such radicalism is Sex Week, which brought us such edifying and educational forums on using strap-ons, fulfilling sexual fantasies, and making polyamorous relationships work. Please consider donating to us today, to help us continue to expose such radicalism on our Web site and through our student publication, The Brown Spectator. With additional funding, we also will be able to bring speakers to campus who challenge the dominance of leftist thought at Brown and offer alternative views. Please donate by clicking here. Checks or money orders can be mailed to The Foundation for Intellectual Diversity, PO 2861, Providence, RI 02906.

Brown should be applauded for bringing free speech advocate Salman Rushdie to speak on campus as part of its Year of India events. We spend a lot of time on this blog criticizing Brown for its poor record on intellectual diversity and academic freedom, which is all the more reason to give the University credit when its due. As readers may recall, Rushdie sparked controversy in the Muslim world in 1989 because of how his book, The Satanic Verses, depicted Islam. Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the spiritual leader of Iran at the time, issued a fatwah against Rushdie, and his book was banned in many Muslim countries. At his lecture, on Feb. 16, Rushdie delivered an inspiring defense of the freedom of speech. He endorsed what he called the ‘extreme view of free speech’ –namely that it all should be let out—as the ‘sensible one.’ Rushdie added, “The defense of free speech begins with someone who says something you don’t like.” It is a message that needs repeating at Brown. We only wish Rushdie had been around during the reparations ad controversy in 2001, when student radicals stole an entire press run of the Brown Daily Herald–an act of vandalism and an affront to free speech that was condoned by many professors and exused by the administration.

In its weekly Diamonds and Coal editorial, the Brown Daily Herald dealt a low blow to the Brown College Republicans:

“Coal to GOP gubernatorial candidate John Robitaille, who said he was  “not used to speaking to such a small group” — you obviously have not spent enough time with the Brown Republicans.”

As a member of the Brown Republicans, I have to admit that the group is small. However, even with their small numbers, Republicans—and conservative students in general—do have a voice on campus—not just through the College Republicans group, but also in right-leaning publications like The Brown Spectator. This being said, Robitaille’s comment wasn’t about size; he was referring to the informality of the meeting. But the Herald couldn’t miss the chance to snub the College Republicans and poke fun at the GOP gubernatorial candidate at the same time. I was not aware that at Brown it was acceptable to ridicule a student group for being in the minority.  Can you imagine a Herald editorial making fun of the small size of any other minority group on campus—African Americans, Muslim Americans, international students, or transgendered students? Of course not, but when it comes to politically conservative minorities, apparently a different standard applies.

We are pleased to welcome one of our interns this semester, Kelly Fennessy, as a contributor to a blog.
 
Kelly Fennessy, a native of Toms River, New Jersey, is a freshman at Brown University who hopes to concentrate in Applied Mathematics/Economics.  In 2009, she graduated from the Marine Academy of Technology and Environmental Science in Manahawkin, New Jersey.  Also in 2009, she received an Associate’s Degree from Ocean County College in Toms River, New Jersey.  In high school, she wrote for the school newspaper (MATES Messenger) as well as many other activities (math league, Chemistry Olympics, etc.), worked at a local grocery store and volunteered at an animal shelter.  At Brown, she is a rower on the crew team.

We are pleased to announce that a new issue of Closing Remarks is out on campus. Closing Remarks is a Christian arts and culture magazine that the Foundation for Intellectual Diversity supports on campus, in addition to The Brown Spectator. Topics in the new issue include God and mathematics and the relationship between faith and economics. For more, visit the magazine’s home page.

It’s no secret that President Ruth Simmons has aligned herself with leftist causes—her backing of the reparations movement being the most obvious example—so it was interesting to see how her ideology influenced her decision, as a board member, on whether to give a bonus to the CEO of the Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Well, the Providence Business News is reporting that the CEO got his bonus—$9 million. That’s a lot less than the $67.9 million he got in 2007 when company revenues were $2 billion less than they were last year. The news article says Simmons and the board board spent some time deliberating over the bonus and were cognizant of the need to exercise ‘restraint.’ We don’t know the details of the voting process and Simmons’ role, but the fact that she continues to serve on the board for Goldman Sachs, reflects a degree of pragmatism that is often wanting on Brown’s campus.

With the start of classes last week, the spring semester is gearing up, and so is this blog. This semester is already off to an exciting start—a new issue of Closing Remarks is out, The Brown Spectator is due for another issue soon, and The Providence Journal is reporting today that the co-founder of ACORN is coming to speak at Brown. We will also continue to follow the latest developments with slavery reparations and plans to expand Africana Studies. Stay tuned. This will be an exciting one.

As classes end today and things on campus wind down, so will this blog. In the meantime, as news breaks during winter vacation, we will be posting updates. Some things to look out for:

● Closing Remarks, the magazine of Christian thought that we support, is due for an issue to be published soon. Past issues are available here.

● Recently, Brown paid reparations for its historical role in the slave trade. We will continue to track this ongoing issue on our Web site during winter break.

● The Foundation is planning a number of speaker events for the spring. As details become available, we will announce them here.

● We also recently released the first edition of our e-mail newsletter. An online copy is available here. You can sign up for it here.

● Our new Facebook page launched last week. Become a fan by clicking here.

● Finally, we have plans to make some improvements to our Web site. So check back from time to time to see how things are coming along.

Of course, we will be back in full force at the start of the next semester in January.

PROVIDENCE, RI – The Foundation for Intellectual Diversity today called on Brown University to suspend a $10 million plan for slavery reparations and instead use the funds to make up its budget deficit.

The Providence Journal reported Dec. 5 that the University had given $30,000 to three Providence elementary schools and planned to raise a $10 million endowment to support future grants to local public schools. The gifts were recommended in a 2006 report of the University Steering Committee on Slavery and Justice, which examined Brown’s historic ties to the slave trade.

“We wonder how alums would feel knowing that their donations to Brown could be used to further the political agenda of the faculty and administration,” said Stephen Beale, President of The Foundation for Intellectual Diversity. “We simply do not understand how funding programs at public elementary schools has anything to do with Brown’s mission of educating undergraduate and graduate students.”

Earlier this year, the University announced it was raising tuition by 3 percent and cutting as much as $90 million in expenses over the next five years in order to compensate for declining revenues.

“To blindly pursue a $10 million reparations program during an economic recession is not only frivolous, but deeply irresponsible,” Beale said. “We can have a debate about whether Brown should apologize for its role in the slave trade, but there is no question that the University owes alums and students an apology for the mismanagement of school funds.”

The Slavery and Justice Committee was convened in 2003 after a contentious debate about slavery reparations divided the campus in 2001. When The New York Times reported that Brown was exploring whether it should make pay reparations, President Ruth Simmons issued a denial in an April 28, 2004 op-ed in The Boston Globe:

“The Committee’s work is not about whether or how we should pay reparations. That was never the intent nor will the payment of reparations be the outcome. This is an effort designed to involve the campus community in a discovery of the meaning of our past,” Simmons wrote.

“Sadly, this promise has now been broken,” Beale said. “Once Brown started issuing payments to Providence public schools, this process crossed the line separating serious academic inquiry from political activism. Brown administrators can call these payments whatever they want, but anyone with a dictionary can tell that they are being less than truthful. We urge students, parents, and alums to hold the administration accountable for its words and actions.”