Profoundly disturbing chokecherries to the dual controversies engulfing the University of Montana’s law school and computer science department in the past two weeks.
Law school Dean Paul Kirgis resigned Oct. 6 following a student-led walkout over allegations that students were discouraged from reporting sexual harassment and assault. He will return to a faculty position at the school. Associate Dean Sally Weaver is expected to step aside as well.
Then, this week, computer science professor Rob Smith moved to paid leave following reporting by the student newspaper, the Montana Kaimin, about troubling blog posts by Smith about women, Muslims and LGBTQ people. His classes will be taught by another instructor and he cannot set foot on campus as the university investigates the matter.
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We commend the law school students for their willingness to speak out, the Kaimin for its brave reporting, and the university administration for its swift action in both matters.
Acting Provost Reed Humphrey will oversee the transition at the law school. “As we move forward together, we will focus on empowering inclusive leadership and fulfilling our priority to put student success at the center of all that we do,” he wrote in a letter to the campus community.
UM President Seth Bodnar called Smith’s views “homophobic and misogynistic” and said he was personally disgusted.
“Building a culture of respect, empowerment and equity is foundational to our mission at UM as well as personally important to me,” Bodnar said. “I have directed the appropriate university officials to take immediate action to address this matter through investigatory and supportive measures.”
We suspect that many more disturbing details will emerge in the coming days and weeks. The silver lining may be that students will feel empowered to come forward to report wrongdoing, knowing that change may actually occur as a result. That hasn’t always been the case in the past.
One aspect of all this that we feel compelled to comment on is the notion that speech does not have consequences.
The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, a national civil liberties group that seeks to defend the rights of students and faculty on campuses, said the university should end the investigation into Smith’s blog to “uphold its obligations to free expression.”
In a statement shared with the Missoulian, the civil liberties group argues that the First Amendment protects Smith’s right to comment as a private citizen on matters of public concern “even if others find it deeply offensive.”
Au contraire. The First Amendment, at its core, simply guarantees that the government will not drag you off to jail for what you say. And even that protection has limits, such as yelling “fire” in a crowded theater or threatening to shoot the president.
Your employer is free to fire you for what you say — people lose their jobs all the time for statements on Facebook, Twitter and other platforms.
You can be ostracized, praised, ridiculed or shunned. And there is no such thing as a “private” blog or social media platform. As Smith has discovered, it’s quite easy to draw a direct line from your personal statements online to your public employment.
We are not suggesting that anyone rush to conclusions. We hope the investigation into Smith’s behavior determines whether his despicable statements spilled over into his treatment of his students, and that the university then take the appropriate action.
Historically relevant huckleberries to Aspen Decker, a University of Montana graduate student in linguistics from Arlee who is working to preserve and teach the Salish language.
More than 200 Indigenous languages in the United States have gone extinct in the last 400 years, according to the Language Conservancy.
Only 13 Tribal elders can still speak Salish fluently, Decker said. She and her four children are now among the first generation of bilingual speakers of her community in nearly 75 years.
She’s been busy. She works as an education coordinator at the Montana Museum of Art and Culture, is launching a new student organization called the Indigenous Storytelling Club, and is developing a curriculum for a Plains Indian sign language course.
Last month she kicked off the Montana Book Festival by presenting a land acknowledgement statement in Salish.
“I think the importance (of land acknowledgements) is that this land here was our aboriginal territory for over 14,000 years and the word Missoula actually comes from the Salish word Nmesulétkʷ and that means place of the freezing water,” Decker said. "It really dates us back to that Glacial Lake Missoula time. I think it’s important for Missoulians and our local community to really know this history that dates so far back.”
We couldn’t agree more. Every language lost diminishes our understanding of the world we live in. We hope her inspiration spreads and that Salish remains a proud legacy of a proud people.
Long-awaited huckleberries to the news that the Biden administration will open the U.S. border to fully vaccinated Canadians beginning next month.
Montana’s entire congressional delegation and Gov. Greg Gianforte applauded the decision. The administration didn’t give an exact date for the opening, which is expected to be in November.
However, the key words are “fully vaccinated.” U.S. Sen. Steve Daines, U.S. Rep. Matt Rosendale and Gianforte all called for reopening the border to all Canadians, regardless of vaccination status.
We strongly disagree. Canada requires travelers crossing its borders to be vaccinated. We believe that is a practical approach, given that the pandemic has not gone away, and the policy should be reciprocated.
Montana set a record Wednesday for the number of its residents hospitalized with COVID-19. Nearly 90 percent of those hospitalized for COVID-19 were not vaccinated.
We welcome Canadian visitors, as long as they are vaccinated.
This editorial represents the views of the Missoulian’s editorial board — Publisher Jim Strauss and Executive Editor Jim Van Nostrand.