As we reported this past weekend, Tara Schultz, a student at Yucaipa’s Crafton Hills College, has been protesting with her parents due to a couple of award winning graphic novels she feels are “pornography”. These books include Fun Home, Persepolis, The Sandman Volume 2, and Y: The Last Man. This was obviously a call for concern to me, as I hate censorship in any form, so I’ve been following the story closely.
Well I am happy to see that sanity wins the day. The school’s president Cheryl A. Marshall today issued a statement saying that they will not be banning the books or altering the content of the English 250 course. It does rub me the wrong way that Professor Bartlett will have to provide a disclaimer from now on, but other than that I am happy with the outcome. Her statement follows:
In response to the request of a student to “eradicate” books from CHC’s ENG 250 class on graphic novels—CHC is not “banning” any books or changing the content of the course, which ended in May.
“I support the college’s policy on academic freedom which requires an open learning environment at the college. Students have the opportunity to study controversial issues and arrive at their own conclusions and faculty are to support the student’s right to freedom of inquiry. We want students to learn and grow from their college experiences; sometimes this involves reaffirming one’s values while other times beliefs and perspectives change,” says Dr. Cheryl Marshall, president.
In this specific case, the syllabus distributed on the first day of class contained the list of required reading materials allowing students the opportunity to research the books and make a choice about the class. The class is one of numerous electives available for completion of the English degree.
“To prepare our students for successful professional lives, we are intentionally trying to engage them in critical dialogues around difficult and contemporary issues.Professor Bartlett is a model example of this approach,” says Dr. Bryan Reece, vice president of instruction.
Hopefully this will be the end of it.
Source [Crafton Hills College]
