As a Mother of three daughters - I was VERY active in the early 70s PRO EQUAL RIGHTS!! The statements Ms. S. made re the Amendment were scare tactics, statements that were untrue- Unfortunately they worked!! Hopefully SOMEDAY the AMENDMENT will pass and my four granddaughters will benefit - and Mrs. S will be proven WRONG !!!

No, she’s not Mugabe. Do you meant to imply that, because she’s not, reasonable people cannot argue she is unworthy of an honorary degree from the most prestigious university in the region? There’s a whole lot of evil people that Schalfly’s not. Does that mean she gets a pass?

All of you who are terribly concerned about freedom of speech will, of course, be cheered to realize that what you’re seeing is freedom of speech in action. The University has done something with which many of the members of the community that surrounds it (students, faculty, staff, alumni, and others) disagree. They are exercising their freedom of speech in making that disagreement known. No one is attempting to silence Mrs. Schlafly. They are answering the University, and to some extent answering her, in making clear their disapproval of the honor being bestowed on her.

If there’s one thing in life I’m abundantly tired of, it’s people claiming that their free speech rights are being violated by someone else’s protest of their speech. Free speech guarantees you the right to have your say. It does not guarantee you protection from the consequences of having your say. If your say sparks controversy, those who disagree with you will be exercising their free speech rights in denouncing what you have said. If you don’t like that, you don’t like free speech.

Oh, and before I forget, the joking comparison with Mugabe is something I’d expect from a high school kid. It trivializes the discussion and makes it seem that anything less than mass murder shouldn’t disqualify one from receiving academic accolades. What’s far funnier than the dumb joke, though, is the huffy response from the people who are taking it seriously as a slur on Schlafly. That’s comedy gold, right there.

Kevin,

What would be more interesting is to report it from this angle……

Isn’t it funny that the same professors and students that are so upset with Mrs. Schlafly and her comments never have a problem with the administration cashing her endowment checks. Or anyone they find repulsive for that matter.

Putting a white armband on as a sign of protest is cowardly at best, but mostly petty and dumb. Sending the checks back takes some guts……..

I bet their contempt for Mugabe goes just about as far as the last zero on the check he wrote……..

There must be dozens of other qualified graduates upon which this honor could be bestowed. Why Schlafly? She has worked tirelessly to restrict the rights of women and others. Curiously though, she has always ignored her own advice and recklessly stepped out of her husband’s house to pursue a career.

I suppose Wash U now has so much money they can waste it on honorary degrees for a woman who has done what, exactly, to deserve it?. So much for my donation when they call begging for alms, as they invariably do every year.

I AM SHOCKED THAT SOME DON’T WANT HER TO RECEIVE THE HONORARY DEGREE. ISN’T HIGHER EDUCATION ALL ABOUT DIVERSITY AND HONORING THOSE WHO MAKE A CHANGE, OR AT LEAST MAKE A NOISE TO PROMOTE CHANGE?

Phyllis Schlafly is an old biddie who is partly responsible for women still making less money than men and still hitting the glass ceiling in business. Personally I really think she is a man. No self-respecting woman would ever say the idiotic things she has said in the past and still says today. Honorary degree? I think not. There is no honor in Phyllis Schlafly.

Rosalie, you say your 4 grand-daughters will benefit if ERA finally passes. What do you expect them to get that they can’t get now for crying out loud? As the father of daughters I think you are deluding yourself.
Adam, your three quotes do not “insult” anyone, much less women, foreign students, and/or GLBT misfits. You haven’t shown anything by reprinting them. Diversity is a straw man…used to mean whatever liberals want it to mean at any given moment.
And the statement by the Post-Liberal that Schlafly is no Robert Mugabe is disingeneous at best.