Abortionist on Board
Oct. 5 — Indiana Right to Life has called for the resignation of an Indiana University trustee who routinely per formed abortions as the top doctor at a Planned Parenthood clinic.
Clarence Boone, medical director of Planned Parenthood of Northwest Indiana until about five years ago, was appointed a university trustee in July by Gov. Joe Kernan. He has since retired from the practice of medicine.
Indiana Right to Life executive director Mike Fichter said, “His presence on the board gives undue influence to an organization that operates an abortion clinic just a few blocks from the Bloomington campus.”
Truly Free Speech
, Oct. 2 — A U.S. district cour t in Lubbock, Texas, ruled a public institution could not limit speech to “free-speech zones,” a tactic critics say is often used by universities to restrict opinions that run contrar y to what is considered politically correct, such as favoring legalized abortion.
The case was brought by Jason Roberts, a Texas Tech University law student who sought to speak about his view that “homosexuality is a sinful, immoral and unhealthy lifestyle,” and to do so outside the designated zone — a 20-foot-wide gazebo that can hold about 40 people.
President Resigns
Sept. 23 — Christian Brother Craig Franz will resign Jan. 1 as president of St. Mar y's College of California to help rebuild the confidence of potential donors.
Conrad Colbrandt withdrew a pledge of a $112-million gift after discovering that he and some 35 others had lost funds in an investment scam.
St. Mar y's had opened a $26-million science building in 2000, assuming that Colbrandt's pledge would cover a $15-million loan the institution had taken out to construct it.
Busted for Intolerance
Sept. 26 — A nontenured lecturer at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill was found guilty of “intentional discrimination and harassment” against a student when she wrote an email that decried a “white, Christian male” student for his “violent, heterosexist comments” when he had merely expressed traditional opposition to homosexual behavior.
That's the conclusion of a report by the U.S. Department of Education, which said the college's decision to monitor Elyse Cr ystall's English classes after the incident was “appropriate.”
However, North Carolina Congressman Walter Jones wondered “why a teacher like Ms. Cr ystall was allowed to remain and teach at UNC … after such an egregious violation.”
Good Start
BENEDICTINE COLLEGE, Sept. 27 — A gift of $750,000 was given to the college in Atchison, Kan., this fall, days before the arrival of a new president, Stephen Minnis.
The gift came as the “Catholic college is bursting at the seams with seven consecutive years of enrollment growth,” said the college's press release.
The bequest came from the estate of Orin Newton, a direct descendent of Richard Newton, brother of Sir Isaac Newton.