The Chapel Hill Herald fleshed out a point I made satirically here two days ago ? both of us taking the occasion of the Bob Barker donation to Duke Law to discuss the reaction at UNC-Chapel Hill over the prospect of a grant from the the Pope Foundation to support a Western Civ program. The Herald opines:
… Critics say [UNC’s] accepting the Pope money will allow conservatives to hijack the university’s course offerings.
Now comes the word that Duke’s law school is accepting a $1 million donation from television game-show host Bob Barker to endow a program for the teaching of animal-rights law….
It seems clear the Barker donation is meant to further a political agenda. Duke’s news release conceded as much, saying students will have a chance to earn course credit for work on “cases involving compliance with state animal cruelty laws and other forms of animal-rights advocacy.” …
Given this, we’d expect many of the same people who’ve criticized UNC’s flirtation with the Pope Foundation to turn on Duke’s apparent willingness to sell its law program like a prize in a showcase. Ethically, there’s no difference between the two donations. …
But, as the Pope Center’s Shannon Blosser noted, the Pope Foundation has made numerous grants to UNC without any complaints. Why now, if we’re to believe the Popes are the problem? I think the curriculum itself is the real problem.
But maybe it is the leftist culture. Consider this paranoid claptrap by UNC Law School dean Gene Nichols (who also wants to hire noted academic and teacher John Edwards). He advises Democrats on how to fight Republican efforts to (summon the clich?s and sound the alarms!) (1) violate our nation’s traditions, (2) roll back civil rights, (3) march against constitutionalism and the rule of law, (4) govern only for the wealthy and attack “progressivity,” and (5) commingle the powers of church and state.
