MINNEAPOLIS, Sept. 26, 2011—A professor has been censored twice, reported to the “threat assessment team,” and threatened with criminal charges because of satirical postings on his office door. Campus police at the University of Wisconsin–Stout (UWS) censored theater professor James Miller’s poster depicting a quotation from actor Nathan Fillion’s character in the television series Firefly, and the police chief threatened Miller with criminal charges for disorderly conduct. After UWS censored his second poster, which stated, “Warning: Fascism,” Miller came to the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) for help.
“Colleges and universities are supposed to foster brave and bold environments of freewheeling intellectual inquiry and expression. If a quote from a network science fiction show is a bridge too far, something has gone seriously wrong,” FIRE President Greg Lukianoff said. “As both president of FIRE and a huge Firefly fan, I call on the chancellor of UW–Stout to rein in his overreaching administration and to restore both free speech and basic common sense.”
On September 12, 2011, Professor Miller posted on his office door an image of Nathan Fillion in Firefly and a line from an episode: “You don’t know me, son, so let me explain this to you once: If I ever kill you, you’ll be awake. You’ll be facing me. And you’ll be armed.” On September 16, UWS Chief of Police Lisa A. Walter emailed Miller, notifying him that she had removed the poster and that “it is unacceptable to have postings such as this that refer to killing.”
To learn more and get involved go to the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education [FIRE] posting located HERE.
I’m not sure I want to live in a country where “Firefly” gets censored.
The article forgot to mention UWS Chief of Police Lisa A. Walter’s cousin is former vice president Dan Quayle. Ever since Murphy Brown had her child out of wedlock our morals in this country have highjacked by the likes of tea baggers.
Yeah. We all know how the far right and their rampant sense of political correctness has hijacked the nations higher education establishments….. Oh wait…..
I have several friends who work at Virginia Tech; many of which were actually there the day of the shootings. That day is STILL pretty fresh in our minds. While I’ll be the first one to stand up and say something if someone’s civil liberties are being threatened, this one is pushing it. He could have put a little more thought into which quote he used. Especially for those of us who were actually here for it, the tone of it makes us a bit twitchy.
Now, if he’d had the “I aim to misbehave” speech censored, I’d be screaming.
Would they censor people from New Hampshire for having a license plate emblazoned with the state motto, “Live Free or Die”? What about a movie poster for “To Kill a Mockingbird?”
Chancellor from the school is “standing his ground”. Update to the events here: http://thefire.org/article/13623.html
And in case you feel so motivated, contact:
Adam Kissel, Vice President of Programs, FIRE: 215-717-3473, adam@thefire.org
Charles W. Sorensen, Chancellor, University of Wisconsin-Stout: 715-232-2441, sorensenc@uwstout.edu
Michael J. Spector, President, University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents: 414-277-5879, mjs@quarles.com