Jesuit-educated students from generations past scrawled the inspiring “AMDG” — the acronym for Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam — atop their assignments, but nowadays Dei seems to have given way to Snowflakes on the campuses where the Society of Jesus (the order of Pope Francis) rule. Or stand by while their charges rule. Which happened two weeks back at my alma mater, The College of the Holy Cross, in Worcester, Mass., where once Bob Cousy dazzled on the hardwood, but now speakers, such as Heather Mac Donald, author of plentiful and important books, including The Diversity Delusion: How Race and Gender Pandering Corrupt the University and Undermine Our Culture, are hectored.
On November 18th, at the invitation of The Fenwick Review, the school’s alternative, conservative publication, Heather came to Holy Cross to talk about the book and the issues it addressed. The looming appearance did not go unnoted: According to the school’s paper, the Spire (until recently called The Crusader, until political correctness . . . corrected), the school’s Black Student Union, aided by the Student Government Association, organized a protest intent on preventing other students from hearing her talk.
Jennifer Kabbany has the story in The College Fix. Here’s how it begins:
Student protestors at College of the Holy Cross recently blocked access for many hoping to hear a speech by conservative scholar Heather Mac Donald by getting in line early, filling the venue to capacity so others waiting to get in were turned away, then filed out 10 minutes into the speech while chanting over and over “my oppression is not a delusion.”
Audio and video obtained by The College Fix shows the demonstrators chant for nearly two minutes as they left, yelling: “My oppression is not a delusion!” “Your sexism is not welcome!” “Your racism is not welcome!” “Your homophobia is not welcome!” “YOU are not welcome!”
Here’s a video of the protesting snowflakes.
Organizer Feleicia Jeter, a senior who heads the BSA, gloried in the protest — which relied heavily on chants such as “My oppression is not a delusion!” — told the Spire
“We really just wanted to execute this because we knew that it is not an illusion: our experiences on this campus, whether it is race, sexuality, whatever it is, whatever orientation we have isn’t a delusion. We know that we needed to stand in solidarity and unity . . . We just couldn’t stand alone. The fact that we pulled this off is actually amazing. I feel so empowered now, and this is just the beginning. This is the start of something more.”
It’s difficult to square the claim that students at Holy Cross are oppressed when the college’s annual price tag is $70,000.
School officials seemed unperturbed by the display, with terms like “academic freedom” and “free speech” and “chilling effect” nowhere to be found in official comments. From the coverage by Campus Reform:
Holy Cross Media Relations Director John Hill told Campus Reform that there were no arrests made and that no one was removed from the event.
“A recognized student group invited Heather MacDonald to speak on campus Monday. About 15 minutes into her talk, a group of students engaged in a walkout,” Hill said. “After the handful of minutes it took the students to file out, Ms. MacDonald finished the rest of her talk and a question and answer session uneventfully.”
Hill did not respond to questions regarding whether or not the students had committed any college policy violations during their disruption.
Nothing much seems to perturb Holy Cross’s administration, as long as things traditional go by the wayside, or are upended. After all, its Religious Studies department is home to Professor Tat siong Benny Liew, who contends Jesus was a gender-fluid drag queen whose crucifixion was a homoerotic/incestuous act between God the Father and Son.
What’s interrupting a Heather Mac Donald speech compared to that?