Librarian Attacked by Profs for Promoting 'Marketing of Evil'

Posted: 4/15/2006 12:02:00 AM
Author: Joseph Farah
Source: http://www.worldnetdaily.com/

Librarian attacked by profs for promoting 'Marketing of Evil'
College employee accused of 'sexual harassment' for recommending Kupelian's best-selling book

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Posted: April 15, 2006
1:00 a.m. Eastern



© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com


In what is being called an "astonishing" and "shameful" case of campus persecution, Ohio State University's head librarian is being formally accused of "sexual harassment." His crime? Recommending that the school's freshman class be required to read WND Managing Editor David Kupelian's controversial best seller, "The Marketing of Evil."

Scott Savage is head of Reference and Instructional Services at the Bromfield Library on Ohio State University's Mansfield campus.


The school's Office of Human Resources put Savage under "investigation" after three professors – Hannibal Hamlin, Norman Jones and J.K. Buckley – filed a complaint of discrimination and harassment, saying Kupelian's book made them feel "unsafe."


In his role as a member of OSU Mansfield's First Year Reading Experience Committee, Savage had suggested new students read "The Marketing of Evil," as well as three other books – "The Professors" by David Horowitz, "Eurabia: The Euro-Arab Axis" by Bat Ye'or, and "It Takes a Family" by Sen. Rick Santorum.

But the attacks on Savage stem directly from faculty members' reaction to "The Marketing of Evil," according to the Arizona-based public-interest group Alliance Defense Fund, which is defending the librarian.




"Universities are one of the most hostile places for Christians and conservatives in America," said ADF Senior Legal Counsel David French, who heads the group's Center for Academic Freedom. "It's shameful that OSU would investigate a Christian librarian for simply recommending books that are at odds with the prevailing politics of the university."


ADF sent a "Cease and Desist" letter to OSU Mansfield officials [pdf file] March 28 informing them of Savage's constitutional rights. In it, the legal group explained the attack on Savage:


After Mr. Savage suggested the four additional books, Professors Hamlin and Jones took issue with "The Marketing of Evil." They e-mailed the Committee and labeled Mr. Savage "anti-gay" and called his suggestions "homophobic tripe."
Jones did not stop there; he sent a private email to Mr. Savage's supervisor, questioning the integrity of the library staff. He sent another email to the Committee, arguing with Mr. Savage's academic opinions and quoting additional text from Amazon.com's review of "The Marketing of Evil." After this e-mail exchange, a non-committee faculty member, J.F. Buckley, emailed all faculty and staff at the Mansfield campus criticizing the book Mr. Savage mentioned, denigrating Mr. Savage's professionalism, and claiming that he felt threatened by Mr. Savage. ...

On Monday, March 13, 2006, at the routine faculty meeting, several faculty members accused Mr. Savage of sexual harassment and made a motion to file formal charges against him. The faculty unanimously passed the motion and appointed Professor Gary Kennedy to notify OSU's sexual harassment officer. Two days later the faculty met again and rescinded the motion (due to confusion as to whether the faculty had the authority to pass the origional motion), but instructed the complaining professors to notify OSU's sexual harassment officer individually. On March 16, 2006, Buckley, Jones and Kennedy filed a Discrimination & Harassment Complaint with OSU's Office of Human Resources.


To date, the university refuses to halt the investigation, saying in response, it takes "any allegation of sexual harassment seriously."


French is incredulous that faculty members are attempting to label a librarian as a "sexual harasser" simply because they disagree with his book suggestions: "It is astonishing that an entire faculty would vote to launch a sexual harassment investigation because a librarian offered book suggestions in a committee whose purpose was to solicit such suggestions," he said.