Dear Dr. Frohnmayer:
I am contacting you in response to the depiction of Jesus Christ in The Insurgent. It has been a long time since my graduation from Willamette University, but I remember receiving a superior education by which I was encouraged to weigh ideas, judge them based on their merits and articulate intelligently and with civility my opinions concerning them.
Apparently, the focus of education in institutions of higher learning, such as the University of Oregon, has shifted over the past 40 years. As “articulated” by Jessica Brown, it seems the objective now is to “piss” people off. The great tradition of civil discourse appears to have been reduced to the perceived freedom to offend anyone and everyone with one’s own bigotry. Brown and her staff have certainly accomplished the stated goal. Indeed, they have greatly offended many and have done so with collective pugnacity, a profound absence of eloquence, and the obvious blessing of University officials.
I, for one, am unimpressed with the educational standards at the University of Oregon, as exemplified by the article in The Insurgent. It would seem appropriate, in my opinion, for you adults to teach students at the University how to think with some other objective in mind than offending the deeply held beliefs of others.
Knowledge is good; wisdom is better. This event displays a singular lack of the latter among some students and administrators at the University of Oregon.
Disappointed,
Trish Nelson
Pueblo, CO