College Suspends Four Students Over Obama Display

[struggle4progress]

Source: US News & World Report

October 01, 2008 03:05 PM ET | Alison Go | Permanent Link


Four George Fox University students have admitted to hanging a cardboard cutout of Sen. Barack Obama from a tree last week, the Oregonian reports. The students face long-term suspension, and authorities have not disclosed any motivations for last week's incident. The display featured the Obama likeness with an "Act Six Reject" sign, referring to a Portland scholarship program targeted to low-income students.

The investigation had closed in on the students late last week, but officials at the small Oregon Christian college stopped short of expulsion. The students' names are not being released; they may be allowed to re-enter school after completing community service and multicultural education ...

Read more: http://www.usnews.com/blogs/paper-trail/2008/10/01/college-suspends-four-students-over-obama-display.html

[daninthemoon]

1. damn. i sure hope this doesn't start a trend.

[movonne]

4. Keep an eye on these so called Christian schools...what I have

been seeing that some Christians are not very Christian...

[merwin]

8. Sounds to me like the school did the right thing and doesn't support what happened.

Not all Christian schools (or Christians) are inherently evil.

Talk like this just helps to push Christians away from our party.

[BrklynLiberal]

9. The Christian Dominionsits call themselves Christian....so we know that one cannot

judge any group by what they call themselves. As usual, action speak so much louder than words.

[ann_american2004]

39. ITA- Hitler was 'Christian' but he was really the devil incarnate

[knitter4democracy]

17. I went to one of those.

Care to clarify?

[Indenturedebtor]

30. Please when the first thing someone tells you is their religion... back away ASAP

And whatever you do don't make eye contact.

Yeah sure the "motivations weren't clear" lol. Um they hung an effigy of the black candidate with a sign about an affirmative action sort of program. They're clearly racist ignorant douchebags.

[kestrel91316]

51. What's weird is that George Fox was a QUAKER. This is a Quaker school.

Apparently there aren't enough Quakers anymore so they have to tap the pool of wacko fundie applicants??

Racism is NOT a Quaker thing at all.

[wvbygod]

53. If this was a muslim school I suppose you would say watch out for them mulims?

And those guys crashing into the WTC were Christian rejects too?

[Demit]

2. a 'Christian' college, huh. I shouldn't be surprised, but somehow it never gets old.

[merwin]

10. What did the college do wrong here?

Tell me please.

[rfranklin]

22. If this was an effigy of Bush they would have been jailed...

so I think the college should take this seriously and expell them.

[Demit]

25. I'm talking about the Christian part. Kids who go to a Christian school are supposedly

Christians. These Christian students aren't being very Christian, are they? These Christian students are filled with hate. Hate is not what Christ taught. But it seems to be what a lot of self-identified 'Christians' act out of.

I wasn't talking about anything the college did wrong. Unless it's one of those Christian schools that teach its students to hate anybody that isn't 'Christian' in exactly the way they are.

[merwin]

36. Many kids who go to Christian schools do so because it's what their parents want.

Or because it's got the kind of program they want. I agree completely that these students are not behaving at all like Christians, and have no place being in that school.

I attended a Christian middle/high school for about 5 years... learned a lot about how many of the students there aren't acting Christian at all... but that's part of going to school I guess... learning.

Apparently these kids have a lot left to learn about being Christian :)

[knitter4democracy]

16. It's a Quaker college.

It sounds like they ended up with some racist jerks going there, but I know of racist jerks at a big state-run school, too.

[KSDiva]

23. I went to a Quaker college and that wouldn't have been

tolerated there. They would have been expelled immediately. No $200, do not pass go.

And it's a heavily Repub school, but there's no way they would have gotten off so easily.

[Demit]

28. It's an "Evangelical Friends" school.

"Who We Are:

The Evangelical Friends Mission is the cooperative missions arm of Evangelical Friends International which has outreach ministries in Africa, Central and South America, Asia, Europe and North America. EFM is supported by individuals, churches and the offices of Alaska Yearly Meeting, Evangelical Friends Church/Eastern Region, Evangelical Friends Church/Mid-America Yearly Meeting, Evangelical Friends Church Southwest, Northwest Yearly Meeting of Friends and Rocky Mountain Yearly Meeting. (Links are to these Yearly Meetings' missions pages.) Evangelical Friends Mission is a member of the Evangelical Fellowship of Missions Agencies." http://www.friendsmission.com/

I notice they are associated with "Alaska Yearly Meeting." Maybe that's a coincidence, but it sure jumped out at me.

[ann_american2004]

40. Evangelicals? Alaska Yearly Meeting? Okay that is scary

I worry these crazies are going to organize and infiltrate...oh man...they are already doing that...

[Ms. Toad]

46. Relax,

There are four main branches of Friends in the US - if you have any familiarity with Friends (Quakers) you would recognize two of them as very similar to the historical Quakers(Conservative and Friends General Conference). The other two (Friends United Meeting and Evangelical Friends Mission) you might not recognize as Quakers - most of them look pretty much like any other pastored church (and lots of them call themselves churches, rather than meetings).

Friends meetings are organized by regions and their name usually reflects the region of the country and how often they meet to do business. Yearly meetings are generally a collection of monthly meetings (the equivalent of your local church). The list in the mission statement is just a list of all of the yearly meetings in the United States which are affiliated with the evangelical branch of Friends. Friends from Ohio or so west are much more likely to be affiliated with FUM or EFM - hence the listing of Alaska in the affiliated meetings. (They are also much more likely to be strongly Christo-centric and/or evangelical.)

[kestrel91316]

52. They sound like a RW fundie sect of Quakers and not "normal" Quakers.

That might explain this.

[Supersedeas]

43. the Monica Goodling brand of Christian ethics

[deutsey]

3. What the fuck?

:evilfrown:

[torbird]

5. There are stupid kids everywhere

But most of them seem to gravitate to some sort of Young Republicans club. I dare say these young people will never again find racism amusing.

It's not about the Christian school -- which is another matter.

[torbird]

6. There are stupid kids everywhere

But most of them seem to gravitate to some sort of Young Republicans club. I dare say these young people will never again find racism amusing.

It's not about the Christian school -- which is another matter.

[BrklynLiberal]

7. "and authorities have not disclosed any motivations for last week's incident"

DUH!!??????? Gee, I wonder if could have been racism... YA THINK?

Interesting that this happened at a "Christian" college. Makes me wonder what they teach their students.

[merwin]

11. Apparently they teach them that you get a long term suspension if you

do shit like this.

What do you think this "Christian" college should have done differently?

[BrklynLiberal]

13. How about expulsion? How about printing their names? For all intents and purposes, they

got away with this with no real meaningful repercussions.

[Quantess]

15. That was my thought when I read it in the paper this morning.

The punishment is pretty mild.

Also, this is a national story. What a huge embarrassment to a college located a short commute away from Portland, OR, which is deep blue.

[merwin]

18. Printing their names?

That's up to law enforcement in my opinion. They're opening themselves up to being sued by the kids for doing that. Long term suspension will get them out of there until the law enforcement (if they have any balls) charges them with a hate crime, or at least something to jail them for a while.

The school is doing what pretty much any school would do. I'm confident that if/when they are convicted of a crime they will not be let back in the school.

[BrklynLiberal]

21. IF these kids were minors, then perhaps I could see hiding their names..but if

any were over 18...which one might assume since they were in college...their names should be made public.

[Xithras]

27. Student records, even at the college level, are protected by federal law.

The school could not only be sued by the students, but the staff involved with releasing that information could be prosecuted. FERPA applies to any private or public school that receives federal funds, or which offers students federal student loans.

The police could release that information if law enforcement was involved in the investigation, but the school is barred from releasing any information about the students since it's considered a standard disciplinary action and is part of the students educational record.

[merwin]

35. That is up to journalists and law enforcement, not schools.

Schools have no responsibility to give out the names of any of their students, except to law enforcement.

[daninthemoon]

26. That was my first re-action, but they weren't just suspended. They

have to do community service and some kind of tolerance training, and then they MIGHT get back in. It actually makes sense. Maybe they will learn something, and end up being advocates.

[marew]

12. I just sent the school a letter of complaint!

They should have been expelled, not suspended. I just happen to be white and I believe any toleration of this -- the students returning next semester -- is completely unacceptable!

[merwin]

20. I agree with you. They should have been expelled instead of suspended.

But I think that if these kids are convicted of a crime, they will not be let back in.

[Minimus]

14. As a Quaker this really saddens me

as well as sickens me.

If this is the kind of "Christianity" that a school, founded by Quakers (and named after the father of the Quaker religion) teaches - then something is terribly wrong.

[merwin]

19. Could you describe what you think this school is teaching that causes you to say this?

Should you blame a college for a person committing murder on campus? These kids do not represent the school, and i haven't seen the school do anything to deserve the blame being pointed at them.

Bring some evidence, then post shit like this.

[Minimus]

50. As a Quaker I hoped that the principles of the religion

were forefront in the education that one would receive from the school.

That is what I was trying to refer to when I posted my reaction to discovering that students attending a Quaker founded college were behaving so "un-Quaker-like".

Since being accused of posting "shit like this" I did further research on George Fox University and discovered the following:


George Fox is a caring community dedicated to faith-based learning. Outstanding faculty are committed to the development of the whole person - spirit, mind, and body. Students graduate prepared for their careers and to serve their communities.

Each member of the staff, faculty, and administration are Christians - without exception! To be employed by the university, each individual must sign the university's statement of faith and sign a lifestyle agreement, similar to the lifestyle agreement our students sign.

Spiritual development is extremely important to us at George Fox. The integration of faith and learning is the cornerstone of our community. You will find an open environment in which you will be allowed to explore your faith and ask some tough questions. We worship as a community twice a week through organized chapels. There are also opportunities to worship through other organized activities such as Greenroom and Over the Edge. Many of our students also participate in small-group Bible studies. George Fox is a place where your faith can grow and flourish.

You do not have to be a Christian to be admitted to George Fox, all we ask is that you sign our community lifestyle agreement, and that you are open to faith and how Christian principles can affect your life.


Apparently the Christian staff is not making much of an impression on these particular students or maybe they just forgot about that community lifestyle agreement that they signed!

[crim son]

24. The students should be expelled. There's nothing Christian about

their actions; clearly they're going to the wrong school.

[D23MIURG23]

29. They did what?

:wow:


I think its going to take more than "multicultural education" to de-fuck those minds.

[trashcanistanista]

31. The hatred is being exposed.

Hopefully, people will see the ugliness for what it is. They should have been expelled.

[Spike89]

32. Reasons for suspension vs. expulsion

I wouldn't have had a problem with expelling the students, they deserve it. I can see and understand one reason for the choice of suspension though. In the school's statement they say the punishment was suspension AND community service. Obviously, the school has no legal standing to enforce any punishment after expelling the students, but they certainly can say "complete a year of service and we'll allow you to reapply." For a true Christian school, this would allow atonement and forgiveness.

Of course, unless the students are remarkable in changing their belief systems and can show this without a doubt through the community service, I'd never let them back.

I do think the local law needs to investigate and take any actions possible.

[downindixie]

33. Everyone rails against zero tolerance,but

when the people in charge of this school evaluate what the students did and look at the kids records and backgrounds and base a decision on all the facts.People want to condemn the school for using intelligence instead of zero tolerance.Please give the school the benefit of doubt.We don't know all the facts or the young people involved.

[laconicsax]

34. Hmmm.

It looks like there really is no true Scotsman.

[TankLV]

37. "Fox" Univertisy? Really?

figures...

you just can't write this stuff fast enough...

and - to the newly joined "concern" trolls: yes, yes I do realize it's a different "fox"...(idiots)...

[Critters2]

41. George Fox, founder of the Religious Society of Friends.

You know, the Quakers.

[ann_american2004]

38. I'd like those 'Christian' student's names please.

Their names should be released to the public. They should be expelled, they threatened a presidential candidate AND fellow students who may be of lower income. This is despicable. In my day and age they would have been gone already. Have they confessed or is this all awaiting some kind of trial?

edit: to add I went to a Christian college and such things would NEVER EVER have been tolerated.

[TaffyMoon]

42. Expulsion should be the least of it.

They should be publickly outed with photos, etc.

[goforit]

44. christian doobies strike again.

[and-justice-for-all]

45. Bigots..

and at a 'skool' that teaches that religious crap, how ironic. Intolerant, bigots at a xtian college.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

47. Never mind that school officials and the majority of students condemned the act

Never mind that this is a school founded by the sect that was in the forefront of the anti-slavery movement and allowed women equality long before anyone else did.

No, all the people who have ever had bad experiences with fundamentalists can't wait to jump in and vent.

You may be interested to know that a similar incident occurred at Oregon State, although the perps were never caught.

Having lived in Oregon for 19 years between 1984 and 2003, I see this as an Oregon thing more than as a religious thing. Oregon had Jim Crow laws into the 1950s.

[Birdiesmom]

48. Lydia's right -- blame the students, not the school.

If they'd hung an effigy of Bush, most folks would think it was "funny".

They're trying to give the kids a chance to see what was wrong with what they did -- that's more than they would have gotten if they were expelled.

Most Quakers objected to this war, and the knee-jerk thinking that would object to Obama as a Presidential candidate.

Don't make assumptions about the school based on these kids -- it sounds to me like most of the other kids were appalled.

[Doctor_J]

49. "Burning Bush" = arrest & prison. Lynching Obama = suspension from school

Keep getting ready DUers.