A Follow-up on Emily Brooker

Emily Brooker. She was blogged about here. I'm glad to report there was a good ending to this story. After undergoing hostile interrogation by members of the faculty of Missouri State University, following her refusal to submit to a demand that she send a letter to the Missouri state legislature in support of adoption by homosexuals, the Alliance Defense Fund assisted her in filing a case in federal district court. The university settled. It removed the grievance from Emily's record and agreed to pay her tuition for two years of graduate school. The professor, who attempted to coerce Emily to violate her conscience, was removed from his administrative duties and placed on academic leave for the rest of the semester.

According to David French of the ADF:

"...the university announced the results of the investigation, and - to the administration's infinite credit - the report is not a whitewash. In fact, I've never read a more stinging indictment of an academic department. Perhaps the most remarkable aspect of the report was the authors' call for accountability and consequences. Here are their first two recommendations for fixing the problem:


"Close down the school; disband the faculty and restart the School after a short period...This option ensures ridding of all toxic faculty...

Eliminate those faculty who are identified as major contributors of the problem and find ways to remove them from the faculty..."

How about that. A call for genuine reform! This is what can result from the couragous stand of one young woman.

A Sample from 'Boston 1775'

'Boston 1775' is an excellent blog with information about the American Revolutionary War era. The following paragraph is a quote from a particular blog entry entitled 'Jefferson, Kosciuszko, and a Matter of Money.'

"Thaddeus Kosciuszko’s return to the United States in 1797 initiates the narrative we present in this paper. Although crippled by deep wounds, Kosciuszko returned in triumph to reside in Philadelphia as a revolutionary hero. Americans applauded him for his leadership in Poland’s vain uprising from 1792 to 1794. Americans cherished him in the hearts and memories that linked his glory during the American Revolution with their anxieties over the conservative policies of President John Adams. Kosciuszko had more than adulation in mind; he intended to collect some $12,000 plus interest in overdue pay from the American Revolution. The American Congress, aware of his enormous popular appeal, quickly voted to allot the back pay, which, with interest rose to over $15,000."

The post references Kosciuszko, a Polish national and American Revolutionary War hero, as well as Thomas Jefferson and contains a little known historical tidbit. It also illustrates how the matter of slavery would tarnish the records of otherwise noble historic figures.