Editor:
In response to Andrew Kirk’s article on Sept. 13, 2004 (“Professors accused of sparking accommodation debate speak out”) concerning the Axson-Flynn settlement, I would like to offer an alternate perspective. Aside from the fact that this article is written with a less than subtle inflammatory tone, the argument that Christina Axson-Flynn should not be credited for the new diversity accommodation is fundamentally incorrect. Though the new policy may impose yet another layer of red tape, a landmark policy has come to fruition due to Axson-Flynn, one that other universities will turn to for guidance.
While it is arguable that such a policy would have eventually transpired, one could similarly argue that the Civil Rights Movement would have also eventually taken care of itself.
It is unimportant whether Axson-Flynn ascribed her litigious remedy to her personal beliefs or those of her religion; both are protected forms of expression.
Axson-Flynn’s assertion of personal belief is the most fundamental proclamation of religious affiliation. Religion is the individuated acculturation of a specific code of ethics and values. Why would Ms. Axson-Flynn pursue an education in theater at the U when she was told of the program’s requirements, and why did she not seek a quiet alternative remedy?
This question has the same ring of idiocy as the similar question of why would Dr. Martin Luther King and other African Americans seek remedies for civil-rights violations in the legal system, when they could have reached them socially.
I applaud Axson-Flynn’s courage to face her Goliath, reckless though it was. I also applaud sage administrators for their willingness to devise and implement insightful new accommodation policies, and for saving student fees for better things than legal costs.
We should thank Axson-Flynn for her courage to open this dialogue, and in the end, more than just faculty freedoms have been preserved. Now the U’s definition of freedom of religion can mean more than freedom from religion.
Robert Kohutek
Staff