UI professor’s response unladylike, but on point

Should anyone really be critical of University of Iowa Professor Ellen Lewin's response to the appeal of the College Republicans to attend a Conservative Coming Out Week? After all, Lewin has a degree in linguistics, a discipline that teaches that the best way to express one's state of mind is come right to the point, use unambiguous language, and be brief. And, to her credit, Lewin certainly did that.

My opinion is that she expressed a widely held faculty sentiment with great precision, albeit in a most unladylike way. Though she has been publicly criticized by university officials for “incivility,” I'm sure Lewin has received lots of phone calls and emails from her faculty colleagues saying “Way to go, Ellen! That's telling 'em!”

Another guess of mine is that conservatives are - for somewhat understandable reasons - the most closeted group at the University of Iowa (and at almost any other university you might think of). It would take too much space here to elaborate. But the widespread sentiment so aptly expressed by Lewin is reason.

Larry Blades

Iowa City