Fascists at UVSC want one view represented

There is a small but powerful group of fascists who are attempting to dictate what ideas will be expressed at UVSC.

Woody Guthrie wrote in bold letters on his guitar, "This Machine Kills Fascists." Guthrie recognized that not all fascists are honest enough to wear swastikas.

Moreover, many fascists are too ignorant to realize they are fascists. Traditional conservatives trust individuals to make choices for themselves. They wish to "conserve" the Bill of Rights and the role of the academy as an institution that promotes the free exchange of ideas.

Fascists are not "liberals" or "conservatives," at least not in the context that Americans employ these terms. The old-style Nazis attempted to control public discourse by engaging in genocide, burning books, censoring newspapers and having professors dismissed from their academic positions. Our local fascists are less direct, but their goals are the same. When a fascist burns a book, her or his goal is to prevent others from having access to it.

When Kay Andersen attempted to purchase all of the tickets to Michael Moore, his goal was to prevent people from having access to a particular political perspective. When Marlon Snow, who is on the Board of Regents, attempted to coerce student government officials to cancel Moore's visit to campus, he was attempting to dictate the boundaries of acceptable public discourse. When individuals withdrew donations from UVSC due to opinions being expressed that they disagreed with, they were utilizing their economic power to limit free speech.

When state Sens. John Valentine and Parley Hellewell threatened to sanction UVSC if ideas were expressed that they disagreed with, they demonstrated that they are no different, in principle, than the fascists who burn books.

Some of my colleagues feel that, for the sake of our students and our careers, it is best to ingratiate ourselves to powerful fascists. However, to be a sycophant to fascists is both unethical and an unwise political tactic. It is cowardly and dishonest.

We are living in dangerous, desperate times. Therefore, it is highly important that those of us who are in a position to do so speak truth to power. As the philosopher Miguel Unamuno stated in regard to Spanish fascism, "Sometimes to be silent is to lie."

A college or university cannot be a quality institution unless it is fully dedicated to the proposition that students and faculty should be free to pursue the truth without interference from external actors.

History has shown that attempting to placate fascists only emboldens them. Our recent history further supports this proposition. Last year, UVSC President William Sederburg inappropriately pressured democratically elected student government officials to "balance" Moore's speech with a speech from the right-wing talk show host Sean Hannity. Hannity is an employee of Rupert Murdoch's News Corp., one of the largest media conglomerates on the planet.

Murdoch's right-wing ideology is well represented around the globe. Fox News is piped all over this campus, yet somehow the president felt that the position that we were attacked by Iraq on 9/11 and that Iraq possessed WMDs was under-represented on campus. Having Hannity "balance" the truly under-represented position taken by Moore did not prevent people from canceling donations to the college or convince politicians that they don't have the right to dictate what ideas are expressed on campus. These fascists are not content with having their views presented. They want them to be the only views that are presented.

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Alexander Simon is an associate professor of sociology at Utah Valley State College.