March 19, 2014

While the events described in the Royal Purple article, “From UW-W classroom to national media,” raise a number of concerns for me about academic freedom, I am compelled to address here the implication in the article that the instructor in question, Monique Liston, did something wrong and is being “monitored.” Monique Liston is a trusted, valued and talented member of the Department of Women’s and Gender Studies. She did not violate any policy.  On the contrary, she did exactly what we want her to do—challenge students to consider and critically assess viewpoints different from their own. As a colleague of Ms. Liston’s who has seen the carefully crafted assignments, the engaging class activities and the thoughtful approaches to her work, I am grateful to have her at UW-W.

Ellie Schemenauer