Matt Robesh ('91)

To:
Jane Jervis, TESC President,
Barbara Leigh Smith, TESC Academic Vice-President and Provost, and
The TESC Office of Alumni Affairs,

In regards to the recent censoring of a historical illustrated narrative from an anniversary pressing of "Student Voices of '71"....

Please reconsider the dangerous position you've taken on a piece of TESC history. Outright censorship with no explanation and no discussion is an oppresive action.

If I understand what has happened correctly, someone objected to panels portraying a Hispanic person and two African American persons "wrongly". I have seen the panels and I see nothing outrageous. White folk were equally ridiculed, particularly the narrator who I thought was particularly absurd.

But the cartoon was pulled. This type of censorship mentality is the same force that is making books like Tom Sawyer unsafe in modern schools... Politically correct censorship is NO DIFFERENT than any other kind of censorship you can name. To anyone who is so sensitive they cannot enjoy a narrative such as Parks': Please... GET OVER YOURSELF! It's best for all of humanity. Really.

The readers of this cartoon have minds of their own and can decide for themselves what they like and don't like about what they perceive in any piece of art or literature. A heated discussion over HAVING PRINTED the cartoon is a more appropriate scenario than pulling the cartoon entirely and making the decision for the readers.

I am annoyed this type of censorship activity has happened at a school I hold dear to my heart.

I will not contribute any money to any aspect of TESC until free speech prevails and a third, uncensored, printing of "Student Voices of '71" is set into motion.

Sincerely,

Matt Robesch, Class of '91, E:mail: mattro@cyberspace.com

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