Student expelled because he opposed multiculturalism in classrooms

Josh Gerstein:

A student who claims he was expelled from a training program for prospective teachers because of his support for corporal punishment and his opposition to multicultural education filed a $40 million lawsuit yesterday and demanded to be reinstated.

In the suit, Scott McConnell, 26, of upstate Baldwinsville, accused Le Moyne College of Syracuse of violating his First Amendment rights and breaching the school's duty to abide by its own policies guaranteeing free expression.

"This is a particularly egregious violation of academic freedom," said David French, the president of a student rights watchdog group backing the lawsuit, the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education. "If a student can be punished for voicing a viewpoint different from the department chairman at his university, and that's the entire reason for the punishment, then academic freedom means nothing."

As part of a class devoted to promoting "inclusive classrooms," Mr. Mc-Connell submitted a paper last fall in which he wrote, "I do not feel that multicultural education has a philosophical place or standing in an American classroom, especially one that I will teach. I also feel that corporal punishment has a place in the classroom and should be implemented when needed."

Mr. McConnell's professor gave him an A-. However, the professor also sent the paper to the director of the graduate education program, Cathy Leogrande. In January, Ms. Leogrande sent Mr. McConnell a letter dismissing him from the master's of science in teaching program.

"I have grave concerns regarding the mismatch between your personal beliefs regarding teaching and learning and the Le Moyne College program goals. Based on this data, I do not believe that you should continue in the Le Moyne M.S.T. Program. You will not be allowed to register for any additional courses. Your registration for Spring 2005 courses has been withdrawn," Ms. Leogrande wrote.

After trying unsuccessfully to resolve the dispute, Mr. McConnell took his case to the press, portraying himself as a victim of political correctness run amok. In interviews, officials at Le Moyne, which is a Jesuit institution, said they acted out of concern that Mr. McConnell's views rendered him unfit to be a teacher under New York law.

"We felt it was our responsibility, the responsibility of Le Moyne College, that we could not certify Scott to teach in New York State," Le Moyne's provost, John Smarrelli Jr., told CNN. "New York State requires one to have a multicultural classroom. In Mr. Mc-Connell's case, there was strong evidence that he did not support a multicultural classroom."

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