Dr. Erika Prater, an art history teacher at Hamline University, was fired for showing a painting of Muhammad. A Principal in Florida was fired for showing students Michelangelo’s statue of David. Will Art History become the next bastion to fall?
The American Council of Trustees and Alumni in D.C. called for the reinstatement of an art history teacher at Hamline University in the current issue of their publication Inside Academe.
Hamline University is located in St. Paul, MN.
Erika Lopez Prater, an adjunct professor of art history, was fired for showing a medieval Islamic painting of Muhammad in her course. It was commissioned and created by a Muslim.
She warned all the snowflakes beforehand, told them to contact her with concerns, and allowed them to opt-out.
David Everett, Hamline’s vice president of inclusive excellence, called Dr. Prater’s actions “undeniably disrespectful” and “Islamophobic.” The school’s President Fayneese Miller claimed most bizarrely that “respect for the observant Muslims in that classroom” should “supersede” Dr. Prater’s academic freedom.
The DEIs are like the Puritans of old or, going back further, the fascists of the Dark Ages.
According to the campus outlet, Everett’s email also said the university debated if the professor’s conduct was a “hate crime” but that administrators decided it was an “act of intolerance.”
Dr. Prater told the student newspaper, “my perspective and actions have been lamentably mischaracterized, my opportunities for due process have been thwarted,” and that Everett’s accusation of intolerance was “misapplied.”
President Miller told ACTA the university’s concern is to honor students’ religious convictions. ACTA President Poliakoff addressed the failure “to protect free inquiry.” Their actions signal to everyone on campus that their academic freedom might not be respected if they address matters of controversy.”
Offended student Aram Wedatalla, 23, head of Hamline’s Muslim Student Association, claims she was ‘blindsided’ by the picture. She gave a speech with CAIR backing. Need we say more?
Dr. Prater said she gave ample warning before class, including a trigger warning. It sounds like she was set up, but who knows?
A school principal in Tallahassee, Florida, was forced to resign or be fired. There was no reason given. The Principal said it was likely because of a Renaissance art lesson including a section on Michelangelo’s sculpture of the Bible’s David. One parent described it as pornographic.
Hope Carrasquilla had been the principal at Tallahassee Classical School for less than a year. She stepped down Monday during an emergency board meeting, the Tallahassee Democrat reported.
A parent doesn’t appreciate artistic beauty, so the Principal is gone?
We go from drag queens in schools, pornographic library books, and child body mutilations to Michelangelo’s most beautiful work labeled porn. It all boils down to bad politics.