Professor Richard Berthold is an outstanding lecturer on the history of Greece and Rome. He is articulate, flamboyant, outspoken and very funny. His style is to provoke the interest of his students by peppering his classes with jokes and outrageous remarks.
The University of New Mexico has long subscribed to the principles of academic freedom. However, the controversy over the remarks allegedly made in class by UNM Professor Richard Berthold on Sept. 11 suggests that those principles are imperfectly understood in many quarters.
Recent events surrounding the comment made by professor Richard Berthold have inspired a witch trial straight out of the McCarthy era. Admittedly, what he said was insensitive, but his comment deserves to be heard.
This week, I received a flyer from the UNM office of Counseling, Assistance and Referral Services in my campus mailbox. Printed on bright blue paper, it was titled "Make a Haven," and was basically a list of what it considered normal reactions to the "recent tragic events."
Writing under a full moon, I feel the silent waters that have been violently disturbed. Occasionally there is a period in our lives when we wonder why so much energy is dedicated to warfare and its technologies and not enough put into wondering about this moon and how it effects each and everything.
I have been regularly writing this column for some 20 years now, and it has been great fun and, I hope, entertaining and annoying to the campus community. But in the interests of the University and my own health - dealing with the real world turns out to be a fairly scary thing - this column will not appear for a while.
We've been buried neck deep in controversy over Professor Berthold's recent comment. So he made a bad joke? So what?
My letter is a short response to Professor Richard Berthold's cowardly remark about the Pentagon bombing. Basically the professor is entitled to his point of view but his comment leads to a question about academic freedom.
I wish to express my condolences to the lower division undergraduates of this august institution. If some are correct, your poor darlings can be lead astray with a few words in an off-the-cuff remark. These folks seem to believe that you are so brain-dead, so soul-dead, that the first 18 years of life with your parents can be negated in one class by an evil, wicked professor. They probably also believe that you are all non-smoking, non-drinking virgins.
Professor Berthold's actions and opinions are an outrage. Not only should we have him fired, but his tongue also should be removed so that his dangerous opinions cannot infect any more ears in our population.
The embarrassment continues. Mr. Berthold is certainly entitled to his opinion, but it is inappropriate to use the canopy of tenure and academic freedom to provide immunity from being held accountable. He has used this shield successfully for the last 29 years and only apologized for his actions when it became apparent that someone might actually hold him responsible for his actions.
When searching for reasons why today's mayoral election is important, one need look no farther than a nearby television screen.
I am a junior at UNM, and have over the last three years taken four classes from Professor Richard Berthold. During that time, I learned that he was a very bright, strong-willed and opinionated man.
The span of human history has been defined by ideas, conflict and society's resolution of these two. To believe that this resolution will always be a peaceful one is to ignore human nature, as well as, thousands of years of history.
In light of the attention that has been paid recently to Professor Richard Berthold, it seemed prudent to bring up White House press secretary Ari Fleischer's instructions last week.
During the past few days, this country has seen some of the most unimaginable atrocities in recent history.
Berthold, you disgust me. I am embarrassed and saddened. Because of you, those of us who work at UNM are grouped in the same category as yourself.
A friend said something that struck me a couple of days ago. "Just imagine, if a free and democratic-loving country such as ours can react in such an incredibly hostile way and with such passionate violence, imagine how people feel in those countries who have been reduced to rubble over years of wars and social turmoil."
Your editorial "Hypocrisy reigns as free speech is ignored" was apparently based on some totally false version of the Faculty Senate meeting on Sept. 25.
As a former student of Dr. Berthold and a UNM alumnus, I would like to share my personal perspective on the man so many suddenly seem so willing to hate.
Solutions by The State News
