Dissent in academe.

At Rockford College in Illinois, antiwar writer Chris Edges (War is a Force That Gives Us Meaning) was booed off the stage at graduation for criticizing U.S. Iraq policy. At North Carolina State, Phil Donahue received boos and people walked out when he warned about the erosion of civil liberties under George W. Bush (The Nation, 16 June 2003). And in protests of a different kind, approximately 100 students and faculty walked out of the graduation ceremony at St. Joseph's University in Philadelphia moments before Senator Rick Santorum received an honorary degree and gave the keynote speech. The protest was held in response to recent remarks made by Senator Santorum in which he compared homosexuality to bigamy, polygamy, incest and adultery (Gay.com/PlanetOut.com Network, 19 May 2003).

On July 11, 2003, conservative David Horowitz's FrontPageMag.com published an article by Greg Yardley criticizing Historians Against the War. In response, Franklin & Marshall College History professor Van Gosse defended himself and other Historians Against the War against the article condemning Antiwar activism (Intelligencer Journal, Lancaster, PA, 19 July 2003). David Montgomery, past president of the Organization of American Historians, also responded and gave a history of the formation of HAW (History News Network, http://hnn. us/articles/1577.html).

Ben Young, a Jewish student at Queen Mary and Westfield College in England, delivered a speech at a meeting of Jews for Justice for Palestinians in London on 28 July 2003. "Academic Freedom on Campus: The Activities of the Union of Jewish Students" details efforts by the Union of Jewish Students in England to avoid discussion of the Palestinian issue, of "refuseniks" in the Israeli Army, and of Zionism. The author is interested in hearing from other Jewish students interested in joining a new group he is involved in setting up (blinderben @hotmail.com). For a copy of Mr. Young's speech, go to http://www. monabaker.com/pMachine/more.ph p?id=1042_0_1_0_M.

In The Progressive (1 August 2003) Barbara Ehrenreich has an amusing and disturbing article about the reception of her book Nickel and Dimed by some students from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill after it was adopted as a common reader for incoming students. After the president of the student body asked her for a useful way to direct the incoming students' discussion, Ehrenreich "suggested that the students ought to apply the book's concerns to their own campus, where workers have been trying to organize against heavy administrative opposition." Within a week, a group of conservative UNC-CH students, along with a handful of rightwing state legislators, denounced Nickel and Dimed as a "classic Marxist rant" and a work of "intellectual pornography with no redeeming characteristics." A full-page ad taken out by the offended students, calling themselves the Committee for a Better Carolina, specifically accused Ehrenreich personally of being a socialist, a Marxist, an atheist, and a "dedicated enemy of the American family" because of her often stated conviction that single-mother families deserve as much support as married-couple families.

The Alliance of Radical Academic/ Intellectual Organizations held its founding meeting on 4 October 2003 in New York City. An initial meeting of the Alliance, called by the Radical Caucus of the Modern Language Association, was held on 19 April 2003 and a steering committee prepared a draft Statement of Purpose and organized a founding meeting for fall, 2003. Statement of Purpose (partial): The Alliance "is a network of educational collectives and caucuses--brought together by the conjuncture of the 'war on terrorism'; the degradation of the economy exacerbated by, but not totally attributable to, the war; growing repression; and privatization and defunding of higher education. The goals of the Alliance are to support the work of individual caucuses and organizations through the establishment of a national and possibly international organization and, through this, to facilitate and coordinate activities on a larger regional, national, and international basis in response to these developments. The types of scholarly and intellectual groupings in the Alliance are diverse, including radical caucuses in academic disciplinary and professional organizations; organizations publishing scholarly academic journals; radical caucuses of faculty, professionals, and graduate students both organizing and already within unions. The Alliance invites such organizations--as well as those who would like to organize new groups--to join this network." To obtain information or join the Alliance network, contact [e-mail].