CMU faculty label Lennox 'Virginia Tech dangerous'

November 5, 2007 —

I did not set about to write three columns on Gary Peters, Pamela Gates, and Dennis Lennox. There is just more material every week to cover that no one could have foreseen the week before. From what I have read in the emails I received as well as the questions I have been asked around campus, there are many people interested in this saga as well as in how it affects students' rights across Michigan universities. It doesn't look good, folks. To start, I'll provide an update on what has happened since my last column. For those who haven't read my previous two tales of impropriety, I highly suggest that you do.

Pamela Gates has been cleared of any wrong-doing by the 'investigation'. Gates is the interim Dean at Central Michigan University that was caught on video tape assaulting student Dennis Lennox. News of the report's findings was reported by Central Michigan Life, CMU's student newspaper, Wednesday morning.

"Despite allegations made by the student, evidence indicates that the dean did not strike or hit the student," said Steve Smith, the now infamous spokesman for CMU.

What Smith doesn't note, however, is that regardless of whether or not Gates struck Lennox or the camera, under the law, if the camera was attached to Lennox's hand, then that constitutes assault. Is anyone taking this Smith character seriously anymore anyway? He's starting to remind me of that Iraqi Information Minister during the first month of the War in Iraq. You know, the guy in the green military fatigues with the beret, standing in front of all the colored microphones, producing such gems as "Our initial assessment is that they will all die." and "There are no American infidels in Baghdad. Never!". Let's take another look at the legitimacy of the 'investigation'.

Central Michigan University refused numerous requests to conduct an independent investigation. As I reported before, CMU President Michael Rao had the Office of Affirmative Action investigate the incident, an office where Gates is one of the sixteen coordinators, a clear conflict of interest. However on Wednesday, Smith tried to deny Gates was indeed a coordinator and the CMU web page that listed the coordinators of the office mysteriously disappeared. Smell fishy to you? You really shouldn't be surprised at this point.

Friday, in a surprising move, Central Michigan Life published an editorial highly critical of the 'investigation'. The newspaper noted some of the very things I have mentioned.

"The rather pathetic inquiry absolved Gates..." the paper said, "It is quite evident that this wasn't a fair investigation."

Quite a blow to the public relations hate machine that the university has running full force right now in an order to discredit and attack Lennox. Three days earlier however, is when news broke that truly shocked everyone.

Tuesday, OutsideLansing.com, a state-wide political blog, published leaked emails from members of the Central Michigan University faculty that accused Dennis Lennox of being the next Virginia Tech shooter, a huge legal and ethical no-no. Allegra Blake, a professor of English wrote in an email to her colleagues on Thursday, October 25, that she had contacted a "behavioral neuro-psychologist" about the escalation of Lennox's activities. Blake then proceeded to diagnose Lennox with mental health issues because of his conservative beliefs and because he frequently changes his hairstyle. Allegra Blake has never met Dennis Lennox. Blake's email is below (it has not been edited):

"I talked to a behavioral neuro-psychologist about the escalation of Mr. Lennox's activities, along with with his rather strange physical transformation (his hair) and his increasing fixation on Gary Peters (see his day-by-day blog on Gary @ petersreport dot blogspot dot com), and the humanities in general. He has grown from super pest to scary pest in the past year--really, since he was kicked out of the College Republicans. I used to work in mental health, and quite frankly the pattern of behavior we've been witnessing is disturbing and indicates that Mr. Lennox is not only someone with noxious political and social beliefs, but someone who has mental health issues, and someone who seems to be losing control. The psychologist's advice (he has been following some of this on the news)is the following: "Don't provoke him. Don't initiate a confrontation of any sort, be it email, letter, or a face-to-face. He will respond in kind and escalate. Do not respond to correspondence, taunts, or 'stalking behavior' other than by calling the police. Appoint a mediator, if possible, from the counseling center [a neutral party], to try to convince him to either get help, back off or face scholastic or legal consequences." The psychologist went on to say that he thought that Lennox was a ticking bomb of sorts: he's angry [a little ball of hate, really], he's been rejected by other conservatives, and he has fixated on certain groups of people as the ultimate cause of his unhappiness. I know we are all furious with Lennox, and despise what he represents--let's face it, a movement that loathes academe and all it stands for. But I do think the above advice is solid and worth considering. Oh, and Horowitz has had connections with the Christian Right and the YAF because of their shared hatred for Muslims. It's a weird partnership, but one that has been flourishing for at least 10 years (Frontline did something on it a few years ago)."

Catherine Hicks, an assistant professor of English, then replied to Blake's email, indicating that Lennox could be "Virginia Tech dangerous" and imploring her colleagues "Let's not ignore the warning signs..."

Unbelievable. The conservative is a rare breed on CMU's campus, and with internal communication such as this circulating among the CMU faculty, it becomes apparent why. With emails such as those, it remains clear just how uphill Lennox must climb to fight corruption, first with Peters, then with Gates, and now with the entire university. Lennox has the opportunity here for a major lawsuit, and it's justified. Various reports indicate that he and his family are pursuing legal remedies - at least we still have the legal system to weed out the stink in Mount Pleasant. And to think, all of this because Gary Peters won't make the choice to commit to Congress - or campus.