Concern Grows in Fresno

In today’s Los Angeles Times, staff reporter Stuart Silverstein spells out the legitimate concerns being expressed by some at Cal State Fresno, following the announcement of a “revolutionary environmentalism” conference scheduled for next week.

Fresno State classics professor Bruce Thornton — who authored one of very few public essays on the subject last week – summed it up for the Times:

“There’s a question of inviting people who aren’t just advocates of violence, arson and vandalism to campus, but also those who have actually participated in such acts, and giving them a sort of university validity, not to mention spending state taxpayer money to do so. To use an extreme example, if somebody was interested in the psychology of child molesters, would they bring a convicted child molester to hear what that person has to say? I think not.”

Silverstein acknowledges that the Fresno State story was first brought to the public by the Center For Consumer Freedom, in our December 20 report entitled “Legitimizing the Lunatics.”

The story also notes what we have long suspected: that the “travel, hotel and meal expenses” of invited guests like Animal Liberation Front arsonist Rodney Coronado and Earth Liberation Front ringleader Craig Rosebraugh “are being paid with university funds.”