Academic and speech freedoms: endangered species?

Academic Freedom and Freedom of Speech?
Academic freedom and freedom of speech apparently do not exist at the University of Toledo (not holy Toledo, but unholy Toledo!).

University of Toledo Associate Vice President Crystal Dixon was recently fired from her job for writing, not for the campus paper, but for the Toledo Free Press, regarding her support for traditional marriage.

In her published article, Ms. Dixon also opposed homosexual rights activists tactic of using civil rights, that is, equating race with homosexuality. As an African-American, Ms. Dixon objected to a column that compared the gay rights movement to the civil rights movements.

The Free Press agreed to print Ms. Dixon's rejoinder opposing homosexual marriage for traditional marriage.

After hundreds of e-mails protesting her response, the president of UT buckled under pressure in just a few weeks, deciding that Ms. Dixon's right to free speech and her right as a thinking academic is superceded by homosexuals right not to be opposed or offended in the marketplace of ideas on and off campus.

It seems, that UT President Lloyd Jacobs supports freedom of speech and academic freedom only when it offends traditional views.

Let's hope that Ms. Dixon's legal team from nearby Thomas More Law Center will win back her constitutional rights.

Where have all our freedoms gone?