Transcribe
Translate
University of Iowa anti-war protests, 1965-1967
31858064848116_006
More information
digital collection
archival collection guide
transcription tips
[handwritten] DI 11/11/66 Graduate Assistant Tells DI Intention to Withhold Grades A second staff member at the University, because of his disagreement with the war in Viet Nam, said Thursday he would not submit his students' grades to the University. Michael Kimmel, G, Cherry Hill, N.J., a graduate assistant in technical writing, announced his decision in a letter to The Daily Iowan. Kimmel could not be reached for comment. Members of the English Department said Thursday night they did not know of Kimmel's intentions and were reserving comment until they had read the letter and studied the situation further. Saturday night at an anti-war rally, Donald Barnett, assistant professor of sociology and anthropology, said that he would not report his students' grades to the University. Barnett receive notice last Friday that his contract with the University would not be renewed. "As a graduate assistant, I instruct two classes and grade 20 students," Kimmel wrote. Kimmel wrote that he would neither grade his students nor expect his instructors to grade him for his graduate class work. "Sue me for being in a bag, tell me I'm 'black boxed,' call me computed - nothing I've heard or thought of enables me to grade my studnets without feeling like a fink, if you will. "Therefore I will not grade my students," Kimmel wrote. He explained his actions by saying, "Even if I did agree with the idea of student exemptions, which I consider unjust because that's the way I am about class genocide, I wouldn't want the responsibility of deciding who should and who shouldn't be a murderer." Kimmel concluded his letter with: "You can't honestly hate this war while you're siding a local draft board collect cannon fodder. In the case of our faculty liberals no amount of sophistry will convince me it isn't a mortgage, a second car, a college tuition, a beach house, and who knows what, that's preventing them from joining Dr. Barnett. "In the case of the graduate assistants who profess to oppose our policy in Viet Nam, it's the same thing."
Saving...
prev
next
[handwritten] DI 11/11/66 Graduate Assistant Tells DI Intention to Withhold Grades A second staff member at the University, because of his disagreement with the war in Viet Nam, said Thursday he would not submit his students' grades to the University. Michael Kimmel, G, Cherry Hill, N.J., a graduate assistant in technical writing, announced his decision in a letter to The Daily Iowan. Kimmel could not be reached for comment. Members of the English Department said Thursday night they did not know of Kimmel's intentions and were reserving comment until they had read the letter and studied the situation further. Saturday night at an anti-war rally, Donald Barnett, assistant professor of sociology and anthropology, said that he would not report his students' grades to the University. Barnett receive notice last Friday that his contract with the University would not be renewed. "As a graduate assistant, I instruct two classes and grade 20 students," Kimmel wrote. Kimmel wrote that he would neither grade his students nor expect his instructors to grade him for his graduate class work. "Sue me for being in a bag, tell me I'm 'black boxed,' call me computed - nothing I've heard or thought of enables me to grade my studnets without feeling like a fink, if you will. "Therefore I will not grade my students," Kimmel wrote. He explained his actions by saying, "Even if I did agree with the idea of student exemptions, which I consider unjust because that's the way I am about class genocide, I wouldn't want the responsibility of deciding who should and who shouldn't be a murderer." Kimmel concluded his letter with: "You can't honestly hate this war while you're siding a local draft board collect cannon fodder. In the case of our faculty liberals no amount of sophistry will convince me it isn't a mortgage, a second car, a college tuition, a beach house, and who knows what, that's preventing them from joining Dr. Barnett. "In the case of the graduate assistants who profess to oppose our policy in Viet Nam, it's the same thing."
Campus Culture
sidebar
