Possibly you have never heard of Citrus College. We confess that we were unacquainted with the community college in Glendora, California—until Professor Rosalyn Kahn catapulted the school to temporary notoriety last month. Professor Kahn is apparently one of those teachers who find it difficult to separate politics from pedagogy. Among her duties was teaching Speech 106, a “strongly recommended” course in “small group communication.” This winter, the communication concerned war with Iraq. Professor Kahn offered her students an extra-credit assignment: write to President Bush to protest the war. Note well: the extra credit was available not for a well-written letter, but only for a letter protesting the war. It transpired that Professor Kahn made a similar assignment with a state senator as the designated recipient.

Now, many teachers will try to hone their students’ rhetorical skills by asking them to argue for oppo ...

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