Sarah Palin Whistleblower

A lot will be made of Ms. Palin's experience, or in some cases, lack thereof. She has had a fascinating and remarkable record considering her relatively thin time in politics. For istance, here is how Wikipedia described her some of her tenure as mayor of Wasilla. (You know that town that the Obama campaign mocked as only of 9000)

In January 1997, Palin fired the Wasilla police chief and library director. In response, a group of 60 residents calling themselves Concerned Citizens for Wasilla discussed attempting a recall campaign against Palin, but then decided against it.[10] The fired
police chief later sued Palin on the grounds that he was fired because he supported the campaign of Palin's opponent, but his suit was eventually dismissed when the judge ruled that Palin had the right under state law to fire city employees, even for political reasons.[11] Palin followed through on her campaign promises to reduce her own salary, and to reduce property taxes by 40%.[

So, while the politics may have been on a relatively small scale, it certainly didn't lack in excitement and intrigue. Yet, within all of her experience, the thing that most impresses me is when she turned into a whistleblower.



The term whistle blower has taken on a simplistic and rather tangential tone, and it doesn't do any justice to explain just exactly what someone needs to do and what they have to endure in order follow through in exposing corruption.



For instance, we recently learned that Mark Felt was the infamous "deep throat" during the Watergate scandal. Why did Felt make all of his accusations anonymously? It's because had he gone public it would have meant the end of his career. No one within the political system he exposed would have dared to hire him. He was the FBI's number two and even he didn't have the courage to blow the whistle publicly.



I have, in my time exposing corruption in health care,academina, and roofing, have come across many whistleblowers. Many of them have been targeted and had their lives ruined. Kevin Kuritzky attempted to expose the corruption at Grady Hospital, and his medical school, Emory University, expelled him from medical school 41 days prior to graduation. Dennis Lennox attempted to expose Central Michigan University's corrupt hiring of Gary Peters, who simultaneously held a lucrative chairmanship while he ran for U.S. Congress 400 miles away. He was nearly expelled and reprimanded, while the administration pursued Lennox punitively for the better part of a full school year. Dr. Blake Moore exposed a serial killer nurse at his hospital and the administration along with much of the state's, South Carolina, pursued him viciously. He was ultimately accused of child abuse and had his three foster children taken from him. Gerard Beloin attempted to expose a corrupt deal between a roofing company and a school board, and his life was threatened and for the last four years he has battled criminal charges against him. Diana Vice attempted to expose another corrupt deal between a school board and a roofing company and for the last year she has received threatening phone calls, and one has been traced back to the company in question.



This is the sort of fate that awaits any whistleblower. Corruptors rarely go down without a fight. Anyone that attempts to expose the corruption is often met with vicious retribution. The courage that it takes to expose corruption is beyond measure. It puts the individual outside the establishment. The establishment then pushes back and often the whistle blower finds themself on their own.



That's exactly what Sarah Palin did several years ago when she served on the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission.

Palin gained much of her prominence as a whistle-blower. After she was appointed by Governor Murkowski to the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, she started bucking the Republican Party leadership over ethics lapses. She blew the whistle on state GOP Chairman Randy Ruedrich when he was a fellow oil and gas commissioner. In 2003, he was forced to resign his regulatory post and pay a record $12,000 fine. She and a Democratic state lawmaker filed an ethics complaint against the state attorney general, Gregg Renkes, who resigned under fire.

"The Randy Ruedrich thing was a huge deal. I think that's when her popularity really started to increase," says Ivan Moore, an Anchorage-based pollster who generally works for Democrats.

Although she campaigned for Murkowski in 2002, she became his consistent critic after he was elected. She was outspoken about the financial deal he negotiated with the three major oil producers for a $20 billion natural-gas pipeline. She and others derided the deal - never ratified by the legislature - as a giveaway to the oil industry.

Palin has paid a price for her outspokenness. Mr. Ruedrich, still party chairman, seldom talks to her, and the state party gave her no money during the general election.

Her whistleblowing was condensed to a few simple paragraphs and unfortunately, I don't believe that most of the stories that talk about give the kind of context it deserves. By taking on Ruedrich and then Attorney General Greg Renkes, she not only took on the political establishment of her state but her party. When she took on this task, she put her entire relatively new political career on the line. The political class has the ability to crush any politican's career. Furthermore, the corruptors often do much more than that. Corruptors often go after whistleblowers personally and attempt to make their entire lives a living hell. That was the risk that Palin took when she dared to take on party power players in a state where corruption is simply the way to do business.



Yet, she did and she exposed the sort of corruption that became simply the way to do business in Alaska. By doing so, she shook up the entire power structure in Alaska and put an end to business as usual. The kind of courage she displayed in doing so can only be understood if ever you are in the position of whistle blower, or if like me, you have the privilege of having a whistle blower tell their story to you.

CMU Vs. Dennis Lennox: A Failure of Leadership

The ordeal that brought Dennis Lennox, a Junior at CMU, in direct confrontation with his administration has lasted about 14 months. Fourteen months ago, CMU hired Gary Peters to the distinguished Griffin Chair. This was always a controversial hire because Peters had already formed an exploratory committee to run for Congress in a district hundreds of miles from campus. In the subsequent fourteen months, the administration went through all sorts of extraordinary steps to protect Peters. Furthermore, they went through all sorts of extreme steps to confront and intimidate Dennis Lennox, a junior that became the sore in their side on this case.

The effort was coordinated between the Dean of Students Pamela Gates, the head of the Political Science Department, Del Ringquist, and all the while the President of the school, Michael Rao stood up and did nothing. At all levels of the administration, not only was Peters protected, but Lennox was targeted. Which makes the ruling from last week that much more stunning.

The affair had its climax last week when the administration reached this decision.

Reports out of Mount Pleasant indicate the school's Human Resources Department has finalized a policy that would require professors to pick between Congress and campus.

Under the new policy, which comes some three weeks after classes ended, Peters will be required to resign by June 5 -- 60 days before the Democratic primary on August 5 -- if he wants to challenge Congressman Joe Knollenberg.

Now, since the beginning Lennox wanted for Gary Peters to choose between running for U.S. Congress, in a district hundreds of miles from campus, and serving as the chair of the prestigious Griffin Chair. Of course, between now and the beginning of this affair, the administration did all sorts of things to not only protect Peters but to attack Lennox.

From emails sent back and forth between staff, we can see that Peters' hire likely had less to do with qualification and more to do with ideology and political favoritism.

I think there is a growing impression that CMU is a Conservative Republican base and I and several others have heard this over and over from folks in our own administration, the faculity, and from Lansing politicians. The Department of Political Scinece has had top rate policy analysts in the first effort to fill the Griffin Chair and they percieve that they were overridden because of Ranny Ricker's call regarding (name blacked out). In the second search to fill the Griffin Chair the Department received a hassle when they found a moderate Republican to have cleared al the hurdles and a political ally and close associate of John Engler was almost foisted upon them even though the person lacked the same excellent qualifications as Bill Ballinger...

...

As close as he (Gary Peters) is to the governor (Jennifer Granholm), it might look bad for CMU if he is not offered the position after such a recommendation."

Of course, as corrupt as the hire was, it was nothing compared to the corruption that CMU created to protect Peters and confront and intimidate Lennox. The administration created a ban on video cameras after a couple confrontational incidents between Lennox and Peters. (creating a bit of political strange bedfellows between the conservative Lennox and the ACLU which rushed to his aid in this matter)

Furthermore, Lennox was involved in his own highly confrontational incident also caught on camera. Here she commits assault on Lennox when he attempts to serve here with a FOIA request.







After this confrontation, the school went on a systematic attempt to try and discipline Lennox. Not only were the charges dubious, but the whole process was anything but fair. It was scheduled and cancelled multiple times. Finally, when Lennox showed up to his disciplinary hearing with multiple media in March, the administration cancelled the hearing and announced that the next hearing would be held in secret without Lennox being in attendance.



They went ahead and held the hearing in secret while students were on Spring break. Of course, the charges that all of this stemmed from came from an incident in which a school professor confronted Lennox inside a school building late in the evening when Lennox was attempting to pass out literature. Because the simple act of passing out literature was against the CMU student code of conduct, and because Lennox wouldn't identify himself to the professor (another technical violation), this incident lead to a five month ordeal for Lennox. Keep in mind that underage drinking is also against the CMU student code of conduct, and yet the school allows the freshman and sophomores to systematically violate that policy, while they strictly enforced Lennox' aggressive use of free speech and his unwillingness to identify himself to a stranger in the evening.



These are just some of the things that the administration did to Lennox and for Gary Peters during the last year plus and after all of this the administration agreed with the premise of Lennox' arguement. Of course, Dennis Lennox hasn't changed what his position since this affair started at the beginning of April 2007.



In other words, while they systematically targeted Lennox and protected their corrupt hire Gary Peters after over a year they admitted they were wrong and Dennis Lennox was right. Now, I am reminded of the climactic scene of the movie, Quiz Show.

I'm happy that you've made the statement. But I cannot agree with most of my colleagues. See, I don't think an adult of your intellegence should be commended for simply, at long last, telling the truth.

While I commend the administration for finally coming to their senses, it doesn't excuse their behavior over the last year and more. Their admission finally at long last makes their behavior over this whole affair that much more despicable, unprofessional, and ultimately a failure of leadership.



When leaders fail to lead, new leaders must replace them. Everyone from the President of the school, Michael Rao, to the Dean of Students, Pamela Gates, to the head of the Political Science Department, Del Ringquist, showed an utter failure of leadership. From the beginning rather than standing up for a good and proper process, they stood up for corruption. Rather than protecting the rights of their students, they trampled on them. This whole affair should have never happened because it takes basic common sense to know that hiring Peters would have lead to disaster. Not only did they commit this corrupt hire, but the entire leadership of the school then went on to commit obscene amounts of more corruption to protect that hire. In the meantime, Dennis Lennox saw many rights squelched and trampled on. Peters was paid a rather large salary to simultaneously campaign hundreds of miles away while he was supposed to be dedicated to teaching. All of this happened because the leadership has no idea what the word lead means. If your leaders aren't leading, then there is nothing but chaos. That is what this whole affair wound up being.



I will not show anymore hubris in calling for the administration to do anything, but I do know that none have shown any ability to do the most important function of their respective offices...lead. If they can't perform that function, how can do their jobs?

Gary Peters Forced Out at CMU

According to Right Michigan, the sordid affair over Gary Peters at CMU is finally over.

After months of turning a blind-eye to Gary Peters sacrificing the education of students by running for Congress while he's under contract as a professor, Central Michigan University is finally doing the right thing.

Reports out of Mount Pleasant indicate the school's HumanResourcesDepartment has finalized a policy that would require professors to pick between Congress and campus.

Under the new policy, which comes some three weeks after classes ended, Peters will be required to resign by June 5 -- 60 days before the Democratic primary on August 5 -- if he wants to challenge Congressman Joe Knollenberg.

Let me quickly review the particulars of the case. The whole thing started over a year ago when Central Michigan University hired Gary Peters to be their distinguished Griffin Chair. This was a peculiar hire because Peters had already announced an exploratory committee to run for U.S. Congress. Immediately, student Dennis Lennox began tracking the case and even formed a group called Students Against Gary Peters. As Lennox began putting more pressure on the administration to make Peters choose between Congress and his duties at CMU, the administration began putting more pressure on Lennox. They began sanctioning him for all sorts of dubious charges. They forced his eventual punishment all the way through their disciplinary process. In a move of stunning hubris and brazen chutzpah, the administration eventually held a secret disciplinary hearing over Spring Break without inviting Lennox to attend. They sanctioned him without him even being there to defend himself. While they didn't expel Lennox, they did formally write him up and put the write up in his official file.

This is a rather monumental victory. This whole sordid affair was another example of powerful forces trying to run over those deemed less powerful. (Those that have been following the story will remember that CMU threw out all standards of decency, fairness, an due process in trying to silence Dennis Lennox as he attempted to force Gary Peters to do exactly what the administration is doing now.) There will be time for reflection and analysis later. I don't believe this let's the administration off the hook, however for now, a major battle for the forces of the weak against the powerful has been won.

The "Disciplined" Candidate

When last we left Dennis Lennox, the school administration at Central Michigan University had formally disciplinedthe Junior in a meeting that was held in secret without his participation. He had been involved with a nearly year long confrontation with his administration over Gary Peters. Peters was simultaneously holding the distinguished Griffin Chair and running for U.S. Congress in a district hundreds of miles away. As the confrontation got more intense over time, it lead to more extreme actions. Eventually, was charged with all sorts of charges that I consider dubious at best, and now just recently the administration finally, after scheduling and postponing multiple hearings, formally disciplined Lennox in secret without allowing him to attend. At the time, no one, including Lennox himself, thought that his next move would be to announce his intention to run for state office. Yet, that is exactly what he has done. Here is a portion of the press release I received...

Topinabee resident Dennis Lennox announced his candidacy for the 105th state House seat currently held by retiring Rep. Kevin Elsenheimer on Wednesday.

"With Representative Elsenheimer's decision not to run again, it's important to ensure a conservative voice continues to represent us," said Lennox. "The people of northern Michigan want someone willing to cut taxes, improve the economy and vote their values."

Lennox, 23, is active in Republican politics and has worked for President
George W. Bush, Congressman David Camp and Senate Republicans in Lansing under
then-Majority Leader Ken Sikkema. He has also represented the GOP abroad – building important relationships with center-right political parties and leaders. Earlier this year, he was elected as an alternate delegate to the 2008 Republican National Convention.

Events unraveled as they normally do in such cases. First, Lennox told me that he had been eyeing a run at this seat in 2010. In the Michigan state legislature, state reps are term limited to three terms. The Representative in his home district, Kevin Elsenheimer, was finishing his second term. Just recently, Elsenheimer announced that instead of seeking another re election, he was going to retire.

The whole the situation was ripe for Lennox to take advantage. First, the 105th District is pretty solid Republican. Second, the primary is scheduled for August. If he were to win the primary, that means that he would be near assured of winning the general election. If he were to lose in the primaries, he could take the newly gained experience back to school or to whatever opportunity happened to come up. It still remains unclear how the Peters saga will fit in within the election. It certainly has no direct relevance and could only be used tangentially.

Lennox told me that he is leaving behind a functioning apparatus to continue the fight against Peters dually holding the Griffin Chair and running for U.S. Congress. While this is so, it is obviously unclear how the group will function without its leader. My first question was a rather cynical one...why shouldn't we see this as you using these events to further your own ambitions?

Lennox' answer was both political and statesman like depending on your perspective. He told me that he always believed that public service was a noble endeavor, and that he saw this as an opportunity to serve the people.

The issues he will be dealing with are in most ways totally different from the ordeal that has consumed his life over the previous ten months. Michigan has the highest unemployment rate in the country. The state government recently passed record tax increases. Furthermore, Michigan has been far more dependent on manufacturing than the average states. The automobile industry is in decline, and Lennox believes that Michigan sets out far too many regulations.

He believes the solutions to Michigan's economic malaise is getting back to good old fashioned traditional conservative, libertarian, and free market principles. He believes the way out of this malaise is with lower taxes, less government intrusion, and less regulations. He has already signed Grover Norquist's no new taxes pledge. He mentioned that he was also going to look to aggressively eliminate those bureaucracies that he felt weren't performing. He also mentioned that deregulation was another goal of his. By removing government and lowering the tax burden, he believes the free market will work to revolutionize Michigan's economy.

Lennox mentioned that of course since the campaign is only days old that his entire platform hadn't yet been developed. With that caveat, I took away that he would try and run as a consistent, reliable, conservative that was going to work to get the Republicans back to their roots.

So far he is leading and that's because he is the first to announce. Ironically enough, Jon Benet Ramsey's dad could possibly be one of his opponents. Jon Ramsey ran for office here a few years back. It is far too early to determine his prospects, but we will keep an eye out.

The Founding Fathers and the CMU Fiasco

Introduction: First a quick re cap of events so far. Back in April of last year, Gary Peters was hired by Central Michigan University to be their distinguished Griffin Chair. This was a controversial hire since Peters had already made his intentions known that he was about to run for U.S. Congress in a district hundreds of miles away. As such, CMU student Dennis Lennox began tracking the case. For months he painstakingly followed the case. On more than one occasion he confronted either Peters himself or others in the administration. Following a highly controversial, and videotaped, incident between Lennox and Dean of Students Pamela Gates, the story metamorphisized into his own confrontation with the administration. In the months that followed, the administration levvied multiple charges that I and others saw as dubious. On multiple occasions, disciplinary hearings were scheduled only to be cancelled. Finally, Lennox showed up to a disciplinary hearing with multiple reporters only to have the administration cancel that hearing and announce that the next one would be held in private.

I make no secret of my bias toward Lennox. This bias is for several reasons. First, Lennox has spoken to me multiple times whereas the only contact the administration has given me is a form email. Second, we are admittedly ideological allies. Third, and most importantly in my mind, I believe that in this case Lennox is clearly right and the administration is clearly wrong. I am a blogger not a traditional journalist. The rules are a lot less strict in my world and I will add commentary to reporting whenever I please. If you feel I am biased and with an agenda, I will cede that point. If you think that bias clouds my judgement and perspective to see the truth here, I will strongly disagree and challenge that notion.

Since I began blogging, I have always wondered how the founding fathers would view blogging. (While I usually hate to get into other's heads especially people no longer alive, I will for this piece) I suspect they would view blogging quite positively. I suspect the founding fathers always envisioned the first amendment being used eventually in ways they never imagined only with the same principles. The idea of citizens speaking their minds and then having the power to have those words reach anyone anywhere in the world is a concept they would likely embrace.

I suspect that the founding fathers would view the CMU fiasco both with a sense of pride and admiration and at the same a sense of horror. In many ways, Lennox has updated many of the techniques of the founding fathers for the 21st century. The founding fathers were not only men of honor, courage and principle, but they were also quite media savvy. They created fliers and petition. They organized townhall meetings, debates, or even meetings in someone's basement. The founding fathers not only had something to say, but they knew how to maximize the media of the day so that as many people as possible heard them.

In many ways that is what Lennox has done. Whereas petitions and fliers have been replaced by the internet, cell phones, and email. Just as the founding fathers organized media campaigns to spread their message, of the British tyranny and the principles of the new nation they wanted to form, so to has Lennox done the same thing here. In fact, the main purpose behind the first amendment is exactly for the purpose that Lennox has used it for. The main purpose of the first amendment is to give the media enough power to be a watchdog of the powerful. The founding fathers were always weary of government, and they were well aware of the corrossive effect of power. The founding fathers knew that the best check on power was a vibrant media.

That is what Lennox is doing in this case. He is holding his own powerful force, the adminisration of the school he attends, accountable. It is exactly for the Dennis Lennox' of the world that the founding fathers intended the first amendment. Furthermore, Lennox has shown a media savvy that the founding fathers would likely have been impressed with. Not only has he vigorously used his first amendment right but he has also used it creatively. He has created his own newsletter, a website, spoken at CPAC, and even allied himself with the Michigan Republican Party to start a Where's Gary Peters media campaign. Despite being threatened with expulsion and other disciplinary action, Lennox never stopped his media campaign and that campaign continues today.

The administration, on the other hand, from the beginning have twisted and perverted the very principles that many of the founding fathers risked their lives to give us. Since the beginning the administration has failed to answer some basic questions...If the Griffin Chair is supposed to be a non partisan position why is a partisan running for Congress as a Democrat holding the position? If the Chair is a three year position why are you hiring someone that will likely only serve a portion of that term? How is Peters expected to simultaneously run for Congress in a district hundreds of miles away and fulfill the duties of the Chair?

More importantly, they have used the full power of their position to subvert many of the principles that the founding fathers risked their lives for. I am not a legal scholar so I don't want to debate whether or not their actions were or were not technically unconstitutional, however I am expert enough to know that they violated many of its spirits.

In October, following several highly controversial PUBLIC confrontations between Lennox and members of the administration including Peters himself, CMU banned the use of videtapes in public on the campus. This step was so extreme that the ACLU stepped in and sided with Lennox and demanded the ban be lifted. The founding fathers weren't exposed to videotape, and thus it isn't necessarily clear how they would view videotaping in public. That said, I suspect that they would view this as an extension of the first amendment right. Furthermore, I bet they would view the action of the administration as the subversion of that right in order to insulate itself from the scrutiny the first amendment was meant to create.

Not only did the administration violate the spirit of Lennox' first amendment rights in order to insulate itself from scrutiny, they violated the spirit of all principles of due process in going after Lennox for disciplinary violations. The main disciplinary action came after a confrontation between Lennox and English Professor Peter Koper. Lennox was passing out literature inside a university building at about 9 in the evening. First, the action of passing out this literature was in and of itself a violation of the CMU student code of conduct. This rule is itself not only draconian but totally against all principles of free speech.

The administration first refused to let Lennox see the evidence against him. Only after he raised a stink did they let him see the evidence. Even then, they only let him view it in an administration office and refused to let him copy it. They allowed him to be represented by counsel at his disciplinary hearing but refused to allow the counsel to speak.

They delayed the hearing multiple times, likely not coincidentally when the media firestorm reached fever pitch. Finally, a few weeks ago Lennox showed up at his disciplinary hearing with multiple media and a video camera. They refused to proceed because they didn't want Lennox videotaping the procedures. They announced that not only was the hearing cancelled but that the subsequent hearing would be held without Lennox there to defend himself. They held a secret meeting over spring break and disciplined Lennox without his attendance to defend himself or document the proceedings.

Of course things like right to counsel, fair and open hearings, being able to view the evidence against you, and a speedy trial are likely all principles that the founding fathers would have felt were vital. They are all principles the administration not only ignored but frankly trampled on. While they protected a public official, Gary Peters, from relevant and necesary questions, they also trampled on the principle of free speech, due process, as well as the 14th amendment which I haven't touched on now but did in this link. (While the 14th amendment was created after most of the founding fathers had passed, I suspect that given their decendency from outcasts who were themselves targeted and singled out that is another principle they would hold dear)

The whole fiasco is a surreal dichotomy between the best and worst of the principles that our founding fathers risked everything for.

Peters Solicits Donations from CMU Administration?

That appears to be the jist of several emails just released under FOIA. I received seven such emails like the one to the left. This one is to Toby Roth Jr, the school's Washington lobbyist. As a paid state employee, Peters is of course prohibited from working on partisan activities. Furthermore, as an educator, it goes against all standards to use his position to further his own current political campaign.

Words like smoking gun are vague and have a nebulous meaning in my mind. That said, these emails leave little room for debate. They paint a fairly clear picture. Peters, who simultaneously is teaching and running for Congress, was actively soliciting his own colleagues for campaign funds.

This is another in a set of events that confirms the suspicions of Dennis Lennox and his group, Students Against Gary Peters. It is becoming more and more clear that Peters' hire didn't merely have the appearance of impropriety but was in fact nefarious.

CMU VS. Dennis Lennox: The Administration Has Spoken

Dennis Lennox was right and the administration did use the opportunity of the university's spring break to hold a secret closed door meeting to reprimand him. He was found guilty of all three charges against him and he was formally reprimanded, though not expelled. Here is a copy of the press release from Students Against Gary Peters, the group Lennox heads up...

A student who has raised questions about Gary Peters teaching at Central Michigan University while he runs for Congress was convicted by school administrators for student code violations during a secret, closed-door disciplinary hearing held over spring break in violation of the state Open Meetings Act.

Students Against Gary Peters spokesman Dennis Lennox was notified Tuesday afternoon by e-mail that a tribunal decided he was guilty of three charges for distributing copies of The Peters Report, a student newsletter with editorial content critical of Peters.

He will receive a formal reprimand, which will be placed in his academic record and could affect his academic future. An appeal will be filed immediately and action will be taken to ensure his rights are respected.

It has been widely reported that administrators were considering expulsion for the CMU junior when the charges were announced on Nov. 27 -- the same day the ACLU threatened CMU with legal action for banning videotaping on campus.

While CMU didn't expel a student for exercising his First Amendment rights, it's unfortunate he was denied the opportunity to defend himself against these charges -- which were part of an effort to silence students for criticizing Peters. This has not been an open, honest and transparent process. These out-of-control friends of Gary Peters are ruining the reputation of CMU in their quest to silence students raising legitimate questions.

A secret, closed-door hearing was held after CMU administrators refused to participate in a Feb. 27 hearing when Lennox tried to videotape the proceeding. The school claims they are the only ones who can record proceedings -- a stance that violates provisions of the Open Meetings Act (http://legislature.mi.gov/doc.aspx?mcl-15-268), which says that "a public body MAY [emphasis added] meet in a closed session … to consider the dismissal, suspension, or disciplining of a student … IF [emphasis added] the student or the student's parent or guardian REQUESTS [emphasis] a closed hearing."

CMU spokesman Steve Smith claimed the student code forbids students from recording hearings, though WNEM TV-5 revealed there was no such provision in the school's regulations (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLGpxrfPPSc).

The Open Meetings Act (http://legislature.mi.gov/doc.aspx?mcl-15-263), as well as the First Amendment to the Constitution, clearly allows videotaping of public hearings. The statute says "meetings of a public body shall be open to the public and shall be held in a place available to the general public. All persons shall be permitted to attend any meeting except as otherwise provided in this act. The right of a person to attend a meeting of a public body includes the right to tape-record, to videotape, to broadcast live on radio, and to telecast live on television the proceedings of a public body at a public meeting."

Peters is challenging Congressman Joe Knollenberg despite a contract requiring his "full-time … primary commitment" as a professor through the 2009/10 academic year. He is paid $65,000-a-year to teach a political science class once a week for three hours.

While this story continues to be largely ignored by the MSM, the right blogosphere, both in Michigan and beyond, is now abuzz. Here is Michigan conservative blogging powerhouse Right Michigan. Here is the story cross posted on national conservative heavy weight Red State. Chet Zarko, at Outside Lansing, also picks up the story.


Last week, I hypothesized that the momentum wasn't enough to drive this story forward. The story continues to be driven by the blogosphere and usually that isn't enough however with the introduction of Red State there may be new legs to the story.

CMU Vs. Dennis Lennox: Spring Break

Introduction: Last week, Central Michigan University scheduled and subsequently postponed the third disciplinary hearing against Dennis Lennox. Lennox was cited for passing out literature in an area that was off limits, inside a university building, and for not identifying himself to an administration official. This is the third hearing that was postponed. Lennox turned rival of his own administration when he started tracking and orchestrating a media campaign against Gary Peters, the new Griffin Chair at CMU. Peters was a controversial hire because he is simultaneously running for U.S. Congress in a district hundreds of miles away. While Peters continues teaching, the story has now largely revolved around the confrontation between Lennox and his administration...

It is spring break at Central Michigan University, however Students Against Gary Peters believe that the administration will use this exact opportunity to hold the disciplinary hearing against Dennis Lennox in private. Here is a copy of the email I got. (Please note Dennis himself is the leader of the group)

Spring break at Central Michigan University hasn't stopped attempts by some faculty and administrators to shield professor-turned-Democratic congressional candidate Gary Peters from scrutiny with threats and petty intimidation.

Assistant Dean of Students Anthony Voisin will proceed with a secret, closed-door disciplinary hearing that could expel Students Against Gary Peters spokesman Dennis Lennox for his opposition to Peters sacrificing the education of CMU students by running for Congress.

The school's previous attempts to hold the hearing have violated the state Open Meetings Act. While a date hasn't been set, a tribunal could be convened over spring break and the student won't be notified until afterwards, CMU says.

The length some administrators and faculty have gone to protect Peters from legitimate scrutiny is unbelievable. They are using tax dollars to try and destroy a student's academic and professional future. As Lennox wonders if he will be a student after spring break, faculty who maliciously libeled him with absurd allegations that he is mentally ill and "Virginia Tech dangerous" because of his "noxious (conservative) political and social beliefs" are still teaching without repercussions.

Besides violating the trust of taxpayers with the questionable hiring of Peters, some of the school's faculty and administrators have repeatedly thumbed their nose at the law.

They've infringed on free speech with bogus student code charges after The Peters Report student newsletter was distributed on campus alongside the Central Michigan Life student newspaper and Unendorsed alternative newspaper.

Videotaping was banned when embarrassing incidents involving Peters and his boss, Dean Pamela Gates, hit the internet -- attracting more than 400,000 viewers in a 48-hour period on YouTube.com.

And now they're holding secret hearings without affording students their basic constitutional rights -- due process, the right to confront your accusers and the right to have a public tribunal.Many have complained about the length some at CMU have gone to protect Peters -- resulting in hundreds of complaints via telephone and e-mail over recent weeks.

It's time people start asking questions and demanding answers. CMU needs to stop protecting Peters -- its attempts to stifle public scrutiny on campus is embarrassing and has tarnished the school's reputation.

Here is a list of the administration at CMU. Please feel free, respectively, to make your opinion heard...

CMU President Michael Rao, mailto:president@cmich.eduand (989) 774-3131* Assistant Dean of Students Anthony Voisin anthony.a.voisin@cmich.edu and (989) 774-3016 * Board of Trustees Chairman Jeffrey Caponigro (R), capon1jr@cmich.edu and (248) 355-3200* Board of Trustees member Stephanie Comai (R), comai1s@cmich.edu and (734) 761-6915* Board of Trustees member John Kulhavi (R), kulha1jg@cmich.edu and (248) 737-6222* Board of Trustees member Gail Torreano (R), torre1gf@cmich.edu and (313) 223-7171

CMU Vs. Dennis Lennox: The Chess Match Continues

I once described this confrontation as a chess match and if it was, then the CMU admin would just have put Dennis Lennox in check, and now it is his move. There is a lot of metaphorical similarities between what is happening now and that great game and this latest move is just one example. Yesterday, the administration cancelled a scheduled disciplinary hearing against Lennox and announced that they would next schedule another disciplinary hearing behind closed doors and they wouldn't even invite Lennox to attend. (In other words, he couldn't even attend his own disciplinary hearing and defend himself)

This whole thing got started when Central Michigan University decided to hire Gary Peters for their distinguished Griffin Chairmanship. This was a controversial choice because Peters had already indicated that he was thinking of running for Congress in a district hundreds of miles away.

From the beginning, Lennox was able to orchestrate a media campaign to track this case. In fact, Lennox' main weapon in this chess match is the media itself. The chess match didn't really get started until this incident between Dean of Students Pamela Gates and Lennox himself. Lennox was not only able to video tape the Dean assaulting him but then downloaded it onto Youtube and started the video's course into the public's consciousness.

The administration's main weapon in this confrontation has been their student code of conduct and their natural position of power. Within two weeks of the confrontaion with Gates, the administration initially brought charges against Lennox. The violations stemmed from an incident in which Lennox passed out literature from the newsletter he created, The Peters Report, inside a university building at about nine in the evening. According to the student code this is a violation of the student code. The incident was exacerbated because a university employee, Peter Kofer, found and confiscated the newsletter. Kofer then confronted Lennox and Lennox refused to identify himself, another violation, in the ensuing confrontation.

Since the beginning of November, charges have been floating around. Numerous times a disciplinary hearing was scheduled only to be postponed. Yesterday, there was supposed to be a disciplinary hearing. I guess the administration didn't expect the entourage that Lennox would bring with him. He had multiple members of the media with him ready to videotape the hearing. Caught off guard, the administration canceled the hearing. They are now threatening to hold the hearing in private without Lennox even being there to challenge the charges. This latest move would have been the check that I referred to in the beginning of the piece.

Throughout the ordeal, what you will see is an administration using the student code of conduct liberally, creatively, and innovatively to try and minimize the effect Lennox is having in driving the Peters story. At the same time, Lennox counters by effectively using the media to drive the story.

Back in November, the talk of expelling Lennox first got started, and he reached out first to conservative Michigan blog Right Michigan and then to conservative national blog Red State. The firestorm of media attention lead to overwhelming numbers of emails, faxes and phone calls from the media campaign to the office of the administration. After the firestorm reached fever pitch, the administration first postponed the disciplinary hearing. (They would subsequently postpone it two more times as well)

In fact, it is interesting and not coincidental that the hearing has been scheduled and postponed multiple times. Back in December, the story of CMU Vs. Dennis Lennox reached a fever pitch at Redstate. Today, it will likely get significantly less attention if any at all (though I will cross post this piece there later). It is hard to continue to drive a story like this for numerous factors. Not the least of which is that it is campaign season and people want to talk about that. Yet, that is exactly what Lennox has to do everytime there is a disciplinary hearing. The problem for him is that you can only cry wolf so many times so to speak. Thus, everytime the administration schedules a meeting only to postpone it Lennox' job in stirring up the media pot becomes even harder.

The University, on the other hand, has been quite creative in using their student code of conduct. First, what they did was poison the waters among CMU staff and other faculty with this email exchange.

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

...

So are you saying that this kid is dangerous? As in Virginia Tech dangerous? Let's not ignore the warning signs

(This email exchange is from two CMU professors who had never met Lennox) Since it would be the faculty itself that would ultimately decide Lennox' fate in the disciplinary hearings, this sort of email exchange is the equivalent of posioning the jury pool. Once the jury pool was poisoned the merely needed to find a way to bring charges in a manner they could control and eliminate Lennox. They used the student code in any manner possible to limit Lennox in getting his message out. For instance, back in November they used this portion of the student code to ban Lennox from using video cameras in public.

Violation of other university regulations, policies or established
procedures may be treated as an offense under these regulations.

If you are confused about how this particular part of the student code bans Lennox from using a video camera in public join the club. The way this portion was explained to me is that this gives the administration to set any other rules as they see fit in order to maintain order. They felt that Lennox was being disruptive with the video camera and they told him to stop.

To counter this, Lennox brought in the strangest of strange bedfellows, the ACLU. The ACLU stepped in on Lennox' behalf and threatened to sue if the school continued with their ban.

Back and forth this chess game has gone. Every time Lennox would raise the stakes through the media, the administration would counter by raising the stakes using the student code of conduct. The administration's strategy is simple. It really comes down to basic debate tactics. If you have the facts, you argue the facts. If you don't, you shoot the messenger and turn them into the story. There is absolutely no reason why Peters should simultaneously work at CMU and run for Congress hundreds of miles away. This hire was political and released emails back up that assertion. There are even indications in the emails that this hire was made to gain special favorability with the Democratic governor.

As close as he (Gary Peters) is to the governor (Jennifer Granholm), it might lookbad for CMU if he is not offered the position after such a recommendation."

Thus, there was nothing proper or legitimate about this hire. The story could never be about Peters if the admin wanted to win. For a while their strategy amounted to ignoring the story and not answering any questions or concerns. That all changed with the incident I alluded to earlier involving Lennox and Dean Pamela Gates. From then on, the strategy shifted and the admin was determined to make Lennox the story. They succeeded. Even I have mostly focused on that angle of the story. The way they did this was by trumping up charges and then playing sleight of hand with disciplinary hearings. By continuing to hold these charges out there, for months now, the admin has effectively turned that confrontation into the story and Peters, himself, has faded to the sideline for the most part. (Only to be brought back into the foreground whenever Lennox is able use the media to successfully turn the story back onto him. I have listed examples later in the story)

Since the middle of October, the story has largely not been about the hire of Gary Peters but in the confrontation between Lennox and the administration. The administration first scheduled a formal disciplinary hearing in early December only to postpone it. They did it again in January only to have the preceedings snowed out, and now they did it a third time yesterday. In the meantime, the story has evolved from the hire of Gary Peters to the confrontation between the two sides.

As the administration used the student code to turn the story away from Peters and onto Lennox himself, Lennox was forced use the media not only to keep the Peters story alive but to defend himself. For instance, he reached out to blogger and activist Chet Zarko and Zarko was the one that helped get all of those emails released under FOIA. He recently worked the Michigan Republican Party to create Where's Gary Peters. I already mentioned that he enlisted several journalists to join him at the disciplinary hearing yesterday.

Moving forward Lennox needs to orchestrate things so that this story, which likely only has a natural 24 hour span, into a story that will continue to have legs through the weekend. The wheels were set in motion when a regional television station out of Saginaw filed this report. We can expect some further print coverage today and tomorrow, and the blogosphere has contributed with page coverage at such relative heavy weights as Right Michigan and Outside Lansing. What Lennox needs to do is take the momentum created by this confluence of media attention and create another firestorm only this time he can't let the story die until it reaches its rightful conclusion. Even if he is successful, that would only spare him from being disciplined. Lennox still has to then put the spotlight back on the hire of Peters. Even if he is able to orchestrate one more media campaign and create outrage over the administration's last move, most of his media allies will likely be exhausted and want to move onto other things. None of this is lost on the administration and thus you have yet another piece of the chess match going on.

If he is unsuccessful in driving this story to fever pitch, the administration will wait until the media attention has died down and then bring formal charges at a secret proceeding that they have already asserted Lennox can't even attend.

The irony is that Lennox also has two tests today. It is rather remarkable that he has been able to do all this in the middle of being a college Junior. He has done radio interviews, spoken at CPAC, and he even followed CMU President Michael Rao to a Senate Sub Committee hearing. I don't know exactly what he learned this semester in his classes at CMU but he certainly has learned a lot by confronting CMU in this manner.

CMU Vs. Dennis Lennox: Expulsion?

Is expulsion the next step in this evolving fiasco? According to Lennox himself, his disciplinary hearings will be tomorrow. Here is how he described it in an email to me...

MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. (Feb. 24, 2008) – After months of cancellations, postponements and delays, Central Michigan University will hold an expulsion hearing this Wednesday for the spokesman of a student group who wants Gary Peters to pick between running for Congress and working as a political science professor.

Students Against Gary Peters spokesman Dennis Lennox will face three charges for exercising his First Amendment rights by passing out copies of a student newsletter with editorial content critical of Peters on Oct. 23 when the hearing is convened at 1 p.m.CMU administrators claim he violated regulations on distributing printed materials, but they waited 34 days to notify him of the charges.

"It's clear they are doing this because I raised legitimate questions about the hiring of Gary Peters," said Lennox. "Why can't CMU resolve this situation and let me go back to focusing on my studies instead of defending myself every couple weeks against expulsion attempts?" Lennox wasn't notified of his alleged violations until Nov. 27 – the same day the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan declared the school's videotaping ban unconstitutional. The ban had been imposed after Students Against Gary Peters posted videos on YouTube, which quickly attracted national attention with over 500,000 views in a 48-hour period.Besides violating Lennox's constitutional rights with bogus expulsion proceedings, CMU Assistant Dean of Students Anthony Voisin is refusing to tell the student who will be his judge and jury.

Voisin, who runs the disciplinary process, won't reveal the name of the hearing officer, which Lennox has formally requested on two occasions. The school even denied a Freedom of Information Act request, claiming there were "no records" on who had been assigned to proceed over the hearing.

"I want to make sure the person has no conflicts of interest," said Lennox. "I want to make sure Gary Peters or one of his friends in the faculty isn't deciding my academic future."Voisin is also claiming Lennox is prohibited from videotaping or audio recording the hearing, claiming CMU regulations "does not allow for any recording except the one audio tape which the university will make of the hearing."

"This claim is ridiculous," said Lennox. "If one party to the hearing can record it, the other side can as well – it's commonsense. Does CMU have something to hide?"As spokesman of Students Against Gary Peters, Lennox testified on the controversy at a state Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Higher Education hearing Friday. He called on senators to delay any increase in funding for CMU until the situation is properly resolved. A full video recording of the testimony can be watched at http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=9115905305081435237&hl=en.

The CMU hearing, aimed at expelling Lennox, begins at 1 p.m. Wednesday in the Bovee University Center.

Just to review, Gary Peters was hired for Central Michigan University's distinguished Griffin Chair. This was a controversial hire because Peters had already formed an exploratory committee to discuss running for the U.S. Congress in a district hundreds of miles away. Dennis Lennox, a junior at CMU, formed the group, Students Against Gary Peters. Lennox became a sort of watchdog of Peters and the administration's handling of the entire case. He formed alliances with numerous media and civil rights groups.

In October, Lennox had a highly controversial encounter with the Dean of Student Affairs at CMU, Dean Pamela Gates, and this confrontation wound up on You Tube. Since that incident, there is a documented pattern of increasingly heavy handed actions from the administration toward Lennox.

Tomorrow, he will be facing formal disciplinary action because of charges stemming from an incident in which he was passing out fliers in a University building. He was confronted by a member of the CMU faculty, a stranger to Lennox, and refused to divulge his own identity.

It is unclear what the administration will try and attempt to do. If Lennox is actually expelled for these suspect charges I predict the administration will face pitchforks at their offices from students, alumni, boosters, and a national audience that has grown an interest in the story.

If they only give him a slap on the wrist, the entire affair will be wasted. The administration might only suspend him or find some other punishment. I don't know what they hope to accomplish, but one thing is for sure, this story is not going away or dying and the eyes are upon their every movement.

I know one thing for certain. The punishment that the administration hands down will be significantly influenced by the outrage of the folks in prelude to it. That means everyone needs to contact all involved and let them know that intimidation of students is not acceptable...

Mr. Jeffrey R. Caponigro, chair: capon1jr@cmich.eduMs. Stephanie Comai: comai1s@cmich.eduMr. Brian W. Fannon: fanno1bw@cmich.eduMs. Jacqueline N. Garrett: garre1jn@cmich.eduDr. Marilyn French Hubbard: hubba1mf@cmich.eduDr. Sam R. Kottamasu: kotta1sr@cmich.eduMr. John G. Kulhavi, vice chair: kulha1jg@cmich.eduMs. Gail F. Torreano: torre1gf@cmich.eduDr. Michael Rao: (989) 774-3131, president@cmich.edu

CMU Vs. Dennis Lennox: The Lessons of Unchecked Arrogance

Introduction: Here is a quick summary of the fiasco at Central Michigan University and its hire of Gary Peters. Peters was hired in March of last year to the distinguished Griffin Chair in the Political Science department at Central Michigan University. This was a controversial hire because Peters had already filed formal paperwork exploring a run at the U.S. Congress in a district hundreds of miles away from the campus. Dennis Lennox, currently a junior at CMU, immediately began tracking the story and even created this website. In October, Lennox had a controversial confrontation with the Dean of Students at CMU, Pamela Gates. Following this incident the manner in which the administration treated Lennox became much more heavy handed and it all culminated in a disciplinary hearing against him that might have lead to his expulsion. This hearing was postponed due to a blizzard. In the meantime, Lennox has spoken at CPAC about the ordeal, and has recently teamed with the Michigan Republican Party for more publicity. Peters continues to teach at CMU and run for Congress concurrently.

I hate speculating and even more I hate trying to get in another person's head, however I am fairly sure that when the fiasco at Central Michigan University started the administration never imagined the sophistication and media savvy that Dennis Lennox has been able to exhibit. Lennox has been able to ally himself with every entity from Redstate.com to the ACLU to the Michigan Republican Party and everyone in between, including to a certain extent yours truly. In many ways, it is quite surreal. One time I had a conversation with Lennox that he had to squeeze in between a conference call and homework. Most recently, he started a campaign along with the Michigan Republican Party: Where's Gary Peters? The two allies even created and set up an oversized milk cartoon with Peter's name and photo on it outside a meeting held by some administration officials. This comes on the heels of Lennox being invited to speak at the Conservative Political Action Conference. Nearly single handidly organizing and orchestrating a full media campaign for nine months on this fiasco in between classes and all other college activities is frankly rather impressive, and more than that, something the admin couldn't have possibly dreamed could happen from a "mere" junior in college when they made him their adversary. This is just one of many instances where I see the administration unchecked arrogance and where it became their own albatross and fatal flaw.

The first instance of arrogance came in the decision to hire Peters' in the first place. It is still unclear, and will likely never be known, if the administration knew the inherent conflicts and ignored them or didn't even realize that hiring him would create a conflict at all. Either way, it was yet another example of overwhelming arrogance. Several internal emails released as a result of a FOIA request indicate that Peters' hire became political and ideological. Several members of the political science department, including its' head Del Ringquist, appeared determined, according to the emails, to hire a liberal and a Democrat. The fact that Peters was on record as exploring a run at the U.S. Congress, in a district hundreds of miles from the campus no less, never seemed to enter any discussion. (at least none of the emails released showed much of a debate of that conflict) Again, it may have been a matter of the admin not even realizing the conflict or not caring about it, but either way this obvious oversight was due solely to their unchecked arrogance.

Once Peters was hired, many of the current students as well as many other alumni began questioning the decision. (This is also indicated through several emails released from angry students and alumni) This was followed by growing media scrutiny and even many politicians started to question the decision. Yet, the administration wouldn't budge. The concerns of students were dismissed. Here is how one email framed their concerns...

Furthermore, this continued diatrobe from (again name blacked out) and his friends does not represent the majority of CMU students nor does it present accurate facts to the public. This is an Endowed Chair- not one that is supported by student tuition dollars. To allow (again name blacked out) the power to dictate who will or will not serve as the Griffein Endowed Chair for American Government is not a precedent I
believe we should support.

I have several family and friends in academia and I firmly believe that the reputation of arrogance and elitism that some give it is overblown, however in this case and certainly this email, the perception of the ivory tower arrogance that academia has is perpetuated. Clearly, all opposing viewpoints were dismissed as marginal and a minority. By failing to listen, or at least address legitimately, to the voices of its students, alumni, and other entities outside the campus the administration again exhibited the sort of arrogance that ultimately became its own undoing.

In October, following this controversial incident, caught on tape and downloaded to youtube, between Lennox and Dean Pamela Gates, the administration became quite heavy handed toward Lennox. (I wrote about it extensively here) The admin went through formal proceedings and charged Lennox with what amounted to passing out literature where he wasn't supposed to and not identifying himself to a stranger. The formal proceedings nearly reached a full and formal hearing until weather stepped in and they were postponed. It was never clear what the administration hoped to accomplish. Had they come down in a heavy handed manner on Lennox, the public outcry would have been so great, all their jobs would immediately have likely been in jeopardy. If they merely gave him a slap on the wrist, they wouldn't have deterred him from following the story. Frankly, even if they had kicked Lennox out of school, which frankly would have likely spelled their own eventual pink slips as well in my opinion, he and everyone else wouldn't have stopped reporting on the story. The charges were quickly snuffed out by almost everyone as nothing more than a trojan horse to intimidate Lennox. Their emails, phones, and faxes were lit up as a result. Throughout the whole formal proceeding, Lennox never let up in reporting on the story. If the admin hoped to intimidate him with the charges, they failed. If they really hoped to accomplish anything positive for themselves, it was strictly due to arrogance.

Finally, the fiasco isn't much different today than it was when it started. Peters' is simultaneously serving as Griffin Chair and running for Congress, in a district hundreds of miles away. Lennox, and his group Students Against Gary Peters, only want him to choose between the two. The administration has never to this day answered with any clarity how these two dual roles can work simultaneously. Yet, they have dug in and refuse to admit they were wrong and correct it. The administration must know that we live in the Google age. The longer this goes on the more articles will be written about it, and the more times each of their names, along with the good name of the university itself, will be associated with this fiasco, and thus along with any google search. Their refusal to recognize the mistake they made and correct it is the last example of their unchecked arrogance and how it has become a fatal flaw.

Thus, among the many lessons of the fiasco at CMU is the lesson of unchecked arrogance and its own fatal flaw.

CMU Vs. Dennis Lennox: Around the Sphere

Whatever lull there may have been in this fiasco it stopped. With Lennox making the latest move and filing court documents with suits against the administration as a whole and several individual members of the administration including President Michael Rao, things have been ratcheted up and the media is noticing. Here is some reaction from around the net.

Dennis Lennox, a student at Central Michigan University, is facing a disciplinary hearing for violating university policy governing distribution of materials, not providing his name to university personnel, and providing a "false identity" to university personnel.

This isn't the first time Lennox has had a run-in with the university. Last spring, the university forbade Lennox's group, Young Americans for Freedom (YAF), from excluding as "members" people explicitly hostile to the organization's mission. The university relented after FIRE wrote a letter in defense of YAF's right to free association.

The current round of trouble with the university began a few months ago when Lennox formed a student group called Students Against Gary Peters (SAGP). Peters is a CMU professor running for Congress.

...and here...

Dennis G. Lennox II wants to make a point -- even if it means attacking the wallet of the very university he attends.

Lennox, the 23-year-old Central Michigan University student who has spent his junior year as a controversy lightning rod, said he is taking action he hopes results in financial punishment for the school.

Lennox said Tuesday he filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education, claiming faculty violated his rights by sending e-mails labeling him ''Virginia Tech dangerous.''

I generally find that neither party wins in such confrontations in which the stakes continue to get raised on each other. That seems to be what is happening here. If the admin is the way I think they are, they are likely to not back down just because a suit is filed. Their next move will raise the stakes even more. Stay tuned...

Where in the World is Gary Peters?...An Updated On CMU Vs. Dennis Lennox

In the spirit of where is Waldo and Where in the World is Carmen Santiago, the Michigan Republican Party is starting a campaign, where is Gary Peters.

Residents in Oakland County are currently faced with a liability - Gary Peters of Bloomfield Township a candidate for Michigan's 9th Congressional District. At the same time students and faculty from Central Michigan University will be relying on Peters as a professor. "

Residents need a congressional candidate and students need a full-time professor, playing one to gamble for another is wrong and cheats both parties involved," said Michigan Republican Party Chairman Saulius "Saul" Anuzis. "At a time when Michigan is continues to suffer in a single-state recession we need public servants at the national level who will be dedicated solely to turning our state around." Today, Oakland County citizens were faced with the simple question: "

Where is Gary Peters?" More specifically, Peters, a politician, who has made a career out of gaming public employment to feather his own nest, mislead CMU officials into believing his position - which pays more than $65,000 annually - would be his number one priority.

While the Michigan Republican Party is putting the heat on Peters, who is concurrently teaching at CMU and running for Congress several hundred miles away, Dennis Lennox has ratcheted up the heat on the administration at CMU. Here is a copy of the press release...

Legal action was filed this morning against Central Michigan University for
its attempts to shield Democratic congressional candidate Gary Peters from
criticism on campus.

Students Against Gary Peters spokesman Dennis Lennox filed a formal complaint with the U.S. Department of Education after faculty violated his rights under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act by sending e-mails accusing him of being "Virginia Tech dangerous." The e-mails said Lennox had "noxious political and social beliefs" that allegedly made him mentally ill even though no diagnose had been made by a medical professional.


The e-mails were leaked by a professor and posted on the OutsideLansing.com political blog (http://www.outsidelansing.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=75). The Valley Vanguard also detailed the malicious attacks by English Department professors Allegra Blake, Catherine Hicks and Jeffrey Weinstock(http://www.svsu.edu/clubs/vanguard/stories/1606).

A criminal complaint will be filed against the three professors later today with police, alleging violations of Michigan laws against falsely and maliciously accusing another (MCL 170.370), malicious annoyance by writing (MCL 750.290) and use of computer program, computer, computer system or computer network to commit crime (MCL 752.796).

--Students Against Gary Petershttp://petersreport.blogspot.com

This story sat idle for over a week, and now the intensity and pressure has been ratcheted up ten fold. Stay tuned as the situation remains fluid...

CMU Vs. Dennis Lennox: The Chess Match

Introduction: For anyone unfamiliar with this story, here is a quick run down. In March, Gary Peters was hired to the prestigious Griffin Chair at the Political Science Department at Central Michigan University. This move raised eyebrows because Peters was simultaneously preparing a run for the U.S. Congress in a district hundreds of miles away from campus. A group of students led by Dennis Lennox began tracking the case and even started this web site. A couple of months ago, a FOIA request led to the release of dozens of emails found here. There were several emails that indicated that Peter's hiring was ideological and political. Furthermore, several emails used incendiary language toward Lennox himself, and once he was compared to the Virginia Tech shooter. In October, Lennox got into a controversial confrontation with Dean of Students Pamela Gates. The confrontation was captured on video and can be found here. At this time, the administration became more heavy handed toward Lennox. He was eventually cited for multiple violations of their student code of conduct. He was cited for passing out literature inside a university building and not identifying himself to a university official. About a week and a half ago, he was to face a disciplinary hearing when fate stepped in. A blizzard cancelled all school activities that day. Since the cancellation the story has become largely silent. The silence is deafening to me and that is the subject of this next piece.



While they certainly had nothing to do with the blizzard that canceled Dennis Lennox' disciplinary hearing a week and a half ago, it looks as though the administration has benefitted from it. I was told a while ago that Lennox' best ally is media pressure. That is exactly what he got as he faced his disciplinary hearing. The media pressure lead to angry emails, faxes and phone calls from alumni and others demanding that he receive better treatment. Had the administration proceeded with the hearing, they would have been in a no win situation. If they had actually come down on Lennox with any significant sanctions, they would have faced the pitchforks of everyone that was paying attention to the story. If they only gave him a slap on the wrist, they would have lost that leverage.

Instead, the blizzard allowed them to cancel the hearing, and in the meantime, the interest in the story has died down as well. Of course, nothing much has changed. Gary Peters continues to be on the Central Michigan University payroll despite all sorts of documented incidents of conflict of interest. Peters is concurrently running for the U.S. Congress in a district hundreds of miles away from campus. If he wins, he will likely have to give up his lucrative post at CMU as Griffin Chairman. Lennox continues to be under the same cloud he was that morning, and his disciplinary hearing still hasn't been resolved.

Thus, the situation is still where it always was and in the meantime the case has left the public consciousness. The administration couldn't have drawn up the situation any better if they did control the weather. The situation remains status quo. The media attention dies down, and in the meantime they can re group and figure things out.

Of course, it appears that Dennis Lennox had the same thoughts as me, and he wasn't about to sit by while the administration regrouped. Here is a press release he emailed to me...

Legal action will be taken against Central Michigan University unless they respond to a formal complaint by 10 a.m. tomorrow morning.

A complaint was filed on Jan. 31 with CMU President Michael Rao, Provost Julia Wallace and Dean of Students Bruce Roscoe alleging that some employees are violating school policies and the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act with their efforts to shield Democratic congressional candidate Gary Peters from criticism.

CMU delayed a hearing aimed at expelling Students Against Gary Peters spokesman Dennis Lennox because bad weather closed campus, and the faculty has repeatedly gone after Lennox for expressing his personal beliefs.

"It's difficult to attend classes and learn when some at CMU are creating a hostile learning environment with their malicious attacks against me," said Lennox. "I came here to get an education – not defend myself from out-of-control faculty and administrators."

The English Department faculty has called the Students Against Gary Peters spokesman "Virginia Tech dangerous," saying he suffers from mental illness because he holds "noxious political and social beliefs."

Thus, while the administration is re grouping, Lennox has taken matters into his own hands and is threatening to file suit. One thing appears clear in this confrontation, the stakes continue to get raised by each side the longer it gets drawn out.

Did Gary Peters Violate the Very Ban on Videotaping that Was Likely Meant to Protect Him?

So says the Peters Report. Here is how it is portrayed there...

In an odd twist, Peters brought 9&10 News into the classroom Monday evening -- interviewing students, several of whom just happened to be members of CMU's College Democrats.

While this doesn't seem newsworthy, he apparently forgot about the school's videotaping ban, which was declared unconstitutional by the ACLU.

In an October 15 memorandum explaining the ban, Dean of Students Bruce Roscoe said: "Employees and students have a reasonable expectation of privacy, which includes the right to be free of recording, as they go about their business on campus."

This is a bit confusing so let me explain. Back in October, the CMU administration banned the use of video equipment in public places, and that includes classrooms. While there is no definitive proof, this ban was likely in response to Dennis Lennox aggressive use of a video camera in a few highly publicized and highly controversial confrontations with administration officials including Peters himself. There was this confrontation with Dean of Students Pamela Gates. Then, Lennox had another confrontation with Peters himself. Both confrontations wound up on Youtube. Both were not only disconcerting to the subjects, Peters and Gates, but they caused some embarrassment to the school. Soon after, Lennox received this email from the administration,

I am writing to convey you the university's position on videotaping individuals without receiving prior permission from them to do so. The intent of this memo is inform you of this so you can be mindful of this in the future.

Recording (videotaping or audio taping) others is not expressive activity; it is not protected by the First Amendment to the US Constitution.

Videotaping others around campus and / or videotaping them as they go about their normal activities is not expressive activity.

Employees and students have a reasonable expectation of privacy, which includes the right to be free of recording, as they go about their business on campus. With some exceptions, people do not have the right to videotape or record others; they must be given that privilege.

With regard to your behavior specifically, Dennis:

You may not record (videotape or audiotape) any members of the campus community in hallways or in their offices or residences without receiving their permission.

You may not follow anyone around campus with a recorder running without receiving that person's permission.

You may not record a person through the windows in that person's office without receiving that person's permission.

If you engage in any of the above listed behaviors you will be charged with a violation of section 3.1.15 of the Code of Student Rights, Responsibilities and Disciplinary Procedures: Failure to comply with the directions of University agents.

Dennis, it is important to know that the points presented above apply to all students. Any student who engages in any of the above listed behaviors would be issued the above directive.


Please let me know if you have any questions regarding the points in this memo.

This particular ban caused the ACLU to come to the defense of Lennox. The ACLU believes that banning videotaping in public inhibits ones right to free speech and activism.

Now, let's get back to Peters actions on Monday. According to the Peters Report, Peters brought a couple of different students into the classroom for interviews and just plain video taping. First, this would be a clear violation of the school's own policy against video taping in public. Furthermore, it is a violation of any and all standards of education. The class room is supposed to be for teaching not some forum for free publicity for one's campaign. From the beginning his simultaneous run for Congress while he teaches (Peters is running for U.S. Congress in a district hundreds of miles from Campus) was the source of potential conflict of interest. Here is a perfect example. Rather than using the classroom to teach the kids, he brought in reporters to interview the kids and used the same classroom as nothing more than a campaign event.

I have already pointed out that this administration simultaneously insists on holding Lennox responsible for technical violations of the student code while refusing to hold itself responsible for many other much more serious violations. This is unfortunately how it works with the powerful many times. The rules rarely apply to them, and they often times apply in a heavy handed manner to their opponents. I found the same type of thing happening in the fiasco at Grady Hospital. There the Emory Administration expelled a student for being lat to a class more than a year prior to the expulsion hearing. At the same time, they involved themselves in the systematic pilfering of a public hospital. Thus, I doubt very much that Peters will be held responsible for this gross violation of teaching standards. I hope I am wrong but I will keep my eye on the administration.

CMU Vs. Dennis Lennox: What's at Stake

Prologue: First here is a quick rundown for those that haven't been following. Back in March, the administration at Central Michigan University offered their prestigious Griffin Chair to former Michigan Lottery Chair Gary Peters. This was a peculiar hire because Peters had already made his intentions public that he was considering a run at the U.S. Congress in a district hundreds of miles from the campus. This story was discovered by CMU junior, Dennis Lennox. Lennox began to track the story through a newsletter as well as this website. In October, Lennox captured Dean of Students Pamela Gates assaulting him when he served her with a FOIA request. At roughly the same time, the administration began to use unusually heavy handed tactics toward Lennox. They banned him from videotaping others in public places, a move that even sparked the ACLU to defend Lennox. Then, the administration sanctioned Lennox for such dubious violations as distributing literature too close to a doorway.

Currently, he is two days from facing a disciplinary hearing for this incident. Lennox was passing out literature at about nine in the evening inside a university building. This is a technical violation of the student code of conduct and his literature was confiscated by a Professor Koper. The incident got even more complicated because Lennox also refused to identify himself to the Professor which is another technical violation of the same student code. (As I have pointed out multiple times, drinking under age is also a violation but I know of no freshman or sophomores sanctioned for violating that policy at CMU)...now for my piece...

Some reading this may not see any relevance of the plight of Dennis Lennox to their own lives, however I believe the outcome is relevant to all of us. That's because Lennox has decided to take on a force more powerful than him. That force, like all powerful forces, didn't merely roll over when he took them on. Instead, they used the power they had and they used it liberally. They used that power toward him in a manner they would never dream of using toward anyone else. The irony is that the powerful forces haven't held themselves accountable at all while they have strictly applied rules toward Lennox. Lennox faces a disciplinary hearing because he passed out literature where he wasn't supposed to. While this may in fact be a technical violation of their student code of conduct, j walking is also a technical violation of traffic law. If someone were the subject of a j walking ticket, I would say the police were targeting that person. The CMU admin is using the student code of conduct here to target Lennox in a manner no less egregious than if someone received multiple j walking tickets.

While Lennox faces sanctions for exercising his first amendment rights too aggressively and for not identifying himself to a stranger at night, let's see what the administration has done and what if any sanctions that has merited. The Dean of Students assaulted Lennox and the assault was captured on video. A FOIA request found this exchange of emails.

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).

and this response

So are you saying that this kid is dangerous? As in Virginia Tech dangerous? Let's not ignore the warning signs...

These professors had of course never actually met Lennox, and it goes without saying that it is totally egregious to make such incendiary statements unless they are warranted. These statements weren't made as part of some sort of evaluation but rather strictly to poison the waters against him in an attempt to marginalize him. Just like Dean Gates, who assaulted him, neither of these professors has yet been held to account for their behavior.

This same set of emails found this one as well...

I think there is a growing impression that CMU is a Conservative Republicanbase and I and several others have heard this over and over from folks in our own administration, the faculity, and from Lansing politicians. The Department of Political Scinece has had top rate policy analysts in the first effort to fill the Griffin Chair and they percieve that they were overridden because of Ranny Ricker's call regarding (name blacked out). In the second search to fill the Griffin Chair the Department received a hassle when they found a moderate Republican to have cleared al the hurdles and a political ally and close associate of John Engler was almost foisted upon them even though the person lacked the same excellent qualifications as Bill Ballinger...

The author of this email is the head of the Poli Sci department himself, Del Ringquist, and he himself describes a department in chaos and turmoil. According to his own words, this is a department in an ideological civil war and hiring has become a tool for each of the ideological forces. As head of the department, the chaos and lunacy is ultimately his responsibility.

No one, not Dean Gates, not the two professors, and not Ringquist, have been held accountable for their behavior. The only one facing sanctions is Lennox himself. That's because the other folks I mentioned are part of the powerful force that Lennox is fighting. The powerful are rarely held to account. Only those with limited resources like Lennox ever have their behavior scrutinized.

Thus, Lennox is fighting one battle in the war to turn the ideals of this country into a reality. We are part of a country in which each individual is supposed t be equal. Of course, we all understand that in reality that is rarely the case. In reality, there are those with power and resources and those without it. Lennox is fighting one battle to turn the ideals of this country into a reality. If Lennox is sanctioned on these trumped up charges then the next powerful force will have an even easier road in eliminating their threat with whatever means they feel are necessary. If, on the other hand, the rest of us band together and let the administration know that this is unacceptable, and they back down, it will make it that much tougher for the next powerful force to exert its will to get its way.

There is a great line in a great movie, Hotel Rwanda,

I think they will say how terrible and go back and eat their dinner

Every reader of this piece has a choice to make now. You can all read this and think to yourself how terrible the way they are treating Dennis Lennox and go on with your day (go back and eat your own dinner), or you can do something about it. There is also a great and appropriate saying

evil reigns when good people do nothing

Will you decide to do nothing, or will you stand up for what is right? The choice is ultimately up to the reader. The reader's sacrifice in all of this is very small compared to what Lennox already has sacrificed and certainly what he still may. All that I ask is that you contact the folks at the emails I provide and let them know that this won't do. If everyone let's the administration know that they are watching, the folks will show the administration which force is really the most powerful force there is. One battle in a greater war will be won as well.

CMU President Michael Rao, mailto:president@cmich.eduand (989) 774-3131* Assistant Dean of Students Anthony Voisin anthony.a.voisin@cmich.edu and (989) 774-3016 * Board of Trustees Chairman Jeffrey Caponigro (R), capon1jr@cmich.edu and (248) 355-3200* Board of Trustees member Stephanie Comai (R), comai1s@cmich.edu and (734) 761-6915* Board of Trustees member John Kulhavi (R), kulha1jg@cmich.edu and (248) 737-6222* Board of Trustees member Gail Torreano (R), torre1gf@cmich.edu and (313) 223-7171