Freedom and Justice for Some, Division for the Most Part

[Ed: The following entry was adapted from the Campus Watch blog post, “Pipe Dream at Binghamton, Badger Herald at Wisconsin Misrepresent Campus Watch”]

Hina Ahmed, a columnist for the student newspaper, Pipe Dream, at SUNY Binghamton, seems to think that Campus Watch possesses police powers.

In a column published today, titled “Freedom and Justice for Some, Division for the Most Part,” she defends Khalil Gibran International Academy in New York City. Part of that defense involves an awkward attempt to tie opposition to the school to the Bush administration, which in turn leads Ahmed to make a statement that is uninformed on several levels:

To begin with the obvious: KGIA is a public school, and public schools are, by definition, controlled by the government. How does Ahmed think they are funded? Why does she think school boards are elected by voters? (Hint: those voters pay the taxes that support public schools.) And surely scrutiny, per se, is a good thing when directed at the use of public funds, whether for education or other purposes.

Beyond that, however, she grossly mischaracterizes Campus Watch by calling it a “perfect example of the control the government is executing over our education system.”

Come again? Campus Watch is not a government entity. It has no legal power, cannot issue subpoenas, collect taxes, censor anyone in any way, or in any form or fashion act as an agent of the government. Rather, it is a program of the Middle East Forum, a nonprofit, tax-exempt organization recognized as such by the IRS under section 501 (c)(3) of the tax code. So is the American Heart Association, the Brookings Institution, and thousands of other organizations nationwide. It accepts no government funds, seeks no governmental power, and couldn’t obtain any if it tried.

(Posted by Winfield Myers)