For CCSU student John Wahlberg, a class presentation on campus violence turned into a confrontation with the campus police due to a complaint by the professor.
On October 3, 2008, Wahlberg and two other classmates prepared to give an oral presentation for a Communication 140 class that was required to discuss a “relevant issue in the media”. Wahlberg and his group chose to discuss school violence due to recent events such as the Virginia Tech shootings that occurred in 2007.
Shortly after his professor, Paula Anderson, filed a complaint with the CCSU Police against her student. During the presentation Wahlberg made the point that if students were permitted to conceal carry guns on campus, the violence could have been stopped earlier in many of these cases. He also touched on the controversial idea of free gun zones on college campuses.
That night at work, Wahlberg received a message stating that the campus police “requested his presence”. Upon entering the police station, the officers began to list off firearms that were registered under his name, and questioned him about where he kept them.
They told Wahlberg that they had received a complaint from his professor that his presentation was making students feel “scared and uncomfortable”.
“I was a bit nervous when I walked into the police station,” Wahlberg said, “but I felt a general sense of disbelief once the officer actually began to list the firearms registered in my name. I was never worried however, because as a law-abiding gun owner, I have a thorough understanding of state gun laws as well as unwavering safety practices.”
Professor Anderson refused to comment directly on the situation and deferred further comment.
“It is also my responsibility as a teacher to protect the well being of our students, and the campus community at all times,” she wrote in a statement submitted to The Recorder. “As such, when deemed necessary because of any perceived risks, I seek guidance and consultation from the Chair of my Department, the Dean and any relevant University officials.”
Wahlberg believes that her complaint was filed without good reason.
“I don’t think that Professor Anderson was justified in calling the CCSU police over a clearly nonthreatening matter. Although the topic of discussion may have made a few individuals uncomfortable, there was no need to label me as a threat,” Wahlberg said in response. “The actions of Professor Anderson made me so uncomfortable, that I didn’t attend several classes. The only appropriate action taken by the Professor was to excuse my absences.”
The university police were unavailable for comment.
“If you can’t talk about the Second Amendment, what happened to the First Amendment?” asked Sara Adler, president of the Riflery and Marksmanship club on campus. “After all, a university campus is a place for the free and open exchange of ideas.”
-Shauna Simeone, Asst. Opinion Editor
NOTE: With the exception of commenters who can provide a valid CCSU email address, we are no longer accepting comments on this story.
Good to see the damnyankee liberals are at it again. That **** don’t fly down here.
“It is also my responsibility as a teacher to protect the well being of our students, and the campus community at all times,”
“As such, when deemed necessary because of any perceived risks”
I am only commenting after reading the above article. What was the perceived risks? I think Professor Anderson needs to give a detailed response of this incident to the students and community on why she contacted the CCSU Police who then conducted an investigation into this matter. Her response is too vague and appears to be politically correct.
If Professor Anderson cannot respond with a detailed statement, then I would suggest that an independent investigation be conducted into her quote “responsibility as a teacher”.
Since the University Police has not responded at this time, I would suggest that “The Recorder get a copy of the police report and post it for all the readers.
Thank you
Jim Horan
Slanting the news.
The third paragraph, “He also touched on the controversial idea of free gun zones on college campuses.”
By changing “gun free zones” to “free gun zones” the writer completely reverses the concept and thus confuses the reader and slants the reader’s understanding.
Gun-free-zones are venues where all the people present are certified to be helpless victims, inviting any evil person to safely attack all those defenseless people.
It seems foolish to me that anyone would bray to the world that any person in such-and-such location is defenseless and can be attacked with impunity.
I also find it hard to understand how a man who has been in the shooting war in Iraq can be thought to be incapable of safely handling a firearm when he is back in the States. I doubt that there are any firearm ‘handlers’ more professional than those veterans. I would think that any or all such veterans would be encouraged to carry concealed firearms on as many occasions and in as many places as possible.
Best regards
John
I hope that when someone does a report on war, this professor calls the police and tells them that she thinks someone is about to start a war.
this professor is unfit for service.
The whole thing about college campuses being unsafe comes down to this:
A college campus is a gun free zone. This means that if you are an armed criminal, you are guaranteed to have the advantage in any confrontation. However, if they eliminate gun free zones, and just make college campuses like ALMOST EVERY OTHER PLACE IN THIS COUNTRY OUTSIDE OF CAMPUS, then campus is just as safe as the grocery store, or the bookstore, or your neighborhood, or your cafe that you drink your coffee at. If you can’t feel safe having the same laws apply on campus as off, then are you saying that you can’t feel safe living anywhere in the US where concealed carry is legal?
Always remember, fear mongering liberals will declare having an open mind is a good thing, until you disagree with them.
The teacher should be severely reprimanded or fired for using the police to harass and try to silence that student.
“I want a gun so I can MURDER my classmates” and “I want a gun so I can DEFEND my classmates” are two very different things, anyone who can’t judge the different clearly lacks the qualifications to teach our youth.
Liberal McCarthyism. It’s good to know that Mao’s Red Guard is alive and well in a Connecticut university.
I am astounded that I actually had the fortitude to put up with hippie liberal professors for the time it took for me to attain my Bachelor of Science. Teachers like this do their best to spread their liberal agenda via the classroom ‘pulpit’. They have no concept of the real world and hide within the world of academia. Makes me want to puke. The world of academia has become a cesspool of liberal ideology.
“After all, a university campus is a place for the free and open exchange of ideas.”
Keep on thinking that, let us know how it works out.
This man deserves to be put into prison for his instigation of a classroom directly after school shootings occured. I applaud the teacher for contacting the police as this man clearly fits the mold of Al Queda sleeper school shooting operative. Gun rights groups are clearly outdated models based on past failures of social policy meant to protect the people. They have no legal standing as law enforcement yet somehow believe they should be able to carry a gun in a school full of children, no less. What if just one child would be shot innocently, taking away his future, because someone wanted to carry on campus. I think the stakes are grave here and the student who made a presentation advocating the constitution should be thrown in prison for corrupting our most sacred document. Let the police do their job. They did a fine job at Virginia Tech-look how many victims there could have been had it not been for the police. As for the first amendment, free speech caused 9/11, it causes people to get abortions, and it’s responsible for more bad than good. Free speech about the second amendment causes countless number of police deaths and innocent children shootings each year. Haven’t we reached a time in our country where we can peacefully disarm and not talk about extreme idiologies? I don’t know about you, but I’m ready to evolve.
how did the police know what firearms he had.. this professor should lose her job. didnt she walk all over his civil rights.
“Moderation” by whom?
Can you say, “thought control?”
The professor was “uncomfortable” with a discussion of the idea of independence, self-reliance, and responsibility for one’s self. So, she tried to suppress it, like a good Nazi, using the police for intimidation. And this is the very reason that lists of gun owners, and/or the guns they own, have no place in the hands of the government.
As a student at CCSU i am deeply concerned. I do not agree with Wahlberg and I believe he should be put in prison for saying such things. When someone speaks of promoting guns they are promoting MURDER and should be punished. I’m all for free speech, just not when it comes to guns.
It looks like Prof. Anderson used an personal anti- gun motive to harass and prevent free speech. Quite a childish act on her behalf. I would question if she has enough common sense to be an effective instructor as a result of her actions in this event. If I was John Wahlberg, I would file harassment charges.
Some ideas make people uncomfortable, but that is no reason to avoid discussing them.
Professor Anderson wasn’t trying to protect students from a perceived threat, she was trying to shield them from an opposing viewpoint. CCSU is an institution of higher learning, and, as a student, I’m disgraced to hear something like this was allowed to occur.
This is absolutely absurd. Professor Anderson should be ashamed of herself.
I hope Wahlberg sues the socks off of Anderson. Talk about a violation of his First Amendment rights! Additionally, people such as she share the responsibility for the deaths at Virginia Tech and other “Gun Free (actually Victim Disarmament) Zones” right along with the actual perpetrators.
My son attends CCSU so for the time being I choose to remain anonymous. I was born and raised in New Britain, served in the military and live in the area. I cannot believe that this student was called out for discussing concealed carry on campus! This is a matter of discussion throughout the firearm community in this nation and many states are changing their policy regarding concealed carry on campus. I have a CT handgun permit, and the fact is that anyone who has a permit has had a thorough FBI background check as well as a completely clean police record. That person has been trained, has been fingerprinted and photographed. The truth is that a permit holder likely has a cleaner record than your teachers or your college president.
These same people sit next to you in restaurants, walk with you on the street and are in the bank with you and you are none the wiser. What changes when that person walks onto a college campus? The only thing different is that only the bad guys are carrying guns because THEY DO NOT OBEY THE LAW! A shooter can open fire on students and the ONLY thing capable of stopping that person is a good guy with a gun which you do not have.
I could go on about this, but I won’t. I will post this story on my hunting and shooting blog which is known nationwide, and I will send it to my network of bloggers and podcasters who will do the same. I am also contacting the legal department of the NRA to see if any laws were broken. If discussion about guns bothers someone, that’s tough. Cowardice bothers me and results in the death of helpless students, which could also include my son. Burying your head in the sand will not make anyone safer, and if you depend on the police for your safety, you’ve got a lot to learn.
Honestly, is this what America has been reduced to?
The Professor used the police to enforce her own beliefs by punishing the student because he presented a set of ideals she disagreed with. Every day I grow more and more Disgusted with our University.
What troubles me even more is that her misconduct will not only go ignored but it will be accepted by her peers and by the student body as a whole.
@ “After all, a university campus is a place for the free and open exchange of ideas.”
Not anymore, I’m afraid. A university campus is now a place where you are indoctrinated into Liberal Orthodoxy.
Wow, this professor needs to quit smokin that stuff cause its makin her paranoid.
First, he was talking about what could help prevent these atrocities from occuring in the first place, how does that equate to a perception of a threat?
Second, I agree with his main point and have actually mentioned this too my friends. If law obiding students with no records were allowed to carry concealed handguns on campus, the perpetrators would think twice before going through with a plan of this nature. I know if I had a firearm during a school shooting situation I would feel alot more calm and assured, especially being able to protect any students within reach or even seek out the perpetrators to subdue or eliminate them. I served in the Marine Corps for 4 years with 2 tours of duty in Iraq and 1 in Afhanistan which has left me with superlative marksmanship skills with any firearm or rifle.
However good that plan is there are some kinks to be worked out if it were implemented as such.
First off, what would happen if you have a few students with the concealed privelage on campus and there was a shooting situation, if the students went out to seek the perpetrators and accidentally crossed paths with police, what is the factor to tell the difference between innocent bystander and a criminal in the process? That would be a major concern.
I hope the police dont come raid my dorm. : P
Dear God, this is obscene.
College professors make me so furious.
“Professor” Anderson aught to be canned after this.
What happened to academic freedom?
Professor Anderson is an anti-rights bigot. Talking about rights is not threatening. Calling the police because someone dares to talk about rights is clearly intimidation. The professor should be reprimanded or fired for intimidation. To the students, not all people with advanced degrees are anti-rights bigots. Anderson debases the first and second amendments in one bigoted act. Good job “professor.”
Perhaps the campus police and the professor might need more required reading.My suggested reading list.
1- The State of CTs Constitution. Pay particular attention to Article 1 SEC. 15. Every citizen has a right to bear arms in defense of himself and the state.
2- Chapter 952 is CT penal code Sec. 53a-217b (a) A person is guilty of possession of a weapon on school grounds when, knowing that such person is not licensed or privileged to do so, such person possesses a firearm or deadly weapon, as defined in section 53a-3, (1) in or on the real property comprising a public or private elementary or secondary school, or (2) at a school-sponsored activity as defined in subsection (h) of section 10-233a.
This refers to primary and secondary schools. As controversial as it may seem, as I read it CC on a CT campus is LEGAL. A local issuing authority may (Sheriff) make it one of the restrictions on the issuance of a permit. While is may be the school’s policy, this does not give the Campus Police the right to interrogate a student for speaking out against it.
Gun ownership is legal, and interrogating a student for having an opinion on it is reprehensible.
“After all, a university campus is a place for the free and open exchange of ideas.”
No, not really. It hasn’t been the case for decades. That statement only applies to a particular set of “right ideas”. If you expect otherwise, you are a little naive. I hope things work out for him.
im a-fwaaaaaaaaaaaaaad
I live in a world of scarorism
where i F E A R everything
people need to get a clue.
you are being set up for destruction.
sheople to the left of me
sheople to the right
here i am the only one with a brain to see thru the Globalist BS
mk
This professor Anderson should be ASHAMED.
“It is also my responsibility as a teacher to protect the well being of our students, and the campus community at all times,”
Do those “all times” include those when you have a lunatic on campus? What are you going to do then? Call the cops to pick up the corpses?
I agree, what did happen to our first amendment? That professor should hand you a written apology letter.
Wow. I can’t believe the campus police didn’t tell the professor to stop wasting their time.
Mr. Wahlberg should file a lawsuit and Professor Anderson should be immediately fired.
This is ridiculous. There was absolutely no reason that this liberal professor should have called the police. She is hiding behind the guise of “protecting the campus” when her sole and absolute intent appears to be to silence the opposing point of view. Imagine if the situation was reversed [a conservative professor silencing a young woman's views on abortion, for instance]. This professor should be disciplined and the University deserves a hefty lawsuit.
Let’s see. What group was it that threw people in jail for their beliefs and/or their religion? Hmmm, something to do with “socialists”. National socialists maybe? What did they used to call them? Oh, yah.
NAZI
I’m surprised my college didn’t investigate me for writing this is the school newspaper:
http://media.www.diamondbackonline.com/media/storage/paper873/news/2007/09/17/Opinion/Letters.To.The.Editor-2970640.shtml
It seems to me that a gistapo -”we are watching you now”- like message was intended on the part of campus police and/or the professor. My hat is off to the student for keeping his head. I would have reacted badly. Incedenses like this are why most gun owners are against registration of firearms, because you never know when some tin badge wearing brown shirt in training is going to use that list against you for confiscation or harassment. The anti-gun types keep telling us that the government won’t abuse our privacy by having the list, but here is a perfect example of why no one should have that list.
“If you have nothing to hide you have nothing to worry about.” is the most foolish pravda I’ve ever heard. Consider that Mr. Wahlberg was summoned by campus police while at work, he had nothing to worry about, right? How many people actually think that would mean good news was forthcoming? Then, he is forced to spend his personal time, he will never get back, to be grilled for no clear reason. I say forced, because coming into police station on your own is not a choice, when if you don’t, they will come to you. They made a point to let Mr. Wahlberg know they knew what guns he had, and it seems to me, they were inferring that they believed he was breaking the law and carrying on campus. I would have told them it was none of their business where my guns were. Police can not arrive in time and professors should be carrying, not turning in their students for wanting to change failed policy.
Editor,
I hope the University has a good lawyer.
I hope the teacher’s union has good attorneys.
I hope Professor Anderson is comfortable with putting a student through an interrogation. Perhaps she would feel more comfortable in Stalinist Soviet Union, where all thought was by the book, without concern of independent thinking, and where she could, for whatever reason, accuse a student without fear of repercussion.
Suffice it to say that neither of my sons will ever attend a school that allows a teacher to stifle the thinking of a student.
Sincerely,
Albert A Rasch
The Rasch Outdoor Chronicles
This is unconscionable. Suppression of any idea, now matter how inflammatory, is completely inappropriate for an academic university. If the student’s presentation was in some way failing to satisfy the requirements of the course, he should have been given a grade reflecting that.
Short of that though, Professor Anderson’s action is no better than burning books. It is an intentional filtering of ideas, an intellectual bias. To involve the police is incredibly egregious and she should absolutely be reprimanded.
By the way, the student may have had a point: strict gun laws do absolutely nothing to curb gun violence. Just like drug prohibition, “gun prohibition” simply does not work and is actually detrimental.
Thats what sucks about going to a liberal ass school.
There should be no gun free zones.
Professors like this deserve to be fired. If you can’t deal with alternative points of view, you have no right to teach in a place for learning and discussion. Its kind of creepy to call the cops on someone for having the view that adult students have the right to defend themselves from attack.
Oh my…it’s Connecticut…
I am so glad I left that state!
Professors…
All about free speech so long as it’s about the Left’s agenda. Free speech and civil rights go out the window once the matter at hand is not “certified” content.
If a professor did this on a left issue, we’d be reading about them being suspended from their job.
I do not agree with the philosophy that is gaining popularity, especially in Britain, of “if you suspect something, report it.”
There is a definite line between reporting genuinely suspicious activity and reporting any and every behavior which makes a person the slightest bit uncomfortable.
In short you do not have the right to not be offended.
More people need to react to logical, rational thought processes rather than react to their fear.
What the hell? Oh yeah its a blue state. Disbelief officially suspended. Oh now it makes sense. Hope nobody discusses anything else scary.
I smell a lawsuit under 18USC241…
“They told Wahlberg that they had received a complaint from his professor that his presentation was making students feel “scared and uncomfortable”.”
But not “scared and uncomfortable” enough to file their own complaints. but rather have the professor do it. Bravo! I’d be very tempted to wager that the only person who was “scared and uncomfortable” was the professor – due to her unreasonable hoplophobia.
Free and open exchange of ideas, as long as they echo the campus establishment.
The only plausible explanation for this is that professor Anderson has mental problems. Not only should Mr. Wahlberg take this up with University administration, he should probably transfer out of Anderson’s class. I know I personally would NOT want to be around someone who reacted in such an insane and irrational manner, particularly given the position of authority that a professor has over his/her students.
Wow. Witness the new lefts police state.
Discuss politically unpopular ideas and get hauled in and questioned by the police.
What a sad state that our institutions of “higher education” have come to.
The professor should be fired. She is guilt of anti-gun bigotry. But, then, that is acceptable bigotry now according to the “intelligentsia”.
Once again it is proven that those who can’t, teach. For Gods sake it’s a communication class. Without hearing the speech it’s impossible to objectively tear the decision apart, however I’m sure this is a mentally ill professor who perceived a threat because someone mentioned firearms. Fear of an inanimate object is a indacation of schizophrenia, fear of words is just plain sick.
So much for the first amendment. Say anything against the Chosen One or his policies and you get denounced to the gestapo.
Time to hit the reset button.