The simple truth in this incident, in my opinion, is the National Guard recruiter can yell, scream, “heckle”, or say anything he wants to Professor Van Der Meer. The National Guard recruiter can also yell, scream, “heckle”, or call Mr. Tony Naro an “[expletive] communist.” It is called freedom of speech and it is protected by our First Amendment Bill of Rights. Being a bigger person and walking away and not confronting the fiasco is another issue. It takes a lot of courage and self-confidence to do that.

The only thing that is shameful in this situation is Professor Van Der Meer does not know how to be an effective leader and he does not know the difference between academic freedom and ignorance. UMass Boston should be embarrassed and dishonored by Professor Tony Van Der Meers’ actions.

J. Stone Laraway IICM, MIS 2003