HUMAN RIGHTS
SAN ANGELO — Following last week’s news that Angelo State University would be rushing into place a new policy to restrict discussion and visibility of transgender issues — as well as LGBT+ flags, safe-space decals, pronouns and preferred names — many alumni and emeritus faculty members have weighed in on the decision via social media.
According to one ASU graduate, who The Concho Observer spoke with by telephone Tuesday evening, ASU President Ronnie Hawkins hung-up the phone on them in the middle of visiting about the new policy.
“I called on Tuesday morning, and spoke with a student worker, and then an administrative assistant, and they took my information and said the president would call me back,” the caller said.
“I was on a work call when he telephoned, but I called him back very quickly and was patched through by his assistant.
“I thanked him for calling me back — honestly, I wasn’t sure if he would — and I told him I was proud of where I come from, and to have done my undergraduate work at ASU …
“And then I told him I was so ashamed of the policy being put in place — for the erasure of LGBTQ people, and gender studies, and the anti-Trans policy.
“And he just responded back ‘Where did you hear about that?’
“And I told him there are plenty of articles floating around; I live out of state now, and the story has gone nationwide.
“I said that, as an alumnus, you can expect me to no longer donate to the alumni association, and he again asked me ‘What do you mean? What do you know about the policy?’
“I told him that I heard — essentially — that faculty and staff could be terminated for any mention of anything other than medically-correct pronouns, or use of preferred names, or even mentioning anything about transgender anything.
“He said ‘Well, this is all in response to being compliant with the law; the executive order from our president, and house bill such-and-such and Gov. Abbott’s letter …’
“And he asked me ‘Well; if it was a law, you be complying with the law … you wouldn’t break the law?’
“So, I told him that I wanted to touch on that; I said an executive order is not law. Laws come from legislatures … I agreed that it was an action, but only until it’s challenged by law.
“And he kind of cut me off and said ‘Well, listen here; I’m not going to talk to you if you’re going to come at me like that.’
“So, I pushed back — said I thought it was important that he understands that an executive order is not a law, and — when I told him I was ashamed that he was not standing up to this — he hung up on me.”
A Question About Leadership
“I’m very disappointed, in the president,” the caller said. “For him to refuse to answer a question is cowardly, and to challenge me, and put me on the spot like that — and not even try to de-escalate the situation.
“I mean, he has certifications for leadership at the highest levels from the military. He should know how to de-escalate a situation. Hanging up is not leadership, and it’s not appropriate for someone who represents a high-profile organization.”
The caller also said they were particularly concerned for ASU’s faculty and staff, since termination is threatened for violation of the policy, they felt there should be an actual spelled-out policy.
Opportunity to Comment or Clarify
In order to promote fairness in journalism, The Concho Observer contacted ASU President, Lt. Gen. Ronnie Hawkins, by an email which contained the caller’s quotes and said:
“We are running a story this morning on alumni reactions to the university’s changes in policy and practice regarding persons who are transgender, there being no acknowledgement or mention of transgender or that there are any genders beyond male and female.
“You are quoted by one of the alumni we spoke with.
“We wanted to give you the courtesy to respond, correct or offer your version of that conversation before we published the story later this morning.
“Alternatively, if you would like to sit for an interview to explain what is going on to the public, or submit an op-ed piece on the topic we would be glad to publish either.“
Angelo State University declined to comment on this story.
Lt. Gen. Ronnie Hawkins, USAF retired, is a 1977 computer-science graduate of Angelo State University. In addition to a distinguished military career, he also earned three master’s degrees: Management and Human Relations from Abilene Christian University (1985); National Resource Strategy from the Industrial College of the Armed Forces, National Defense University (1997) and Master of Divinity degree from Liberty University (2013).
He was named president of Angelo State in August of 2020.
More Rams React
___From The Concho Observer Comment Section___
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So much for academic freedom. What are these yahoos AFRAID of? That students will be exposed to IDEAS? You just can’t make this stuff up. And this is from the “free speech” crowd. Yeah, as if …
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BINGO. let’s say i agree with there being only two genders… to censor is still wrong. if those people have such faith in biological essentalism. they woudln’t need to fight so hard.
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Remember all these college administrators, lawyers, media moguls, and others who collaborate with the fascists. They will all be inexorably strapped to its rotting husk once things fall back to Earth again, as they most certainly will.
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As a trans alumni, it’s disgraceful what this school has become. And it was no great schooling to begin with.
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Never thought I’d be embarrassed or angry to be an ASU alumnus. Smh..
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I am proud and relieved to have left ASU before this happened. I would never removed the safe-space sticker from my office. “Instructors must refer to students by their given names and not their preferred names?” I always went out of my way to learn and use my students’ preferred names. I see making a good-faith effort to learn names and pronouns as common decency. I taught more than one trans student, and they deserve respect like everyone else. I hope that someday we will honor everyone’s individual rights and stop using politics as a blunt weapon against those with whom we disagree.
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Well thanks for making it easy to mark ASU off the list of potential schools I’d recommend to my stepdaughter in two years. Used to be proud of my attendance there. Trans students absolutely exist at your school and you’re OK with going along with this absurd policy? Clearly if you’re not a safe space for your trans students to attend school, you shouldn’t have any student. It’s all or nothing. Support your students!
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… me either. It makes me ashamed as an alumna.
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My skirt-wearing son attends this school. Spring semester, he dealt with some discriminatory language from his roommate and their Title IX people dealt with the situation swiftly and effectively.
So much has changed in such a short amount of time.
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I hate my alma mater…my hometown…. and my current city for doing shit like this. This entire state is garbage.
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I got my graduate degree from ASU, so this is beyond gross but not unexpected.
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I was going to transfer there next semester, and had my transcripts ready to send, but this is a serious transgression.
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1 Comment
The MDiv from Liberty U informs a lot about this, I believe.