Controversy at OSU-Mansfield

Librarian's book choice sparks harassment charges

By Andrew Albanese -- Library Journal, 5/15/2006

Two faculty members filed charges of sexual harassment against an Ohio State University–Mansfield (OSUM) librarian, contending that his defense of a controversial book they consider hateful and homophobic created a hostile workplace environment. The charges have been withdrawn, but the tension lingers.

Scott Savage, head of reference and instructional services at OSUM's Bromfield Library, suggested four books for a first-year reading program, including David Kupelian's The Marketing of Evil, published by the right-wing WorldNet Daily (WND), where Kupelian is managing editor. In his email suggesting titles, which also included Rick Santorum's It Takes a Family and David Horowitz's The Professors, Savage admitted he hadn't read all the titles he suggested but wanted to note titles that “confront the accepted wisdom” of the university. When faculty members objected to Kupelian's book, saying it lacked sufficient academic merit, Savage defended his choice, and over several email messages the matter escalated.

Message misunderstanding

Bromfield Library director Beth Burns confirmed that Savage is considering a counterclaim against the university. The controversy, which OSUM dean and director Evie Freeman characterized in a faculty meeting as a “colossal misunderstanding due to the use of email,” last month took on a life of its own in the media, thanks in part to press releases from the Alliance Defense Fund that charged that universities are hostile to Christians and conservatives.

Several weeks earlier, however, according to the faculty assembly's public minutes, one of the complainants, OSU associate professor of English Norman Jones, told colleagues he had personally worked things out with Savage. Jones contends he was not against Savage's choice of conservative books but that Kupelian's book simply did not meet sufficient standards of academic rigor.

“I feel like [Savage] and I are more on the same page than I had realized,” Jones said at a faculty meeting, according to the minutes. “His language [in email] called into question my academic credibility. It's clear that he deeply regrets his statements.”