On Monday night, March 3, Senator Chris McDaniel spoke to students in the Political Science Department at the University of Southern Mississippi in an event organized by Pi Sigma Alpha, the political science honor society.
Throughout his lecture on interpreting the Constitution and the importance of the individual in government, “Professor” Kate Greene, an avowed lesbian and gay rights activist when she’s not brainwashing kids in her classroom (more on that later), kept disrupting the speech with comments from the back left corner of the room. But Senator McDaniel, being the class act he is, simply carried on with his speech and ignored her.
Senator McDaniel then took questions from the students. But before any students could inquire of the state lawmaker, “Professor” Greene leaped to her feet to confront McDaniel on his alleged intolerance toward groups of minorities she considers oppressed. Greene asked him about his views on constitutional rights for everyone, an obvious reference to gay rights, but also his views on abortion, facts of which she got completely wrong.
Channeling her inner McCarthy, which all liberals have in great abundance, Greene slung harsh allegations at the Senator during her time at the Q & A, accusing the Senator of discriminating against women and gays, and even against her smoking. To this last point, Senator McDaniel shot back, “By all means, smoke all you want to.” She next moved into the contentious abortion debate, and the two went back and forth in several tense exchanges, with Greene not giving McDaniel anytime to answer. It was at this point an aide to Senator McDaniel stepped in to stop it, saying that she needed to give him time to answer. He eventually stopped her completely and moved on to the next person.
This caused Greene to become enraged and storm out of the room, shouting “This is what I expected!” According to another aide to the Senator , Greene called McDaniel an “asshole” on her way out the door. Such class! I’m sure hardworking Mississippi taxpayers are proud to support her with their tax dollars.
Of course the student newspaper on campus, The Student Printz, jumped in with a story by a young and foolish journalism and political science student, Yolanda Cruz (obviously no relation to Ted), who is undoubtedly one of Greene’s minions, to trash Senator McDaniel, describing his talk as a “poor” one, which means he didn’t speak liberal so she hated it.
The article quoted one student, Connor Blakeney, a senior political science major, and an obvious liberal pet to the distinguished professor, who got in his digs at the Senator: “He … completely avoided the question while telling a constitutional law professor that she was wrong in regards to constitutional law. The fact that he made that insult, tried to take it back, then basically insulted her again by telling her she was wrong about her own field of study was egregious.”
Well Mr. Blakeney, I should inform you that your beloved “professor” does not have a law degree and did not attend law school. Yet Senator McDaniel not only graduated from the Ole Miss School of Law, he clerked for a federal judge and was recently named one of the top 100 lawyers in Mississippi. I think he knows quite a bit more about the law than a professor of political science at the University of Southern Mississippi.
Seeing the article in the student newspaper, one could easily conclude that Senator McDaniel’s talk did indeed “flop,” and he got his hat handed to him by “Professor” Greene, but that’s not the real story. Of the 45 or so students in the room, at least 40 of them came up to congratulate the Senator after his remarks, praising what many said was a good speech, shaking hands, and seeking to pose for pictures. Mr. Blakeney and Ms. Cruz were obviously not among them.
But what about this “Professor” Greene, this champion of women, gays, and smokers who lives off the hard work of Mississippi taxpayers? Well her career as a shaper of young minds has been a bit rocky.
In July 2012, when the Chick-fil-A controversy blew up around the nation, as Christian and conservatives rose up to defend a God-fearing company from leftwing assaults, “Professor” Greene, in her tolerant ways, attempted to have the restaurant, which has a franchise in the student union building, thrown off campus.
“We have a non-discrimination policy at USM that includes sexual orientation and so if we have that policy, I think to live up to that, then we should not be doing anything to support organizations that are anti-gay,” she said. Alas, her crusade failed and Chick-fil-A is still on campus.
But does she live up to the non-discrimination policy? It would seem not.
In 2011, during a discussion about abortion and privacy rights in her class, “The Supreme Court and Civil Liberties,” Greene got into a heated argument with a student, Jeffery McClendon, an altercation that got so out of hand that Greene threw the student out of her classroom, even threatening to have him tossed out of school.
Many sided with Greene and her version of events, that the student was out of line, and Greene was in the right. But then-President Martha Saunders suspended Greene for two weeks and ordered her to undergo a psychiatric evaluation, but this latter requirement was eventually dropped. Yet after her performance with Senator McDaniel, perhaps she should have kept her appointment with the shrink.
Greene believed she was denied due process. So why would Saunders side with the student and not the professor? Because of Greene’s reputation. It is very well known around USM’s campus, particularly in the liberals arts building, that “Professor” Greene is harsh and intolerant. Here are a few examples of the opinions of some of her former students:
“She is very opinionated, and not afraid to tell you hers. Same as all of the other comments, do NOT make her mad!”
“She makes no apologies for anything that comes out of her mouth. If you are offended easily don’t take her class. I would also not piss her off. Even though she is one that you can joke with, take her seriously when she begins to warn you. The whole class will feel her wrath if angered.”
“She is very unprofessional and creates a hostile environment for those who don’t share her personal views. She is a militant feminist who uses her class to promote a liberal agenda and doesn’t even try to present class material in an objective manner.”
These opinions speak for themselves, proof that tenure laws should be ended and university instructors subject to the same employment rules as everyone else. If they are not doing a quality, unbiased job for the taxpayers of Mississippi, they should not be in a classroom.
Greene’s reputation on campus is solid. Ask any sensible, non-brainwashed student and they will tell you the truth. She’s a bully (Wait, I thought liberals were against bullying?) who enjoys powering over young, intimidated students who are in a captive audience.
Though she models herself as a bastion of tolerance, she, like everyone on the Left, believes tolerance is everyone agreeing with their positions. An intolerant person is anyone not agreeing with them, giving them the right to shut them up. This is especially true on college campuses, run as they are like little fiefdoms, where conservatives are often shouted down and denied the opportunity to speak.
But Senator Chris McDaniel stood up to her and her bullying ways, putting her in her place to such a degree that it was she that stormed out in the cowardly fashion typical of liberals.
Would Senator Thad Cochran have done that? Of course not. He would have just taken the abuse or agreed with her and moved on. It’s obvious he’s never stood up to anyone, not Harry Reid or Barack Obama, even when he’s had the chance.
It’s time for new leadership for Mississippi in Washington. Senator Chris McDaniel has proven time and again that he will stand up to the bullies on the Left and defend the values, traditions, and liberties of the people of our state.
Mississippi PEP 
I know Kate Greene and this article does not describe the person I know. She’s never tried to force her views on me. She’s never tried to indoctrinate me. She’s never done anything but been kind to me and encouraging in my studies when she sees me doing homework at one of the outside tables. I’ve seen her off campus a handful of times. She’s always comported herself with decorum and, in my opinion, is an extremely decent human being. Am I one of her minions? Hardly. I’ve never been in one of her classes. I’m not an activist. I don’t claim affiliation to a particular party, but to individual leaders whose platforms promotes liberty and unity. And I’m not easily swayed on matters political, religious, or social. I judge people on how they treat me and others. That being said, Dr. Greene is a nice person, an honest person, and a forthright person… and in my opinion, this article used her as a tool to promote the political candidate’s agenda.
Is freedom of speech not something that you as Americans defend? Are politicians, not the subject of criticism? Professor Green is in her right to heckle a politician, express her opinions and represent groups that are oppressed in Mississippi. I am glad that I live in a place where my sexual orientation is not used to undermine my credibility and where people whose beliefs support the criticized are not reduced to ‘minions.’ Your quotes are not cited and are slanderous. Irresponsible journalism!
I am Kate Greene and I appreciate the opportunity to respond to this libelous attack upon me. Let me tell you what actually happened that night. It is true that I did respond to Mr. McDaniel’s comments by speaking out, not shouting, from the audience. After describing a few piddly ways the government wastes our money, he said he had many more examples and I suggested War as one of those. He agreed. As for my question (and he called on me because no one else had raised their hands), what I asked was this: As a supporter of liberty, do you support the liberty of gays and lesbians to be free from discrimination, women to be free to control their own bodies, and my right to smoke. Rather than respond to my question, his snarky reply was to that I should smoke as many cigarettes as possible. I later asked my students how they would interpret that and they said he was implying that I should die. That is how I took the reply. So when the laughter died down, I asked him if he thought that was an appropriate way to respond to my question. He suggested that I lacked a sense of humor. I expect better than that from a candidate for the US Senate. He then continued on by suggesting that abortion had always been illegal in the US. I responded that most laws were of more recent origin and that at the founding the English common law allowed abortion prior to quickening. He agreed that was true, but at that point the handler insisted he move on. When I decided to leave, I did not shout obscenities on my way out. Also, at no point did I jump to my feet and yell. The remainder of the piece is also rehashing of old, discredited news. The incident with Mr. McClendon was the result of his disruption of my classroom where he lost his temper and started screaming at me. I asked him to leave the room three times. I never threatened to kick him out of school. But because he had disrupted the class before and had personally attacked fellow students, I asked that he be removed from the class and allowed to finish on an independent basis with a colleague. When the administration agreed to this, he went to them and told them I had outed him as a gay man. I did not. But the administration never questioned him and never asked me what happened that day. When some of my students went to defend me they were told by the former provost “I don’t want to hear it.” Since then Mr. McClendon has acknowledged to me that he was out of line that day and I received an apology from former President Saunders for not investigating the matter more thoroughly. The University has also instituted a Classroom Conduct policy for both students and faculty which, by the way, confirms my right to remove a disruptive student from my classroom. As for the Chik fil a matter, it was not my cause. I was simply commenting on a student petition to remove Chik fil a from campus. The hate mail I received for this was truly disheartening. Later I discovered the Internet forums from which the comments about my teaching in this blog were culled. Most of these were ridiculous. They even included an accusation by a mother who claimed I flunked her son because he had refused a watch some liberal video on Central or Latin America featuring Susan Sarandon. I have never shown such a video since these are not areas about which I teach and even if I had, I would never flunk a student for such a thing. Any professor who would should be criticized, but I did not do that. As for the accusation that I am not qualified to speak on out constitution, let me note that I took courses in Constitutional Law as an undergraduate and several courses in that and the judicial process, several independent studies and a seminar on the Constitutional as a Ph.D. student from my mentor, a highly respected scholar in the field, and I have been teaching it for 27 years. No, I didn’t go to law school, but I am pretty sure I have studied the constitution more than Mr. McDaniel. Lastly, I have many students who will tell you that I am a darn good teacher. I have many who take every class I offer. I am always open to discussion and everyone is allowed to express their views. What I do require is that they back up opinions with evidence. I have never given an exam that was a nothing but objective. I will be happy to share 25 years of exams with you if you doubt this. I will also be happy to share the many evaluations I have received over the years. Yes, some of the students do not like me because I have high expectations and give tough exams, but many, many more thank me for challenging them and expecting more from them than other teachers have. Some of them who hated me in class have come back later and thanked me for holding them to higher standards. I hope that next time you post such a biased and unattributed attack on someone that you will check out the credibility of the sources and consider alternative sources. Thank you for the opportunity to respond. Oh, by the way, I have disabled the email contact for me on the department website so that I will not be bombarded with hate mail, so if you want to attack me personally, snail mail will have to do. Sincerely and with love and compassion to all, kate greene, ph.d.
This is less of a defense for Kate Greene and more of an observation on the credibility of this blog. I find myself vexed that the author is so willing to call out the professor by name, yet has no contact information or cited resource material supporting his/hers credibility. The childish and immature nature of the writing leads me to believe that someone attempted to write Shakespeare with Chimps and this is the excrement that was produced. Quite frankly, I am disappointed that a conservative blog would even write this. As Americans, are we not duty bond to show respect and courtesy towards our opposition?
Freedom, honor, love, unity, compassion, loyalty and opportunity, these were once words synonymous with America, yet now we are reduced to infighting and fragmentation. This article spends more time attempting to discredit Professor Greene rather than defending the intentions and views of the conservative party embodied by McDaniel.
On a side note, I fail to see the reasoning behind attacking the youth of SMU. Referring to them as “brain washed children” does not seem to be an intelligent campaign strategy. Are you aware of the potential voting power that is held within the youth of Mississippi? Do you really intend to isolate that large of a future voting base? I just ask, because I am a young voter and being called “brain washed” does not turn me over to the persuasions of either party.
Anyway, thank you for entertaining me and I look forward to reading Shakespeare. Be sure to feed the chimps, I hear they are more attracted to high protein insects, nuts and fruit rather than bananas.
Jonathon, This is reblogged from another site. The link will take you to the original post.
Mississippi PEP, I was referring to the original Mississippi Conservative Daily, the author of the original article, and the managers of the original blog site.. Questions within my post were rhetorical.
I have known Kate Greene for almost 40 years and the person described in this article is not her. While we disagree on many core values, Kate Greene has always respected what I have had to say and never been dismissive of my opinions. Professor Greene DOES expect you to have your facts straight and to be able back up your arguments. She will definite call you out if you fail to do either of these.
As for this particular post to this particular blog, all I can say is that it is very unprofessional and seems to be run by amateurs. If I were a politician and depending on this site to support my candidacy, I would be very worried. This post is full of innuendo and hearsay, and the author purports to present the facts without any supporting evidence or quotes from other attendees. In today’s political climate, these kinds of groundless attacks are uncalled for and can only backfire on those who make them.