According to reports from the Tennessean and InsideVandy.com, a Vanderbilt faculty member has been charged with harassing a Metro Nashville councilman. Associate Professor of Slavic Languages and Literature David Lowe admitted to making harassing telephone calls to Councilman Eric Crafton.
Crafton, a Vanderbilt graduate and a decorated veteran of the Persian Gulf War, has been leading the charge on Nashville’s English-Only initiative. The controversial proposal, which will be put to a referendum in January, would make English the official language of Nashville and would require all government business to be conducted in English.
The controversy around Crafton’s proposal is understandable, but the alleged actions of Lowe are despicable. According to police reports, Lowe made six threatening telephone calls to Crafton’s home this past weekend regarding the councilman’s support for English-Only. While the details of those calls have yet to be released, these allegations are disheartening.
The ability for citizens to disagree civilly on the issues is a hallmark of American society. As the election season has taught us, people can hold varying opinions on a number of issues. It is important that these disagreements do not devolve into irrational reactions or disrespect for those who hold different views than those of our own.
Is Lowe justified in his disagreement with the English-Only initiative? Perhaps, and he could prove that by writing a newspaper column, writing a letter to his elected officials or engaging in a civil discussion with Crafton himself. If the allegations are correct, it seems instead that Lowe has decided to harass someone with an opposite viewpoint.
This is an embarrassing moment for Lowe, his department and Vanderbilt University as a whole. Lowe’s actions send a mixed message; we are told as Vanderbilt community members to engage in civility and that discussion is healthy for an education, yet a supposed steward of that discussion has seemingly abandoned the concept of civil discussion for harassment. Particularly bothersome is the fact that Crafton must endure this harassment from a representative of his own alma mater.
The debate over English-Only will continue until January, and people on all sides of the issue can and will have their voices heard in a public, civil forum. It is unfortunate that Vanderbilt’s most publicized contribution to that discussion seems to be in the form of irrational reactions instead of sustained dialogue. This community should be ashamed of how our university is represented, and we should have a renewed sense of duty to restore our reputation.
