Washington U to honor Phyllis Schlafly

In this morning’s Inside Higher Ed: Is Phyllis Schlafly Worthy of an Honorary Doctorate?:

.....Most of the graduating seniors at Washington University in St. Louis weren’t even born when Phyllis Schlafly led the successful campaign in the 1970s to defeat the Equal Rights Amendment. But they will get to learn about her at commencement ceremonies next week when the university awards her a doctorate of humane letters.
.....Some at the university find the choice offensive, given Schlafly’s career. She turned her opposition to the ERA into a national organization called the Eagle Forum through which she has campaigned against gender bias laws, Title IX, the teaching of evolution, and immigration reforms designed to expand the pool of foreign scientific talent allowed into the United States.
.....Schlafly continues to write columns in print and online, and to speak on college campuses nationwide — frequently setting off controversy with her open call for legal distinctions between the rights of men and women. At Bates College last year, for example, Schlafly called for bans on women holding the positions of firefighter, soldier and construction worker and argued that a woman cannot be raped by her husband. “By getting married, the woman has consented to sex, and I don’t think you can call it rape,” she said, according to an article in The Sun Journal.
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.....Mary Ann Dzuback, director of women’s and gender studies at Washington University, and an associate professor of education and history, said that professors were stunned and angered to learn of the planned honor last week. “The university has completely disregarded the concerns about anybody who cares about full and equal rights for women, who cares about the intellectual quality of feminist debate, and who cares about women’s desire to enter the work force,” Dzuback said….