we sent the below letter along with attached notes, petition sigs., comments and rate my prof. reviews. 

to:
president@boisestate.edu,
regmail@boisestate.edu,
hclayber@asu.edu

cc:
info@academicfreedom.org,
OCR@ed.gov,
nwsaoffice@nwsa.org,
information@aacu.org,
MWintrow@senate.idaho.gov,
civerson@change.org

Dear Dr. Marlene Tromp, President, Boise State University,

As you are aware, Professor Scott Yenor of Boise State University made misogynic comments regarding women at a political conference in early November that has garnered widespread media attention and condemnation from his peers.

Formally, this letter, on behalf of almost 8,000 petitioners, requests a Title IX investigation into Dr. Scott Yenor’s academic conduct. After listening to Scott Yenor’s lectures, reviewing his social media, and published works, we have reason to believe that Dr. Yenor's rhetoric permeates his belief system in ways that make it impossible for him to show impartiality when grading papers and reviewing his colleagues.

I am assuming that you have received updates regarding a Change.org petition (https://www.change.org/p/investigate-and-discipline-professor-scott-yenor-meddlesomeyenor that Howard Clayberger and myself started on behalf of women, in particular the students and faculty of Boise State University. Howard and I would like to take the opportunity to reach out to you at this time. You may be wondering who we are.

·         I am a 34-year-old military veteran of the Army National Guard. I served my country for six years before receiving an honorable discharge at the rank of sergeant.

·         I graduated from West Chester University of Pennsylvania with two majors and two minors.

·         I then left the service to pursue a civilian career as an Environmental Health & Safety Professional (one of the “mid-level bureaucratic” professions Scott Yenor took upon himself to insult for being filled with women that are “more medicated, meddlesome, and quarrelsome than woman need to be”)

Upon reading about the situation involving Scott Yenor and Boise University, I shared the article with Arizona State University Political Science Major and fellow veteran (US Navy) Howard Clayberger. Howard took the initiative and time to write the Change petition draft on behalf of myself, himself, and all “feminists” – aka people who believe in equality. I merely added two bullets to his work to clarify exactly what we are requesting - an investigation into any gender-based differences in his grading and evaluations of students and colleagues.

If you Google search Cara Ivens v. Lockheed Martin Space, you will understand why I demand this. I know all too well what it is like, as a young woman with legitimate concerns, to be dismissed by leadership. I know all too well what It feels like when leadership, especially when it is a powerful woman such as yourself, or in my example Marillyn Hewson (former CEO of Lockheed Martin Space), whom myself and other young women look up to and admire, fail to have even the words to satisfy a such a situation - It is utterly disheartening. Still, I do my best to understand that women in power are under pressure that I cannot imagine.

Howard added you as the petition’s “decision maker” in hopes that you will do more in your position of power at Boise State University. Neither Howard nor I face the pressure you do; therefore, we can openly stand up for young women and encourage the rest of the community to do the same. We have found that they are doing the same, and likely would have done so regardless of the petition. Yet we are equally as happy to assist in any way we can, and so we will move forward with the petition. In this case, it means presenting to you and other organizations (that may be of assistance in the providing advice to you and/or the community on the matter) that the initial statement Boise State University gave regarding Scott Yenor is not adequate, nor do we agree with it.

It is our understanding that Scott Yenor has violated several BSU policies, which are available publicly (https://www.boisestate.edu/deanofstudents/free-speech-at-boise-state/laws-and-policies/

We understand that we are not experts, but merely the representatives for almost 8,000 voices (and growing) that, like us, agree to disagree and demand an investigation. We, like many others find it unprincipled to require female students to take coursework required by their major that is taught by Professor Scott Yenor.

Scott Yenor’s Lectures: https://archive.org/details/august-25.-fukuyama

Without reviewing every lecture, it is clear his lectures are riddled with chauvinist rhetoric. For example, in one lecture he encourages students to cover a book with a paper-bag as to look “respectable” due to the cover art having female anatomy present and “children” wouldn’t understand. In his lecture on Friedan, he distorts part of her theory regarding the female mystique and orgasms stating that the way to get an orgasm was to be with a man “consistently”, when at the time housewives weren’t having orgasms and that was part of the complaint. He scoffs at the idea of women and men having equal ability, using the fact the audience seemed lacking at the women’s NBA. I ask that you review each lecture and hear for yourself. 

It has also come to our attention that a political interest group called the “Idaho Freedom Foundation”[1], which Scott Yenor is deeply involved with - as he co-authored a report urging legislators to restrict funding to universities who promote “socialist policies”, the phrase they choose to label University social justice programs.[2] From our understanding, the IFF and other related external forces are creating pressure on the university to not take reasonable action by creating an atmosphere of intimidation, holding the University hostage by threatening to cut a budget that has already been slashed in the past if Boise State does not comply with their political agenda.

Even though the rest of the country is just now becoming aware of, residents of Idaho probably already know that the state ranks 51st, making it the worst (or lowest) out of all the United States of America (the list includes Washington, DC) when it comes to per-student funding. In fact, it has for multiple years.[3] It should be no surprise then, why Idaho would be ranked the “Dumbest State in America”, or “Least Smart” in a study conducted by safehome.org based on the analysis of the available data covering educational achievement and test scores.[4]

What is surprising is that Idaho’s Universities do not likewise rank at the bottom of the barrel. That suggests the Universities must be doing something right considering

its academic rankings. Therefore, perhaps decisions made regarding education should be left up to the university and not outside influence. Otherwise, Idaho may see its highly ranked academic scores fall to the lowest of the low to reflect its per-student funding and other subpar state education rankings.

The rest of America is watching and knows. Each state has a responsibility to produce young adults who will be talented enough to add value to this country. That means investing in their education. We look forward to celebrating with the residents of Idaho the day the state finally manages to get itself out of the gutter when it comes to per-student funding.

As always, our concern rests with the young women attempting to get an education and the women you employ at the university that are attempting to educate the future. We ask on their behalf that you review all university lectures, social media comments and speeches by Scott Yenor and that you reconsider the statement issued from yourself on behalf of the University after doing so. More importantly, ask yourself if you’d be comfortable having this man as your university professor? Scott Yenor can get a job at an all-boys school, and we are not sure why he has not, given his personal beliefs. If you do not agree with the reasoning please provide an explanation in the form of a statement as many are awaiting more from BSU. We have attached our notes in addition to the petition signatures and comments as well as Professor Scott Yenor’s student’s reviews.

[1] http://idahofreedom.org
[2] https://idahofreedom.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Social-justice-in-Idaho-higher-education.pdf
[3] https://www.kxly.com/idaho-ranks-last-in-per-student-funding-trails-in-educational-rankings-national-report-shows/
[4] https://www.safehome.org/smartest-americans/