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| Via thinkprogress.org |
This is Katelyn Campbell. She's a Senior at George Washington High School in Charleston, West Virginia. When conservative speaker Pam Stenzel was invited to her school to speak about abstinence as the only way to avoid pregnancy and sexually-transmitted infections, Ms. Campbell refused to attend.
What did she miss? According to
Think Progress:
At GW’s assembly, Stenzel allegedly told students that “if you take birth control, your mother probably hates you” and “I could look at any one of you in the eyes right now and tell if you’re going to be promiscuous.” She also asserted that condoms aren’t safe, and every instance of sexual contact will lead to a sexually transmitted infection.
Who can blame Ms. Campbell for thinking that has no place in a public school? Especially since it was funded "by a conservative religious organization called 'Believe in West Virginia' and advertised with fliers that proclaimed 'God’s plan for sexual purity'."
But this student did more than boycott the event. She also filed a complaint with the ACLU, and spoke out against the event in her school and in local media.
In a show of retaliation that should make any educator's or parent's blood run cold, George Washington HS Principal George Aulenbacher allegedly decided to try to destroy the teenage girl's future.
According to a
complaint filed by the Campbell family's lawyer, asking for an injunction to prohibit Principal Aulenbacher from retaliating against Ms. Campbell for exercising her right to free speech.:
Aulenbacher called Campbell to the principal's office after she contacted media outlets about the assembly and said, "I am disappointed in you" and "How could you go to the press without telling me?" according to the complaint.
He then allegedly threatened to call Wellesley College, where Campbell has been accepted, and tell them about her actions. "How would you feel if I called your college and told them what bad character you have and what a backstabber you are?" he said, according to the complaint.
"I said, 'Go ahead,'" Campbell said Monday. "He continued to berate me in his office. I'm not an emotional person, but I cried. He threatened me and my future in order to put forth his own personal agenda and made teachers and students feel they cant speak up because of fear of retaliation."
One can only hope that Mr. Aulenbacher ends up getting his just desserts in some kind of John Hughes movie ending.
Katelyn Campbell, on the other hand, no longer has to worry about Wellesley. They are well aware of her character, and sent her this message, via Twitter:
That's what I call a happy ending. And not only for the young woman who stood up for evidence-based sex education. Wellesley College managed to get the kind of publicity that no amount of marketing money can buy:
