IndyWeek (Durham, NC's artsy hip newspaper) has a new feature on the Governor's School East controversy I blogged about a few weeks ago. They paint the same picture that Tonya Olsen -- who was fired from her job their (read the previous blog entry for more background) documents in her open letter about the issue, arguing that Governor's School administrators increasingly caved to demands from an ultra-right wing pressure group to eliminate content from the curriculum that dealt with homosexuality.

Governor's School admins are being totally mum on the issue -- refusing to comment for IndyWeek's article on the matter. To me, this is an admission of guilt. As an alumni of the program, I wrote Tom Winton an e-mail expressing my outrage over Olsen's firing and more generally over the censorship at GSE. Here's what he had to say:

Dear Trevor,

Thanks for your thoughtful note. As with nearly every Governor's School alumnus, you are passionate about that for which Governor's School stands and operates, and we greatly appreciate that as its administrators. Indeed, North Carolina Governor's School is all about exploring ideas, challenging assumptions and encouraging independent thought. It has held these ideals since its inception as the first program of its kind in the country in 1963 and continues to this day. We do, in fact, regularly defend Governor's School from negative pressures and attacks from individuals and groups who would seek to skew the mission of this innovative and vital program. In addition, recently we have had the opportunity to answer challenges about the Governor's School selection process and/or program being discriminatory against private school students, public school students, religious school students, African-American students, conservative students, straight students and gay students. Your admonition that we take care of the program is one with which we resonate and take seriously.

Please know that we do not publicly discuss the specific details of administrative decisions, particularly in the hiring and re-hiring of temporary faculty and staff. In light of that, however, know that no employment decision has been made because of who a specific person is or what that person believes or due to any pressure from some outside group. The particular decision to which you refer involved other factors that are not noted in the open letter. As Governor's School imparts, there are usually more than one perspective on matters of consequence; such is true in this instance. Please consider that there may be more to this issue than what you have read from one person's account.

Again, thank you for your commitment to Governor's School. Best of luck on your studies at the University of Michigan.

Sincerely,

Tom Winton
Coordinator, North Carolina Governor's School
Exceptional Children Division
North Carolina Department of Public Instruction

I feel like if there was more to this story, as they claim, then they would have squashed it at IndyWeek with their alleged "other perspective." So far, I don't buy it.