A small college in upstate New York is facing large issues that have risen concerning free speech and professionalism.

Scott McConnell, a 26-year-old substitute teacher applying to be a graduate student at Le Moyne College, was barred from the program when officials questioned his controversial views regarding education.

Suspicions arose after McConnell wrote a paper in which he likened his teaching style in many ways to “pre-1960s learning.”

“I … feel that corporal punishment has a place in the classroom and should be implemented when needed,” McConnell said in the essay. “The classroom environment would revolve strictly around the American culture and state culture, not multicultural learning.”

However, not only did McConnell receive an A minus grade on the paper, he also worked to change his status as a student accepted conditionally to the graduate program. The conditions to that agreement were that McConnell had to maintain above a B average and graduate from an undergraduate program, both of which he did, according to McConnell.

Still, the university claimed otherwise.

In a statement from Le Moyne Graduate Education Program Director Cathy Leogrande, McConnell was accepted conditionally and allowed to enroll in certain courses.

“Thereafter the college elected not to admit him as a fully matriculated student,” the statement said.

McConnell, who received his letter of withdrawal only days before entering the spring semester to begin graduate training, said he was disappointed with the decision, since he believed it was a campus that promoted diversity.

“Le Moyne is a private school and they are God in a sense — they have the choice to decide how students think at their school,” McConnell said. “When you start telling students how to think, you’re just killing the point of going into higher education.”

However, Le Moyne officials said they did not breach academic freedom when deciding to not allow McConnell to attend. Rather, Le Moyne had an obligation, like any professional program, to not choose McConnell.

According to Le Moyne spokesperson Joseph Della Posta, many of the things McConnell spoke of were against New York state law, which was a major determining factor in not allowing his entrance.

“His grades were good, but there’s more to becoming a teacher then simply how you’re performing in the classroom,” Della Posta said. “We have a responsibility as a university to certify individuals we feel should be certified.”

In a phone interview, Leogrande said this was not an issue of academic freedom and this was response to regulatory statutes that the university was bound to employ by the state of New York.

“If a medical applicant were to say he wasn’t opposed to voodoo or bloodletting, he can say that, but they’re not [going to give] him a seat in a medical school,” Leogrande said.

However, others have said Le Moyne’s decision was not correct.

University of Wisconsin professor emeritus Lee Hansen said the actions of Le Moyne officials were inconsistent, since a university is supposed to be home to the search for truth and the contest of ideas.

“The problem is that institutions often feel threatened, of all things, by ideas,” Hansen said. “Ideas are … the currency that institutions deal with, and yet they’re afraid of ideas — it’s a shame.”

McConnell had a similar complaint of the university.

“I like when people disagree with me … It spurs debate and conversation, and then you can figure out [ideas],” McConnell said. “Le Moyne didn’t do that.”