In response to the hostility resulting from allegations about Bill Ayers’ past and his connection to Barack Obama, over 3800 educators have joined together in the Support Bill Ayers Petition. It has been signed by scores of noteworthy educators, including RIT’s own Dr. Jean Douthwright, professor of Biological Sciences and the 2,418th signatory.

Ayers, a college professor and political activist, co-founded the Weathermen Underground, an organization responsible for many bombings in the 1960s (including the Capitol and Pentagon). He has been under media scrutiny on the basis of his connections with Obama. According to The New York Times, “The two men have been described as friendly, but not close.” Douthwright affirmed, “What is happening to Professor William Ayers is same-old ‘McCarthyism.’ Our country went through a horrible time when saying you wanted to read a certain type of book meant you might be ‘blacklisted’ and lose your job and career.”

The preamble to the petition statement acknowledged that, “It seems that the character assassination and slander of Bill Ayers and other people who have known Obama is not about to let up. While an important concern is the dishonesty of this campaign and the slanderous McCarthyism they are using to attack Obama, we also feel an obligation to support our friend and colleague Bill Ayers.”

In an interview with Fox News, George Leef, director of research for the John William Pope Center for Higher Education Policy, stated, “They’re signing on to this because they think it will help their preferred candidate, which doesn’t speak very well of their intellectual integrity...History should be important to teachers.”

Douthwright insisted, “My support or nonsupport for Obama was not why I signed. I simply signed to publicly acknowledge that this blacklisting cannot go on without being seen for what it is... I signed to support Professor Ayers. You are right; history is important to teachers. That’s why I signed, so this ’blacklisting’ would stop.”

Still, the possibility of connection between these two men has angered many, causing cries of outrage against Ayers and his past. This has caused educators across the country, including a member of RIT’s faculty, to stand up for one of their own.