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A Report from the Academic Gulag
by Paul Fallavollita
Several weeks ago, I won an essay contest on the Internet for writing a "politically
incorrect" essay. The official in charge of the contest decided to use only my first name
on the essay, for my protection. At first, I felt a little dissatisfied with that decision
since I am proud of who I am and what I stand for. In hindsight, I am glad that decision
turned out the way it did, as it provides me with important evidence for a theory I have
about later events, involving the harassment of this author by forces of the Left. The
names and details are kept general to protect the innocent, or should I say the
guilty?
On October 3, 2001, at 12:30 p.m. I walked into the room of my Department containing the
graduate student mailboxes. I found a number of items in my box -- a reimbursement check
for the costs of an academic conference at which I had presented, a packet of photocopied
readings that a fellow student had borrowed from me and was now returning, a Leftist rag
published irregularly and distributed indiscriminately called the Community Times,
and lastly, two stapled sheets of paper.
The two stapled sheets caught my eye. The cover sheet was blank, except for the words,
"VERY INTERESTING" appearing in the upper-left-hand side of the page, which I could tell
had been written on a computer and printed out. The bottom sheet was a copy of the
"politically incorrect" essay I had written a few weeks back. There were triangular wedges
missing from the corners of the page. I could tell that the person had taken a pair of
scissors and cut the edges of the paper where the Internet browser would have printed a
time/date stamp. The person who did this is very cautious and deliberate, I
thought.
How could my professional cyber-stalker have known that I had written the essay, when my
last name was omitted, and there were no other indicators of my identity on the website?
Their discovery could not have been the result of a search engine query -- finding a needle
in a haystack like that is difficult enough. Moreover, the essay contest was on a web site
based in Ireland. Obviously, the essay was placed in my box as an attempt at harassment
and intimidation, to show me how sophisticated and adept they were at monitoring
me.
Unfortunately for my cyber-stalker, he/she/it picked the wrong person to try this tired old
routine on. This person tipped his hand, and told me a little too much information about
himself in the process of arrogantly celebrating his discovery. On a larger, national
scale, this characteristic arrogant, overreaching hubris will one day bring about the
demise of my cyber-stalker's ilk.
You see, there was one place where my full name was associated with that essay --
within the confines of a restricted-access, members-only, Internet bulletin board run by a
premier nationalist organization. They check the members of the list against the
organizational membership list and purge those who are not members in good standing, a
security procedure that pays in spades during moments like this. To have had access to
the information surrounding my essay, there must be a mole on the list.
I am uncertain just what "anti-racist" organization the mole comes from. Could it be the
ADL? SPLC? NAACP? ARA? No way to tell precisely. But it is one of them, or one of their
sympathizers or fellow-travelers. And they have good connections. In one incident, the
mole took a quote out of context recently from a post by one of the list members and
published it in a "mainstream" news article intended to smear nationalists and patriots
critical of America's love affair with Israel. The article ridiculously attempted to draw
parallels between nationalists and the Arab terrorists of September 11. Clearly, as I was
about to learn a few hours later that day, my own activities on the Internet drew the
attention of the mole as well, as I had posted to the board an analysis of the chop-job
article.
Later that evening, a professor of mine asked me to come to her office after class to speak
with her. I did so, and she informed me that a couple of weeks ago, she was approached by
someone who was "concerned" about my writings they found on the Internet, as well as an
amazon.com "book list" I had constructed. She told me they approached her because they
thought she knew me well enough. She said she had read a "fair amount" of my writings and
found them disturbing, "anti-Semitic," and all the usual buzzwords. When asked, she stated
she did not know about the letter that had been put in my Departmental mailbox. She told
me she'd wanted to speak to me about what she knew earlier, but she had not had the
chance.
My professor told me she didn't know how she would have treated the news if she had found
out first, but told me that "people do know" and that she didn't know "what Iąd want to do
about that." Apparently, our mole has contacts "on the ground" at my university --
notifying the person who reported me to my professor. He/she/it may want to play the "I
know who you are" game with me, but the publication and dissemination of this article
should even up the score -- I know who you are too, and I'm ready for you. As you will see
below, I play to win.
My position on the issue is that my political beliefs are my business, and what I do on the
Internet is my business as well. The purposes toward which I seek to put my education are
not for anyone to judge; the university provides a service and I am a customer. I treat
the people I meet each day with respect, regardless of my political beliefs. There is a
distinction between my academic and personal life, but it seems the Leftists in my presence
(and the uncivil ones behind the scenes) are determined to dissolve the border between the
two arenas. As a friend of mine reminded me in an e-mail about the incident,
"You have a good grade point average, you have done well in your T.A. assignments, and
most of all you have not disturbed the department nor impeded anyone's learning
environment. You have not disrupted class with your beliefs in any way. If they make a
case out of this and broadcast this, they will be the ones who have disrupted the learning
environment. You may then have a legal case if they do anything. Keep a journal of events
as they unfold, who you spoke to and what was said, just in case."
True and sound advice and analysis from a good friend.
My theory is that the mole that set all this in motion clearly does not like to see the
analytical and writing talent of a graduate student, a potential university professor, put
in service of politically incorrect beliefs. This campaign of intimidation is aimed at
"killing me in the crib." Indeed, from what I've seen in the opening shots of this conflict
so far, these people are impressive. If we were that organized on the nationalist side,
we'd already be in power.
As a graduate student now publicly "identified" as politically incorrect, I am embarking on
a new phase of life, with new responsibilities and challenges. It remains to be seen what
consequences there will be in the long-run. Will the Department cut off my funding and
deny me teaching assistantships? Will professors "stone wall" my dissertation proposal,
when the time for that comes? Will my grades, attested to by my friend above, suddenly and
mysteriously drop from As to Bs and Bs to Cs? Only time will tell.
I am prepared for all of these eventualities, and I will not let them deter or discourage
me. Should teaching assistantships suddenly dry up by the time they reach my name on the
list, have no fear, for I can wash dishes with the best of them to make money to support
myself through school. As for the stability of my grades, there's nothing like a challenge
to my political beliefs and my honor to spur me to new heights of study and discipline.
And there's always an objective eye or ear in a Dean's office or appeals committee. If
proposals bog down one day, I'm sure my committee members will have some suggestions that
will get me moving in the right direction toward approval -- if I persist, ask them enough
questions, and am assertive enough.
You see, in today's flabby academic environment shot through by PC twaddle, most students
have no problems coasting through. But if professors decide they dislike a student's
politics, I imagine they might pull themselves together long enough to try an academic
version of the old "work to rule" sabotage technique like the kind unions once used on the
job. Trouble is it only works on a student unable to meet the standards and follow the
rules. I think the fact I'm being targeted in the first place indicates I'm not a student
that needs anyone to graciously open doors for me. I'll be demonstrating over the next two
years that I can open the doors myself, and ask anyone who tries to block those doors to
stand aside.
In the meantime, I will write myself toward freedom. How much publicity would the mole
behind the computer screen over at ADL or wherever, and his/her/its "contacts" at the
university, like to have? How much e-mail from nationalists reading this article would
he like to receive every day? Cockroaches hate a bright light. As excruciating as he
would like to make the environment for me, he should know I could dish it back just as
well. With every act of intimidation directed my way, and each hint of discrimination I
detect, the more ink will spill from my pen. I will not go silently.
As I told my shocked, surprised, and incredulous professor in her office, I do what I do
because I feel a sense of responsibility to myself and the future, and I enjoy acting in
accordance with that. They are my beliefs, and I would promote them all over again the
same way, with no regrets. No matter what happens to me in academia at the hands of the
Left, I will not cease using my talents in service of my people. What happens to me in
life is irrelevant, as I do not have a materialistic or self-oriented perspective. I'll
survive. For my life is not my own, it was taken from me before I was born, in the same
way my country was stolen from me by the same forces now pestering me. I will not rest
until both are restored in a free nation. The mole and friends are wasting their time
trying to stop me, for I have already won at the personal level, and soon all of us will
see victory at the national level. I am an Internet columnist, and a White American
nationalist. I am a Ph.D. student, and a professor-to-be. Stand aside.
Paul Fallavollita holds an M.A. in political science from Purdue University in West
Lafayette, Indiana. He can be reached at
pfallavollita@aol.com
PAUL FALLAVOLLITA
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