For weeks now, state Sen. Susan Wagle, R-Wichita, has carried on a crusade against Kansas University professor Dennis Dailey reminiscent of those of the late, unlamented U.S. Sen. Joseph McCarthy and his House of Un-American Activities Committee. During her campaign, she has enlisted the aid of her legislative assistant, an appallingly biased Fox News “commentator,” and a number of other “informants” whose identities she has been unwilling to disclose. She has done everything in her power, it would seem, to destroy Dailey, KU’s School of Social Welfare, the independence of the Kansas Board of Regents, the integrity of KU and academic freedom for faculty and students in the state of Kansas. But all of this, as insidious as it may be, is, in my opinion, far less important than what she threatens to do to the rule of law and basic constitutional rights in this state.

I cannot speak to the truth or falsity of the substantive issues raised by Wagle because I have never attended Dailey’s class, nor have I ever viewed the videos he shows in that class. But neither can Wagle because she, too, has never attended his classes or viewed the videos. KU has stated repeatedly that it has a strict set of policies on sexual harassment in and out of the classroom. It also has a process by which anyone can bring a complaint against a faculty member for inappropriate behavior of this kind. Further, state and federal law also provide processes, through the courts, that an individual may pursue in such matters, if dissatisfied with institutional procedures. But Wagle chose to ignore all of these approaches in launching her crusade against Dailey. Instead, Wagle used her position as a state senator to attack Dailey in the Legislature, in the press and even on national television with seeming impunity. Wagle has made the most serious accusations against Dailey and KU, and she presented “evidence” against Dailey without giving him an equal chance to defend himself or to confront his accusers. She has, in effect, turned the Kansas Senate into a star chamber, just the sort of thing our forefathers came to the United States to escape and wrote the Constitution and Bill of Rights to prevent. By the time she decided to make a formal complaint, Dailey’s name had been dragged through the mud.

To my mind, this controversy is about much, much more than academic freedom. It is about fairness and individual rights. If Wagle can wage such a crusade against Dailey, what is to stop her or any similar-minded colleagues from attacking any citizen of the state for any reason? Elected officials have access to the media that the rest of us do not. They can use that access to destroy lives, as Wagle has attempted to do to Dailey, or to besmirch the reputation of great institutions like KU. If elected officials can do such things, if they can violate individuals’ basic rights guaranteed under our laws, then how can we trust them to govern? How can any of us be safe ever again? Kansas has a proud history of protecting the rights of its citizens. Shall discussions about the state budget become a new forum for defaming those individuals whom senators dislike? Senators Mark Buhler, R-Lawrence, David Adkins, R-Leawood, and John Vratil, R-Leawood, got it just right. The Senate is not and must not be allowed to be prosecutor, judge, jury and executioner. That is not its role in state government. If Dailey has done something wrong, then it is up to a university committee or a court to decide that according to the law. The kind of crusade which Wagle has undertaken is, in my opinion, nothing short of the tyranny that one expects in a dictatorship, not a democracy.

The results of KU’s investigation into Wagle’s allegations are clear: Dailey did not do what he is accused of having done. I trust the results of that investigation. I believe in them because I believe that due process was accorded to both sides in the investigation. Wagle has already accused the investigation of being a “whitewash” and promised that she would not stop her crusade.

The time has come for every Kansan, regardless of political beliefs, to do something to stop this inquisition, this crusade against not just Dailey, but a great university and the very basis of our freedom. Everyone who cares about KU, who cares about academic freedom, who cares about the rule of law and fair play must now take a stand and be heard. If we do not let Wagle know that this will not be tolerated, if we do not let the media know that we will not accept gross bias in reporting, then our freedoms which we hold sacred, for which men and women have died and continue to die even today, will be lost forever.