Scheduling Conflict? Boykin Dropped as Prayer Breakfast Speaker

Retired Lt. Gen. Jerry Boykin has been disinvited from speaking at a D-Day anniversary prayer breakfast due to "scheduling conflicts," The Washington Times reports.

Leaders at Fort Riley in Kansas made the decision less than 24 hours after the Military Religious Freedom Foundation spoke out against Boykin, complaining about his biblical view of sexual morality and how he has criticized Islam.

The group also said Boykin's "fanatical" religious views threatened unity and morale on the base.

Boykin said he learned that he had been disinvited on Wednesday after a newspaper wanted to interview him.

"They said there actually was a genuine scheduling conflict, but at the end of the day it was the result of a radical, leftist, anti-Christian group who objected to my being there," said Boykin, who is also executive vice president of the Family Research Council. "The ultimate decision was based on that."

MRFF President Mikey Weinstein, who'd threatened to take the matter to federal court if Boykin was allowed to speak at the event, said he was pleased with Fort Riley's decision. Even so, he said those who were behind the invitation should be "prosecuted."

"We've made it clear to the Army that whoever was involved in the machinations of inviting this monstrosity should be aggressively investigated and visibly punished," he said.

Meanwhile, another retired three-star general is making headlines.

The Washington Post reports that retired Lt. Gen. Karl Eikenberry was supposed to become the first executive director of the Buffett Institute for Global Studies at Northwestern University.

However, 46 faculty members spoke out against the appointment, signing a letter that labeled Eikenberry a "non-academic career military officer" who was not a good match for the position, according to The Washington Post. A petition surfaced online in opposition to Eikenberry.

"An ex-U.S. general will likely think about international politics in terms of war and from the perspective of the U.S.'s interests, and the research agenda will be negatively skewed as a result," Charles Clarke, a Northwestern graduate student and petition supporter, wrote. "Instead, why not appoint someone who will encourage research that is less belligerent and tainted by U.S. bias?"

The Faculty Senate actually voted in favor of Eikenberry, but those who were opposed to the general were so tenacious, that Eikenberry decided to back out in April.

Eikenberry told The Washington Post that while he has no hard feelings against Northwestern, he did not like being called a "non-academic career military officer."

"This is the worst stereotyping I can imagine and an affront to any veteran," Eikenberry wrote in an email. "What is it about a military officer's career that makes her or him unqualified to serve as the executive director for an institute of global studies? Their familiarity with leading large organizations, securing resources, directing strategic planning, and implementing institutional change? Their experience of living in diverse cultures abroad (in my case Korea - twice; China - three times; Hong Kong - twice; Italy; Belgium; and Afghanistan - three times)? Or their experience in the field of national security decision-making and international security issues?"

"As for 'non-academic' - if no Ph.D. makes me 'non-academic,' then guilty as charged," Eikenberry continued.

However, the general added that his two master's degrees and a host of other academic experiences "should offer some standing in the academy."