THE ACADEMYnWho Is PetenSchaub?nby Nicholas DavidsonnWhen Pete Schaub, a businessnmajor in his senior year at thenUniversity of Washington at Seattle,ncouldn’t get into an overenroUed businessncourse for the first quarter of 1988,nhe signed up for “Women 200: Introductionnto Women Studies” instead.nHe was expecting to learn about “thenhistory of women and the contributionsnthat they have made,” as the coursenbook described it. Instead, Schaubnwould be harassed, expelled from class,nand publicly defamed.nSchaub’s mother was a rebel in then60’s who divorced his father when shenwas 21 and moved to rural Washingtonnto live close to the land. There Schaubngrew up among the farms of the SkagitnValley, where he acquired the mildndrawl of its inhabitants, and a strongnsense of justice defending his blacknstepbrothers (his aunt’s children) againstnlocal bullies. Today, at six foot one,nSchaub is a bodybuilder, a teetotaler,nhas run a construction crew to supportnhimself in college, and drives a Porschen924 which he recently repainted red.nNot your standard 80’s Wimp. Schaubnis also smart, articulate, and very upset.n”Introduction to Women Studies”nwas taught by two women in their 20’s,nDonna Langston and DanaMichele,nwho had taught the course nine andnthree times before, respectively. (BornnDana Brown, DanaMichele discardednher last name as a protest against “patriarchy.”)nSeveral of the 14 teachers’ aidesn(including Schaub’s) were freshmen,nwhose only academic credential was tonhave taken the course in the previousnquarter. The students report that thesenfreshmen were responsible for gradingnpapers by seniors.n46/CHRONICLESnVITAL SIGNSnMany outside friends of the instructorsnand the TA’s stopped by to participatenin the course. “They had anywherenbetween 30 and 40 people actingnas crowd control,” says Schaub. “Anyonenwho did finally get the nerve up tonask a question or raise a point,” wrotenstudent Greg Adams in a letter to thenA senior last year at the University ofnWashington, Schaub was pilloried fornasking questions in a women’s studiesncourse.nUniversity of Washington Daily, “wasnimmediately verbally mobbed by theninstructor and ‘facilitators.'”nAs an example of the prevailingnatmosphere, says Shirley Hamblin, anstudent who took verbatim notes ofnmuch of the course for a visuallyimpairednstudent, instructor Dana­nMichele alleged in one class that “thentraditional American family representsna dysfunctional family unit.” Studentsnwho protested that their own familiesnwere functional were assailed by TA’snshouting “Denial, denial!” in unison.nThe textbook. Changing Our Power,^nconsisted of a set of writings by thennninstructors, such as the following poemnby Donna Langston:nI just love the smell of menclosest thing I got tonthe taste of younnow that you’ve leftnat first I searched myncupboards far and widenwas it Pringles or Mr. Chipsnor would Haagen Dazs eatennalong with tortilla chipsnprovide the propernsalty sweet combination of younlittle did I know I’dnfind the flavor so close to home.n”One of their guest speakers camenand taught women how to masturbate,”nsays Schaub. “They said that you do notnneed a man. They proceeded to shownthem how to masturbate with a feathernduster, and they did have a dildo rightnthere.” At the end of the lecture, accordingnto several of those present,nincluding T Sarah Hirsh, the lecturernheld up the dildo and said, “This onenhas my name on it.” The talk wasnillustrated with a closeup of femalengenitalia, projected onto a 12-footnscreen at the front of the classroom.nSchaub got off to a bad start with thencourse instructors by calling one ofnthem “ma’am” at an early course meeting;nshe stingingly rebuked him for thisn”sexist” remark.nSchaub says — and those present, includingnSarah Hirsh, agree—that henonly asked a total of four or five questionsnduring the six weeks he was in thencourse. Schaub insists that his few questionsnwere “meek” — “requests for clarificationnonly.” Although he was laternaccused of “disruptive behavior” andn”shouting obscenities,” most studentsnwere apparently not even aware of hisnpresence in the class. For example,nShirley Hamblin reports that whennSchaub’s demeanor became an issue,nthe reaction of many students was bewilderment.n”Who is Pete Schaub?”nthey asked.nAs an example of the tenor of hisnquestions, Schaub describes an incidentn