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Former social work student subject of Will column

Posted October 11, 2007 11:00 pm

Bruce Rushton

Sandra Fuiten doesn't look like a poster girl for conservative columnist George Will.

Nonetheless, there Fuiten is, both in a Will column to be published Sunday in The State Journal-Register and in her house on a tough-looking block on Springfield's north end.

"George Will?" Fuiten exclaimed when informed she has made the big time. "The syndicated columnist?"

Yes, Sandra, it's true.

In his column, Will cites Fuiten's experience at the University of Illinois at Springfield as an example of what's wrong with social-worker education at American universities. The column is based on a recent study by the National Association of Scholars (a conservative group that critiques higher education) that contends universities are indoctrinating students with political views and ideologies instead of allowing students to freely seek out truth.

Unbeknownst to Fuiten, the NAS included in its study information from an article she wrote in 2005 for campusreportonline.net, an arm of Accuracy in Academia, another conservative watchdog.

In the article, Fuiten wrote that she dropped out of UIS in 2001 after a professor told her that she could not be a social worker and also oppose abortion.

The professor could not be reached for comment.

Fuiten said Friday she remembers the conversation distinctly.

"Somehow the topic of abortion got brought up," Fuiten said. "She looked me in the eye and said 'You can't be a social worker.' I said 'Why?' 'Because you're against abortion.'

"'I said 'Have you ever heard of Catholic Charities, lady?'"

Fuiten said she dropped the class rather than lobby the legislature on behalf of the National Association of Social Workers, a target of NAS. The professor is a member of the organization.

"I was not going to lobby for her," Fuiten said. "It (made me so mad) I dropped my other classes. If it wasn't for her, I'd be done with my social-work degree."

Instead, Fuiten has fallen on hard times. Last year, she got an order of protection against a former boyfriend and spent time in the Sojourn Shelter for battered women. She says she has a two-year college degree, but that's come at a steep cost.

"I owe $48,000 in student loans, and I don't even have a bachelor's yet," Fuiten said.

Part of the problem is her health. Fuiten, who once worked in nursing homes as a certified nursing assistant, said she's been diagnosed with bi-polar disorder, which has prevented her from going to school or holding a job. She said she's living on disability.

But her faith remains strong.

The decor in her living room includes an angel figurine hanging on the wall near her front door, right next to a clock with a picture of Jesus on the face. There's a framed picture of Jesus above her television, near a portrait of the Virgin Mary. A ceramic statue of Mary sits on an end table.

Before converting to Catholicism, Fuiten said she had an abortion. It's a decision that haunts her still, even though she said she confessed the sin and has been forgiven.

"Every year around January, I feel real bad," she said. "I should have four kids instead of three."

Bruce Rushton can be reached at 788-1542 or bruce.rushton@sj-r.com.

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