By Ben Velderman
EAGnews.org

COCOA, Fla. – A Florida community college professor is paying the price for her overzealous support of President Barack Obama.

Sharon Sweet, an assistant math professor with Brevard Community College, “distributed bookmarks in class asking students to ‘pledge that I will vote for President Obama and Democrats up and down the ticket,’” reports The Daily Caller.

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The pledge was taken from an Obama campaign website.

“College officials learned of the allegations Thursday afternoon, Sept. 13, following a call from a concerned parent and immediately began an investigation,” college spokesman John Glisch said in a statement.

Glisch added that there has been more than one complaint about Sweet, and noted the assistant professor “has requested, and been granted, a leave of absence without pay effective immediately.”

If the allegations prove true, Sweet may be guilty of violating Florida law that prohibits an employee of the state from using “his or her official authority or influence for the purpose of interfering with an election … or influencing another person’s vote or affecting the result thereof,” reports CampusReform.org.

The Franklin Center for Government & Public Integrity, which originally broke this story, believes Sweet may be in violation of the college’s anti-harassment policy, which includes protections for an individual’s political affiliation.

As an American, Sweet has the right to support whomever she wants for president. But as a member of academia, she has the moral obligation to help students become critical, independent thinkers who carefully evaluate the merit of each idea, issue, candidate or cause.

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Having students sign a pledge to blindly support “Democrats up and down the ticket” is the antithesis of an academic professor’s proper mission.

This incident illustrates that America’s colleges and public universities have become the private domain of radical leftist professors who seek to indoctrinate students with their political beliefs.

This incident also illustrates how Americans can push back against political propaganda in our schools and universities. Concerned students told their parents, who put pressure on college leaders to take action.

Since taxpayers fund the universities and many parents pay their child’s tuition, they are entitled to have a say over how these institutions operate. And they’re clearing saying they want students to be educated, not indoctrinated.

Kudos to the Brevard Community College students, parents and leaders for showing the rest of us how it’s done