Reprinted by permission of the author, from a New York Times article, March 24, 2007. This article is part of a larger project entitled "Save The World On Your Own Time: Or Why Colleges and Universities Should Tear Up Their Mission Statements and Just Aim Low."

When a bill before a state legislature bears a woman's name, it is usually because someone has been abducted or raped or murdered. But in Missouri, House Bill 213, or the Emily Brooker Intellectual Diversity Act, is under consideration because someone was given an assignment.