How the professor helped his buddy the candidate

As a political science professor, Larry Little tries to foster civic engagement in his students. Instead, his wrong-headed approach last week is providing ammunition to those who want to suppress the vote.

Little teaches American government at Winston-Salem State University. Last week, he invited Democratic City Council candidate Derwin Montgomery to speak to his class. Sounds OK, perhaps, except that Montgomery used his visit to campaign, then arranged transportation to the Winston-Salem elections office for students who wanted to vote. Those students left class early, apparently with the professor's blessing.

It gets worse. It turns out that Little and Montgomery are friends, and Little served as an adviser to Montgomery's first City Council campaign in 2009. That might explain how Montgomery got access to Little's students that his opponents, Joycelyn Johnson and Phil Carter, didn't.

Montgomery defeated Johnson, then a longtime incumbent, in that 2009 race. He did so by getting Winston-Salem State students to flood the polls, with hundreds registering and voting the same day. Johnson complained at the time that many of those student voters were not properly registered.

Winston Salem State is part of the UNC system, which limits political activity on its campuses. Its chancellor, Donald Reaves, has created a committee to investigate the incident. The committee should declare that what Little and Montgomery did was wrong and determine an appropriate punishment for Little.

At a time when voting rights are being restricted by the N.C. legislature and local election boards, the professor has done a disservice to the cause of civic participation. Republicans have been especially seeking to limit student involvement in elections -- at Elizabeth City State, Appalachian State and elsewhere. The incident in Little's classroom, rather than creating good citizens, fuels the statewide voter-suppression movement.

-- Taylor Batten