When not working as the senior administrative secretary in the medical faculty affairs office, Linda Collette is following far right groups - as a scholar, not a disciple.
Collette is a dissertation away from completing her doctorate, studying right-wing - mostly white supremacist - groups. After getting her master's degree in American religious history at Goddard College in Plainfield, Vt., five years ago, she began a Ph.D. track long-distance, through the Union Institute in Cincinnati. She converses with her professors through e-mail, faxes, regular mail and phone calls. "I think this is the only way I could get my Ph.D. and still have a full-time job," she says.
Her dissertation is on the media's handling of the infamous Randy Weaver siege at his home in Ruby Ridge, Idaho, in August 1992. Weaver is a member of a loosely-knit amalgam of philosophies called Identity Christianity. The group's three key beliefs are that white "Aryans" are descendants of the biblical tribes of Israel; that Jews are the very children of Satan's "dalliance" with Eve in the Garden of Eden; and that the Aryans must do battle with the Jewish conspiracy to avert an impending apocalypse and redeem the world.
For her research, Collette conducts extensive interviews with group members in their homes, at their meetings and their places of worship. "With some groups I'm very up-front, I tell them I'm a student, show them my I.D., assure them that I'm not an FBI agent and they're very cooperative," she says. "They're using me to set the record straight. They see it as good public relations. ... Others are so conspiracy-minded, I only tell them that I'm interested in learning about their group, and go with that."
When the national media want information about extremist group activity, such as the Branch Davidians, the Identity Christians, or the militias, they call many of Collette's colleagues in the field, who often refer them to Collette. "I've been quoted in the Washington Post and other places, but after some of my `friends' started seeing my name in the paper, I had to put a stop to that - I'll only give information if I can remain anonymous," she says. Those `friends' started viewing her as part of the media, which they see as a major enemy to their cause.
"Ethically, I feel a little uneasy," she says. "These people are providing me with a career, yet I wish they would go away." Collette also confesses to a "perverse admiration" for them. "A lot of them know their American history, their Constitutional law so well; too bad they couldn't put that knowledge to better use."
Once her Ph.D. is done, Collette hopes to start her own think tank and a Web site dedicated to providing information and research on groups such as the Klan, neo-Nazi organizations, Aryan Nations, Identity Christians and others. "I'm not left-wing, I'm more moderate - more so than some of my colleagues."
Do you know someone at Brown who has an interesting avocation or public service project? Call the George Street Journal at 863-2476 or contact Tracie Sweeney, editor.