3. Speakers Censored on Campus

RECOMMENDATIONS:

An institution of higher learning should never fear controversy, or prefer bland clichés to intellectual content. All colleges should actively seek to have commencement speakers who will address controversial views. All colleges should institute policies that prohibit banning speakers, even if they dissent from a particular orthodoxy.

Commencement:

Several conservative groups have launched pressure campaigns aimed at disrupting graduation ceremonies with speakers deemed too “liberal” or heterodox. The Young America’s Foundation cites Yale as the top example of colleges with “an outrageous track record of hosting liberal commencement speakers.” Since 1996, Yale has invited one actor (Henry Winkler), four moderate writer/journalists (David McCullough, Tom Brokaw, Bob Woodward, Thomas Friedman), one moderate Democrat (Hillary Clinton), and two moderate Republicans (David Gergen, George Pataki). Nothing is “outrageous” about these speakers.

The Cardinal Newman Society denounced 16 Catholic universities for granting any honorary degrees or inviting any commencement speakers who fail to oppose legal abortion under all circumstances. It attacked St. Louis University for allowing columnist Bill McClellan to be commencement speaker, due to McClellan’s pro-choice views and support of stem-cell research. Quincy University commencement speaker Paul Harvey withdrew after the group’s criticism of his pro-choice beliefs. Other commencement speakers denounced included Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Chris Matthews, and Pete Seeger. Patrick Reilly, president of Cardinal Newman Society, declared, “fawning over abortion-rights advocates is not what Catholics expect from Catholic institutions.” University of Scranton spokesperson Gerald Zaboski declared about Matthews: "We have not invited to campus someone who would advocate abortion rights, nor would we."

(St. Louis Post-Dispatch, May 8, 2003; Cardinal Newman Society Catholic Campus News, May 9, 2003; AP, May 22, 2003)

(a) Georgetown University (D.C.): Cardinal Francis Arinze, speaking at Georgetown College’s commencement, was asked to talk about Christian-Muslim relations, but instead he discussed the decline of the family, which he said was “mocked by homosexuality.” 70 faculty signed a letter protesting Arinze’s speech as insensitive and inappropriate. Tommaso Astarita, a professor of European history, declared: "You don't go to a commencement ceremony to hear that you're a bane on the Christian family." Theresa Sanders, professor of theology, protested by leaving the stage. Some students also left the ceremony in protest. Dean of the college Jane McAuliffe wrote to the faculty that she "expected interreligious relations to form the substance of his remarks at commencement and was very surprised that it was not the topic."

(Atlanta Journal and Constitution, May 22, 2003; Washington Times, May 30, 2003; Chicago Tribune, June 2, 2003; Chronicle of Higher Education, June 6, 2003)

(b) North Carolina State University: Phil Donahue’s commencement speech was repeatedly interrupted by boos and jeers after he criticized the war against Iraq. Chancellor Marye Anne Fox wrote in a letter about Donahue’s speech, "I share your disappointment in Phil Donahue's address to our graduates."

(AP, May 17, 2003; Salon.com, May 19, 2003; Chicago Sun-Times, May 28, 2003)

(c) Rockford College: New York Times reporter Chris Hedges had to cut his commencement speech short after being heckled and booed by some in the audience for being critical of the war against Iraq. Hedges faced boos, people walking out, turned backs, catcalls, foghorns blaring, people singing “God Bless America,” chants of “USA! USA!” audience members trying to climb on to the stage, and people shouting, "Go home!" and “send him to France” during his 18-minute speech. Hedges’ microphone was unplugged twice during the speech.

Rockford College president, Paul Pribbenow, appealed for order during the speech: "My friends, one of the wonders of a liberal arts college is its ability and its deeply held commitment to academic freedom and the decision to listen to each other's opinions."

According to Rockford College, after the microphone was unplugged for the second time, President Pribbenow and Hedges “discussed how best to proceed in an obviously dangerous environment and agreed that Mr. Hedges would bring his speech to a close in some appropriate manner. Mr. Hedges did so.”

As Oliver North put it, approvingly, “An enraged audience of graduating seniors and their families finally forced Hedges from the stage, bringing his diatribe to an abrupt end.” Conservative talk-show host Sean Hannity responded to Hedges’ speech by declaring, “This man should be fired.”

Hedges noted, “I have certainly spoken at events where people disagreed – that is to be expected. But to be silenced and to have people clamber onto the platform with the threat of physical violence was something new, and frightening.”

Pribbenow explained, “I want commencement to be more than just a pop speech.” However, the Rockford Register-Star reported, “President Paul Pribbenow is rethinking the wisdom of such controversial topics at future commencements.” Pribbenow later told graduates and their families “how sorry I am that their special day came to be focused on a speaker who did not consider the nature of his audience or the occasion, and on those spectators who chose to act rudely because they didn't agree with him.”

A Rockford Register-Star editorial declared, “Pribbenow made a poor judgment by inviting Hedges to speak at the commencement, a time of comfortable words, pride and reflection on accomplishments.”

Pribbenow received death threats and changed his home telephone number. According to Pribbenow, "Maybe what this illustrated is that the belief that a timely and challenging issue is relevant for a commencement may have been naive."

(http://www.rockford.edu/commencement/main.htm; www.rrstar.com; AP, May 20, 2003; Hannity & Colmes, May 21, 2003; Democracy Now, May 21, 2003; Chronicle of Higher Education, May 22, 2003; townhall.com, May 23, 2003; Rockford Register-Star, May 21, 2003; May 25, 2003; http://www.rrstar.com/localnews/your_community/rockford/hedgescoverage.shtml)

COMMENT: As conservative columnist Cathy Young observed, “The hecklers didn't just express their distaste for Hedges's speech; they actively, and successfully, tried to silence him.”(Boston Globe, June 2, 2003) While silencing campus speakers is always deplorable, it rarely prevents future speakers from coming to campus. However, this intimidation at a commencement will almost certainly cause Rockford College and other institutions around the country to avoid commencement speakers with potentially controversial ideas.

(d) Smith College: Madeline Albright, Secretary of State during the Clinton Administration, spoke at the 2003 Smith College commencement. Although protest organizers asked people not to disrupt the event, there was some heckling during the speech, and two people with signs tried to approach the stage.

(Weekly Standard, June 2, 2003)

(e) St. Louis University: Campus officials disinvited scheduled 2003 commencement speaker Donald Carty, then the CEO of American Airlines, because Carty had been criticized for giving bonuses to company executives while convincing unions to agree to salary cuts.

(Chronicle of Higher Education, June 6, 2003)

(f) University of Georgia: some faculty and graduating seniors argued that Clarence Thomas should not be allowed to speak at the University of Georgia Law School commencement because of his views on affirmative action and civil liberties.

(Chattanooga Times Free Press, May 17, 2003)

Disinviting Speakers

Bans on speakers are particularly dangerous, not only because they deprive students and faculty of hearing a particular point of view, but also because the disinvited or protested speakers show what views will may be banned for future speakers.

(g) Bucknell University: the Dean of Students office withdrew funding for a Conservatives Club speech by Thor Halvorssen, executive director of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE). The University claimed FIRE had threatened to sue Bucknell, and therefore they would not fund any speakers from the organization. General Counsel Wayne Bromfield declared, “Our refusal to allow funding of his speech was based on the principle that we do not suppress speech, but we also do not subsidize antagonistic suits. It would be foolish to contribute legal fees to an organization whose avowed intention is to use their legal resources against us.” Halvorssen waived his honorarium and spoke at Bucknell anyway on Oct. 24, 2002 to a standing-room only crowd.

(Bucknell Counterweight, Oct. 4, 2002; The Bucknellian, October 11, 2002, "Administration Does Not Approve Speaker"; http://www.campusconservatives.com/updates/000017.html)

COMMENT: Bucknell University’s claim that speaking fees are the equivalent of “legal fees” is absurd. By the logic of Bucknell administrators, anyone affiliated with an organization who assisted anyone in a suit against the university could be banned from receiving speaking fees. Restricting free speech only to those who support the administration is a clear violation of academic freedom.

(h) Calvin College: Christian Bell, editor of The Chimes, apologized for trying to prevent a speaker from the American Family Association for talking on campus. After learning that the speaker had been invited to a class, Bell wrote to him, “I'll talk to the necessary administrators and see what I can do to ensure that the college doesn't allow you onto campus." Bell never contacted any administrators, and later apologized.

(Concerned Women for America, Jan. 10, 2003)

(i) Catholic University of America (DC): Eleanor Holmes Norton, the Washington D.C. Delegate to Congress, was banned from a scheduled booksigning at the Catholic University of America bookstore after the College Republicans and Students for Life objected to her support for abortion rights.

(Washington Post, Feb. 3, 2003; http://prorev.com/freedc.htm#cua)

(j) City University of New York Law School: more than half of the graduating class signed a petition to name Lynne Stewart as the public interest lawyer of the year, traditionally chosen by the students, but their decision was vetoed by dean Kristin Booth Glen, who feared bad publicity might threaten state funding.

(New York Times, April 26, 2003)

(k) City University of New York: several conservative speakers boycotted a Fall 2002 conference examining the legacy of Sidney Hook because Cornel West was invited to speak. Hilton Kramer, editor of The New Criterion, declared: "When I saw that Cornel West was a participant, I decided that it wouldn't be appropriate" to attend the conference. Irving Kristol, Gertrude Himmelfarb, and John Patrick Diggins also planned to boycott the event because of West, whose 1989 book, The American Evasion of Philosophy: A Genealogy of Pragmatism, includes a substantial discussion of Hook. Diggins threatened to convince the John M. Olin Foundation to withdraw its $5,000 grant to support the conference. Diggins later changed his mind and spoke on a panel with West.

(Chronicle of Higher Education, July 5, 2002)

(l) Colorado College: Palestinian activist Hanan Ashrawi spoke on campus Sept. 11, 2002, despite protests against her presence. Critics accused her of supporting terrorism, even though Ashrawi says, “I have condemned all acts of violence, all acts of terrorism.” Ashrawi was the minister of higher education for the Palestinian Authority under Yasir Arafat and founded the Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy. Critics also complained about balance, although another speaker for the conference was Gideon Doron, president of the Israeli Association of Political Science.

Rabbi Bruce Dollin, president of the Rocky Mountain Rabbinical Council, called for Colorado College President Richard Celeste to resign because of the event. State Sen. John Andrews and State Reps. Lola Spradley and Debbie Stafford sent a letter to Richard F. Celeste, the president of Colorado College, calling Ashrawi’s speaking engagement a “totally inappropriate slap in the face to the memory of all who died and have suffered as a result of 9/11.” On a talk-radio show, Colorado Gov. Bill Owens, a Republican, called the decision “outrageous,” saying Ashrawi “has done so much to divide the Middle East and has applauded terrorism.” University of Colorado regent Tom Lucero declared that “the timing is distasteful.”

(Chronicle of Higher Education, Sept. 10, 2002; AP, Sept. 11, 2002)

(m) College of the Holy Cross:

A Nov. 1, 2002 speech by Rev. Michael Prior, senior research fellow and chair of the Holy Land Research Project at St. Mary's College in England and author of Zionism and the State of Israel, was cancelled after David J. O'Brien, director of the Center for Religion, Ethics and Culture, withdrew the invitation. Prior, who spoke at several American colleges, wrote: “It is clear that there is an atmosphere in your college which seeks to control discussion on the issue of Israel-Palestine. On this occasion, the college succumbed to being intimidated by persons within the faculty. Although the tactics of such people and the charges alleged against me amazed my host, professor David O'Brien yielded to their bullying and intimidation, considering such action to be prudent. I consider it to be shameful.” Political science professor David Schaefer, who protested the proposed speaker, argued: “Colleges should not invite Nazi speakers in to extol the virtues of Hitler, or David Duke to speak about certain religious groups that are inferior. Prior falls in that category.”

(Massachusetts Telegram & Gazette, Dec. 10, 2002)

(n) Colltown (Maryland). Daniel Pipes was disinvited in Oct. 2002 from a speech sponsored by a consortium of Baltimore-area colleges because of the controversy over his website www.CampusWatch.org since it “might cause unseemly reactions among both the participants and the audience.”

(National Review, Jan. 7, 2003; update; Chronicle of Higher Education, January 31, 2003)

(o) Duke University: The Duke Conservative Union criticized the use of university money to "fund a terrorist" and encouraged alumni to suspend donations to Duke because of its choice of speakers.

(ErinOConnor.org, Feb. 3, 2003 TrackBack)

(p) Fresno State (California): a Feb. 2003 conference on “Revolutionary Environmentalism: A Dialogue Between Activists and Academics,” drew attacks because radical environmentalists and animal rights activists were invited to speak, including convicted arsonist Rodney Coronado.

The Center for Consumer Freedom, along with U.S. Rep. Richard Pombo (R-CA), denounced the event, as did several California state senators who launched a campaign to cut Fresno State’s funding. State Senator Dennis Hollingsworth declared, “If Fresno State has so much money as to throw it away on this kind of garbage, then they can obviously stand a cut to their funding.” The university closed to the event to the public, allowing only those with university IDs or special media passes.

(AIA Campus Report, March 2003; erinoconnor.org, Feb. 5, 2003)

(q) Harvard University: Harvard rescinded an invitation for a poetry reading to poet Tom Paulin because he was quoted in April 2002 in Al-Ahram Weekly saying about Jewish settlers on the West Bank: “They should be shot dead. I think they are Nazis, racists. I feel nothing but hatred for them.” In a 2001 poem, Paulin referred to the Israeli army as "the Zionist SS." He also said, "I never believed that Israel had the right to exist at all." Paulin declared, "My quoted remarks completely misrepresent my real views. For that, I apologise."

After consulting with Harvard president Lawrence Summers (who on Sept. 17, 2002 had denounced anyone urging divestment from Israel as “anti-Semitic in their effect if not their intent”), the English department and Paulin mutually agreed to cancel the Dec. 14, 2002 lecture, to which Summers proclaimed, “I believe the department has come to the appropriate decision."

Harvard Law School professors Charles Fried, Alan Dershowitz, and Laurence Tribe wrote a letter declaring, “What is truly dangerous is the precedent of withdrawing an invitation because a speaker would cause, in the words of English department chair Lawrence Buell, 'consternation and divisiveness.'” Harvard’s English department voted on Nov. 19, 2002 to reinstate the poetry reading.

(Harvard Crimson, Nov. 13, 2002; Boston Globe, Nov. 18, 2002; New York Times, Nov. 21, 2002; Nov. 23, 2002; Guardian, Nov. 22, 2002; New Yorker, Jan. 27, 2003; Chronicle of Higher Education, Nov. 21, 2002)

COMMENT: Although urging death upon certain people in foreign countries is deplorable, it is neither unusual nor illegal. Should a speaker be banned for having urging the death of Saddam Hussein?

(r) Loyola University (Louisiana): Adam Bronstone, a representative of the Jewish Federation of Greater New Orleans, called for Loyola to "hold future speakers to basic truth test -- that is, no bait-and-switch in the titles" after an April 23, 2003 speech by Francis Boyle of the University of Illinois Law School on "Iraq and Israel: A Legal Double Standard." The Federation is also calling upon Loyola to require that any anti-Israel speakers be “balanced” with opposing points of view at the same event. However, the Federation also believed that Boyle should not have been invited to speak because "he harbors racist baggage concerning Jews." Acting Loyola Law School Dean James Klebba withdrew the law school's support for Boyle's lecture because it was the second time this year that a pro-Palestinian speaker had appeared at Loyola (the university has twice hosted a program to bring three Israeli soldiers to campus). According to Bronstone, "We've got some people at Loyola who 'get' what happened and don't want to see it again. We're able to pick up the phone and get the administration on the line; our concerns are being heard."

(New Orleans Times-Picayune, May 24, 2003)

(s) Michigan State University: student affairs graduate student Erin Belinger tried to stop a Feb. 25, 2003 speech by Dan Flynn, author of “Why the Left Hates America” because "they advertised a very different type of presentation" in getting permission from the residence hall student government for the speech. Belinger threatened to call police and revoke the College Republicans’ charter. The speech proceeded anyway, and no action was taken.

(Campus Report, April/May, 2003; MSU Common Sense, April 2003; http://www.statenews.com/article.phtml?pk=16043)

(t) Stanford University: Attorney Lynne Stewart, indicted in April, 2002 on charges of distracting prison guards to help her client, terrorist mastermind Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman, communicate with the Egypt-based Islamic Group, was banned from serving as an official mentor to Stanford Law School students. Stanford Law School dean Kathleen Sullivan overruled the head of the law school’s public-interest programs and wrote to Stewart: "It has recently come to my attention that in public statements you have expressly supported the use of violence to achieve social change. In light of these statements, I unfortunately cannot allow the Law School to confer upon you the title of David W. Mills Public Interest Visiting Mentor."

(San Francisco Chronicle, Nov. 12, 2002; Chronicle of Higher Education, Nov. 13, 2002)

COMMENT: By Sullivan’s logic, anyone who supports the American Revolution, the War on Iraq, or the death penalty—all of which use violence to achieve social change—cannot be allowed at Stanford Law School.

(u) Stanford University (California). In December 2002, the Stanford Israel Alliance rescinded an invitation to Daniel Pipes because ”there has already been a great deal of controversy over Campus Watch” and the organization feared that student might not “realize that Campus Watch in no way infringes on Freedom of Speech but is simply a resource for Jewish students.”

(National Review, Jan. 7, 2003; update; Chronicle of Higher Education, January 31, 2003)

(v) State University of New York at New Paltz: for the first time in 15 years, the administration refused to fund a women’s studies conference, "Women and War, Peace and Revolution." University officials refused to fund the conference because they considered it unbalanced, because one panelist is Ruchama Marton, an Israeli psychiatrist scheduled to speak about peace negotiations between Palestine and Israel, and human rights abuses of Palestinians. The administration complained that the pro-Israeli government view would not be presented.

(AP, Oct. 17, 2002; Chronicle of Higher Education, Oct. 16, 2002)

COMMENT: No one should miss the irony that a conference with no Palestinian speakers is deemed “unbalanced” because the Israeli speaker is critical of Israeli government policies. It is dangerous to demand balance in financing conferences, however desirable it may seem, because so many variables are involved in selecting speakers. No college can or should enforce demands for “equal time” for every view at every event.

(w) University of Michigan: columnist and attorney Debbie Schlussel filed a lawsuit Oct. 8, 2002 on behalf of the Michigan Student Zionists in an attempt to stop the Second National Student Conference on the Palestine Solidarity Movement, which was held in October 2002 at the University of Michigan. The lawsuit alleged that speakers such as Sami Al-Arian would spread hate and might provoke violent acts on campus. According to Schlussel, "This is the equivalent of adding a match to a powder keg…It's about preventing violence and terrorism against students.” Schlussel argued that the university “must ban from U-M any conference speakers and organizers who have records of inciteful, violent speech” because the event “jeopardizes the safety of thousands of students.” Schlussel claimed, “I respect speech rights of everyone, no matter how odious their positions may be. But free speech does not include incitement to violence.” A judge refused to issue an injunction banning the conference.

(AP, Oct. 10, 2002, Michigan Daily, Oct. 11, 2002; Townhall.com, Oct. 21, 2002)

(x) University of Vermont: the English Department, following Harvard’s lead, also cancelled an appearance by poet Tom Paulin. Robyn Warhol, chair of the English Department, declared: "The professor who invited Mr. Paulin called him today and explained what the circumstances were here. During those discussions, he decided not to come." Paulin’s colleague, Columbia English professor James Shapiro, explained, "He was made to feel he wasn't welcome."

(Burlington Free Press, Nov. 20, 2002; Chronicle of Higher Education, Nov. 21, 2002)

(y) Yale University: some people objected to Yale’s invitation to poet Amiri Baraka to speak on campus, accusing him of anti-Semitism.

(Frontpagemag.com, May 22, 2003)

Back to 2002-03 State of Academic Freedom Report

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