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Protests blur academic freedom
Contra Costa Times ^ | 9/25/7 | Matt Krupnick

Posted on 9/25/2007, 2:29:49 PM by SmithL

That academic freedom comes with a caveat has perhaps never been so clear. Last week, University of California regents canceled a dinner speech by former Harvard University President Lawrence Summers.

The speech was scrapped after more than 350 faculty members objected because of Summers' 2005 comments that women fall short in math and science, which he attributed to genetics.

Even more vehement student protests greeted the decision by Columbia University to allow Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to speak on campus.

Time and again, the uproar over controversial speakers and issues has illuminated deep philosophical differences over how free speech applies to academia.

"Maybe the bottom line is to only invite speakers who are respectful of differences," said UC Davis law professor Martha West, who opposed Summers' speech. "The university is not a place for hate speech or demagoguery."

Often, the same academics who extol academic freedom are the ones leading protests against polarizing guests.

"I think the faculty need to learn a little more about free speech than they know right now," said Cary Nelson, a University of Illinois professor and president of the American Association of University Professors, which issued a statement criticizing the UC protest.

"If you ask faculty members on a college campus to define academic freedom, I don't think they would do a good job," Nelson said

The formal definition of academic freedom is the ability of a professor or student to express opinions without interference. Some in academia remember a time when that right was protected for everyone.

The climate seemed to change in the early 1980s, said UC Berkeley journalism professor Bill Drummond. That's when U.N. Ambassador Jeanne Kirkpatrick was so shaken by hecklers during a 1983 UC Berkeley speech that she pulled out of a subsequent commencement speech at Smith College.

The now-infamous Kirkpatrick speech marked the point when free speech gave way to political correctness on the campus that gave birth to the Free Speech Movement, said Drummond, chairman of the campus faculty senate. Faculty members have no business opposing speakers, he said.

"I think it has to do with a deep-seated anxiety and insecurity about our own beliefs," he said. "If you're secure in your beliefs, you shouldn't mind hearing what other people have to say."

There was greater tolerance for differing viewpoints in the 1960s, when UC Berkeley invited the first lady of South Vietnam, Ngo Dinh Nhu, to speak in Harmon Gym. The crowd of thousands -- riled by the war in Vietnam -- was rowdy, but organizers stood firm in their invitation, said two UC Berkeley professors who attended the event.

"Obviously, people were very upset," said Cathleen Keller, a professor of Egyptology who attended the 1960s speech as a student. "But the whole point of inviting people to speak on campus was to hear other views."

Not all invitations have been as successful, and protests have crossed ideological and political lines.

Bay Area writer Richard Rodriguez, who opposes bilingual education, bowed out of Cal State East Bay's 2005 commencement ceremony a few days before he was to receive an honorary degree. Protesters had threatened to disrupt the event.

College administrators repeatedly canceled appearances during filmmaker Michael Moore's 2004 campus tour because of protest threats. And recent pro-Palestinian demonstrations at UC Berkeley have been repeatedly disrupted by Israel supporters.

In Summers' case, West said she and others objected to the secret nature of his appearance, which was to be held Wednesday at a private dinner for UC leaders in Sacramento. Controversial speakers are fine, she said, but they should speak in public.

The faculty petition said Summers' appearance "conveys the wrong message" to California because of his comments about women and his shaky relationships with minority professors.

But, West said, many faculty members objected more to Summers' credentials than to his thoughts on race and gender.

"We thought it was inappropriate that the regents should be seeking advice on university governance from him," West said. "We don't think he knows how to run a university."

Avoiding problems requires planning and thinking before a contentious event, said former UC Berkeley Chancellor Ira Michael Heyman, who led the university during the Kirkpatrick incident.

Although inviting other speakers with opposing opinions often can defuse protests, he said, university leaders never should cancel speeches because of political pressure.

"You have to try your best to minimize hostility," Heyman said. "But once you cave in, that's the end of it."

Antioch College in Ohio once invited American Nazi Party leader George Lincoln Rockwell to speak, Nelson said. The event went off without a hitch, he said.

"It's a huge mistake to assume that people invite a speaker because they agree with him," Nelson said. "If someone represents a constituency, maybe the university should take the time to learn about that constituency."


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial
KEYWORDS: academicfreedom
"Maybe the bottom line is to only invite speakers who are respectful of differences," said UC Davis law professor Martha West, who opposed Summers' speech. "The university is not a place for hate speech or demagoguery."

Then they define hate speech as anything they disagree with.

1 posted on 9/25/2007, 2:29:50 PM by SmithL
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To: SmithL
"Maybe the bottom line is to only invite speakers who are respectful of differences," said UC Davis law professor Martha West, who opposed Summers' speech. "The university is not a place for hate speech or demagoguery."

The irony is breathtaking, because Larry Summers represents the former and Prof. West the latter.

2 posted on 9/25/2007, 2:33:21 PM by SuziQ
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To: SmithL

Colleges are filled with hate speech. Just utter the words, Cheney, Haliburton, oil, Rove, school vouchers, Bush, or Iraq. You will get the most vile and hateful speech you have ever heard.


3 posted on 9/25/2007, 2:41:31 PM by Dutch Boy
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To: SmithL

PC strikes again.


4 posted on 9/25/2007, 2:50:29 PM by Tzimisce (How Would Mohammed Vote? Hillary for President! www.dndorks.com)
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To: SmithL

PC = Positively Communist. Under Communism, there are rules about what you are and are not allowed to think. Otherwise, you are an enemy of the state.


5 posted on 9/25/2007, 3:05:26 PM by Doctor Raoul
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To: SmithL

Ngo Dinh Nhu was the brother of the President of the Republic of Vietnam, Ngo Dinh Diem, who was a bachelor. Nhu’s wife, Tran Le Xuan, was called Madame Nhu...this piece should call her Madame Nhu or Madame Ngo Dinh Nhu and not imply that her husband was the speaker.


6 posted on 9/25/2007, 6:12:09 PM by Verginius Rufus
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To: SmithL
The speech was scrapped after more than 350 faculty members objected because of Summers' 2005 comments that women fall short in math and science, which he attributed to genetics.

G-d Damn Leftist Un-Educated MSM! He didn't say that! He noted that there were differing numbers and suggested that it be investigated.

7 posted on 9/25/2007, 9:04:19 PM by Clock King (Bring the noise!)
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