Posted on 01/31/2005 8:28:13 AM PST by freespirited
Hamilton College believes that open-ended and free inquiry is essential to educational growth. As our Faculty Handbook says, “The right to search for truth, to express both popular and unpopular opinions, and to criticize existing beliefs and institutions, is the foundation of intellectual life in a democratic society.”
Last summer, Ward Churchill, Chair of Ethnic Studies at the University of Colorado, was invited to campus by the Kirkland Project to give a lecture on February 3 about prisons and Native American rights. After the invitation was extended by the Kirkland Project and accepted by Churchill, statements he had made about 9/11 came to light. In response to public reaction and to our own concerns, we directed the Kirkland Project to create a forum in which to confront Mr. Churchill’s views. This Thursday’s panel will have four speakers, including Churchill and his wife, Natsu Taylor Saito, and Hamilton professors Rick Werner and Phil Klinkner. Speakers’ views are, as always, their own.
The College has had more than 1000 e-mails and hundreds of telephone calls commenting on the event. Consistent with our commitment to the free exchange of ideas, we intend to post as many of the e-mails as possible on the College Web site. There have been calls for me to rescind the Kirkland Project’s invitation to Ward Churchill and cancel the event. But there is a principle at stake, for once the invitation was extended by the Kirkland Project and accepted by Ward Churchill, it became a matter of free speech. I have also received many messages urging the college to stand by its principles.
However repugnant one may find Mr. Churchill’s remarks, were the College to withdraw the invitation simply on the grounds that he has said offensive things, we would be abandoning a principle on which this College and indeed this republic are founded. Free speech is put to the test precisely in circumstances like these when the speech in question is abhorrent. As Justice Brandeis put it, “If there be time to expose through discussion the falsehood and fallacies, to avert the evil by the processes of education, the remedy to be applied is more speech, not enforced silence.”
The controversy about Churchill’s visit reminds us all of the pain and suffering of the 9/11 attack. Our hearts go out to all the victims of that tragic morning, and in particular to families belonging to our own College community. Rhetoric that blames the victims of this vicious attack for their fate is to me deplorable.
We anticipate a large turnout on Thursday evening and intense media coverage. This coverage is an opportunity to talk about what we stand for. My job will be to keep in touch with our community about the practical aspects of the event and to work through the logistical details to ensure safety and orderly conduct during the event. On Thursday we will have the chance to demonstrate the power of democracy. Thank you for your cooperation and your continuing support of our great College.
Joan Hinde Stewart
-Our hearts go out to all the victims of that tragic morning, and in particular to families belonging to our own College community...-
...but our hearts are black, and our thinking shallow, so nyah, nyah, we'll have the speaker we want, and you can't do anything about it. Sincerely, Joan Hinde Stewart
O'Reilly is doing an update tonight. Made a big point of it last night as he closed his Iraq special.
A institution of "higher" learning doesn't even have the common sense to do a basic search on the views and writings of invited speakers. What incompetents. But then all lefties are head in the sand types.
I can't imagine they would have hosted David Koresh either.
If the college was truly attempting to let "every one speak", then they would litteraly invite anyone.
Bet they wouldn't let me speak.
Ignores the basic question of why he was invited in the first place.
Thanks for the update. I don't have cable, but I'll go to a friend's place who does. 8 p.m. on Fox?
God bless those cops who did not forget their three brothers killed in the Brinks robbery.
Yup. 8 or 11 pm EST. After reading today's statement from Stewart, am thinking she may be on in the deluded belief that she has a winning argument here.
"However repugnant one may find Mr. Churchill’s remarks, were the College to withdraw the invitation simply on the grounds that he has said offensive things, we would be abandoning a principle on which this College and indeed this republic are founded.As I reminded Hedgie, here (aka the "Dirty Duck" scandal, c. 1983, c/o Nancy Rabinowitz & friends) the College most certainly has withdrawn an invitations on the grounds that someone on campus took offense.
Now, for this:
Free speech is put to the test precisely in circumstances like these when the speech in question is abhorrent. As Justice Brandeis put it, “If there be time to expose through discussion the falsehood and fallacies, to avert the evil by the processes of education, the remedy to be applied is more speech, not enforced silence."Aside from that Brandeis' friend, Holmes could reply with his story about crying "fire" in a crowded theatre, that's such a lame, vile excuse for bringing in a man who celebrates the deaths of fellow citizens.
A little honesty would go a long way to solving this. Stewart should just say, "heh, we've got some teachers here who hate you, and they want to teach your kids to hate you, too." Instead -- and, of course -- we get the predictable, lame academic blab about free speech and liberality.
This guy isn't at Hamilton for "discussion." He's there to poison.
Free speech is not a party to this issue.
For the postmodernist, there are no "grand narratives;" reason is, itself, transitory and an illusionary construction of text. …[they] embrace a view where plurality of constructs by individuals become resolved and shared meaning emerges through the very act of discourse itself-hence the `construction' of language becomes a crucial focus for appreciating what emerges as "truth."
ADRIAN CARR UNIVERSITY OF WESTERN SYDNEY, NEPEAN
“Postmodernism encompasses the idea that people tell stories in order to explain the world. None of these stories is reality but are simply representations of reality based on incomplete and often inaccurate information.”
VERY REAL FALL FROM 120 STORIES
Expect the usual blabbering about academic freedom too. Lost on these leftwing nutjobs is any concept of the responsibility that accompanies academic freedom. I hate to cite the AAUP (another hopelessly leftist bunch), but it is the recognized authority on the subject so here goes:
ACADEMIC FREEDOM
Teachers are entitled to full freedom in research and in the publication of the results, subject to the adequate performance of their other academic duties; but research for pecuniary return should be based upon an understanding with the authorities of the institution.
Teachers are entitled to freedom in the classroom in discussing their subject, but they should be careful not to introduce into their teaching controversial matter which has no relation to their subject.[2] Limitations of academic freedom because of religious or other aims of the institution should be clearly stated in writing at the time of the appointment.[3]
College and university teachers are citizens, members of a learned profession, and officers of an educational institution. When they speak or write as citizens, they should be free from institutional censorship or discipline, but their special position in the community imposes special obligations. As scholars and educational officers, they should remember that the public may judge their profession and their institution by their utterances. Hence they should at all times be accurate, should exercise appropriate restraint, should show respect for the opinions of others, and should make every effort to indicate that they are not speaking for the institution.[4]
Am adding eb35 to this reply. Did not realize till I saw your last post that he was another alum.
Postmodernism encompasses the idea that people tell stories because they are too lazy to do real academic work.
P.S. You may prefer not to get me started on this subject.
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