Subject: txt edu - islm -
As yet more evidence that American campuses have become, in Abigail Thernstrom's apt description,
"islands of repression in a sea of freedom,"
St. Louis University has demonstrated that that free speech on campuses begins and ends according to how well that speech conforms to existing political orthodoxies.
The University's College Republicans and Young America's Foundation had invited conservative author David Horowitz to deliver a speech entitled, "An Evening with David Horowitz: Islamo-Fascism Awareness and Civil Rights," and university administrators, once again choosing to avoid a close examination of radical Islam, canceled Horowitz's planned appearance.
Their decision seems to belie the University's own feckless contention, in its "Policy Statement on Demonstrations & Disruption," that it
"encourages students, faculty and staff to be bold, independent, and creative thinkers," and that "fundamental to this process is the creation of an environment that respects the rights of all members of the University community to explore and to discuss questions which interest them, to express opinions and debate issues energetically and publicly"
There are troubling issues here, putting aside the basic question of fairness of denying certain students, with certain political beliefs, the opportunity to invite speakers to campus to share their views. Horowitz's speech was cancelled (and he has appeared, by his own account, on more than 400 campuses in the past), not because it might contain speech that was demonstrably false or even incendiary, but because some individuals might be ‘offended'...[It's getting worse - Highly Recommended > ]
READ MORE
No comments:
Post a Comment