Dear Readers,
Have you ever been offended by Ann Coulter's hateful and outrageous blasts against everybody who doesn't agree with her extremely conservative views (and even people who agree with her but have incurred her wrath for the moment)?
You're not alone, and here's a great story about Fordham University's decision on handling a request by a student club for Ms. Coulter to speak to them.
Rather than give all the background and commentary, Madame L will paste below the university president's statement about the proposed speaking engagement:
"The College Republicans, a student club at Fordham University, has
invited Ann Coulter to speak on campus on November 29. The event is
funded through student activity fees and is not open to the public nor
the media. Student groups are allowed, and encouraged, to invite
speakers who represent diverse, and sometimes unpopular, points of
view, in keeping with the canons of academic freedom. Accordingly, the
University will not block the College Republicans from hosting their
speaker of choice on campus.
"To say that I am disappointed with the judgment and maturity of the
College Republicans, however, would be a tremendous understatement.
There are many people who can speak to the conservative point of view
with integrity and conviction, but Ms. Coulter is not among them. Her
rhetoric is often hateful and needlessly provocative — more heat than
light — and her message is aimed squarely at the darker side of our
nature.
"As members of a Jesuit institution, we are called upon to deal with
one another with civility and compassion, not to sling mud and impugn
the motives of those with whom we disagree or to engage in racial or
social stereotyping. In the wake of several bias incidents last spring,
I told the University community that I hold out great contempt for
anyone who would intentionally inflict pain on another human being
because of their race, gender, sexual orientation, or creed.
"'Disgust' was the word I used to sum up my feelings about those
incidents. Hate speech, name-calling, and incivility are completely at
odds with the Jesuit ideals that have always guided and animated
Fordham. Still, to prohibit Ms. Coulter from speaking at Fordham would be to
do greater violence to the academy, and to the Jesuit tradition of
fearless and robust engagement. Preventing Ms. Coulter from speaking
would counter one wrong with another. [Emphasis added] The old saw goes that the answer
to bad speech is more speech. This is especially true at a university,
and I fully expect our students, faculty, alumni, parents, and staff to
voice their opposition, civilly and respectfully, and forcefully.
"The College Republicans have unwittingly provided Fordham with a
test of its character: do we abandon our ideals in the face of
repugnant speech and seek to stifle Ms. Coulter’s (and the student
organizers’) opinions, or do we use her appearance as an opportunity to
prove that our ideas are better and our faith in the academy — and one
another — stronger? We have chosen the latter course, confident in our
community and in the power of decency and reason to overcome hatred and
prejudice. --- Joseph M. McShane, S.J., President
And the Republican Club's response:
"The College Republicans regret the controversy surrounding our
planned lecture featuring Ann Coulter. The size and severity of
opposition to this event have caught us by surprise and caused us to
question our decision to welcome her to Rose Hill. Looking at the
concerns raised about Ms. Coulter, many of them reasonable, we have
determined that some of her comments do not represent the ideals of the
College Republicans and are inconsistent with both our organization’s
mission and the University’s. We regret that we failed to thoroughly
research her before announcing; that is our error and we do not excuse
ourselves for it. Consistent with our strong disagreement with certain
comments by Ms. Coulter, we have chosen to cancel the event and rescind
Ms. Coulter’s invitation to speak at Fordham. We made this choice
freely before Father McShane’s email was sent out and we became aware
of his feelings – had the President simply reached out to us before
releasing his statement, he would have learned that the event was being
cancelled. We hope the University community will forgive the College
Republicans for our error and continue to allow us to serve as its main
voice of the sensible, compassionate, and conservative political
movement that we strive to be. We fell short of that standard this
time, and we offer our sincere apologies."
---Ted Conrad, President; Emily Harman, Vice President; Joe Campagna, Treasurer; John Mantia, Secretary
Madame L is very impressed at the civil and intelligent handling of this situation by the college president and the leaders of the student club. Wouldn't it be great if more people in positions of authority and responsibility or even just plain political people who are infamous rather than famous (Ann Coulter is not the only one who comes to mind; others include
Sarah Palin, Donald Trump, Glenn Beck, and ... too many to mention
here) would show the same respect and humility and practice of Christian principles!
Sincerely,
Madame L
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