|
||
|
News
News Home Page
All News
Student Research
Faculty News
Hamilton In the News
Sports News
Events
Events Calendar
Performing Arts
Publications
Alumni Magazine
Alumni Books
Faculty Books
Student Media
For the Media
Contact Us
Experts
Youth Polls
For the Hamilton Community
Submit Professional News
Working with the Media
Of Special Interest
Excelsior Campaign
CollegeNews.org
Campus Sustainability
Campus Webcams
Contact Information
Media Relations Office
866-729-0313 315-859-4648 (fax) |
Churchill's Speech Canceled out of Concern for Student SafetyThis letter to the editor appeared in the February 19, 2005 edition of the Capital Times (Madison, Wisc.). Dear Editor: John Nichols, in a recent column on the Ward Churchill controversy, wrote, "Campuses in other states, where there is less of a tradition of academic freedom and respect for the First Amendment, have responded to the pressure from right-wing media to cancel Churchill's talks. But Wisconsin has a long history of setting a higher standard -- and Chancellor Miller's decision honors that standard." Since the controversy began at Hamilton College and since Churchill's appearance was canceled on our campus, I believe readers can only assume that Nichols was including Hamilton in his reference to campuses in other states. It was certainly not a lack of academic freedom or respect for the First Amendment that prevented Hamilton, a college that had previously hosted the head of the Nazi Party among other controversial speakers, from hosting Churchill. Nor was it media pressure. In fact, it is well documented, beginning with a death threat recorded on voice mail at the Denver Post (on reporter Howard Pankratz's phone) that there were over a hundred threats directed toward Churchill, Hamilton's president and Hamilton's community prior to the cancellation of the event. Quite a few of these were death threats, and five are currently under active investigation by state and local police. One caller announced that he planned to bring a gun to campus. At the same time, unlike your governor, our governor issued a statement of harsh criticism toward our college for hosting Churchill. Given his words, we couldn't help but wonder what kind of state police assistance might have been available to our small rural college should we have needed it. When the director of public safety on campus as well as local police told us that they could not guarantee the safety of our students, we canceled the event. True, the safety of our students superseded all else, but I believe any rational individual held responsible for the safety of 1,750 students would have made the same decision. Vige Barrie |
Upcoming Events8/20 - An Evening with th... 8/23 - NEW STUDENT ORIENT... 8/23 - Legacy Brunch More ...News HighlightsJin Interviewed on NBC Affiliate WKTV About Beijing OlympicsHong Gang Jin, the William R. Kenan Professor of East Asian Languages and Literatures and director of Hamilton's Associated Colleges in China program, was interviewed on local NBC affiliate WKTV about the Olympics currently taking place in Beijing. "We've seen so many changes over the past 30 years, I feel this year we've seen the most," said Jin, who recently returned from Beijing. More ...Shelley Hoy '10 and Chandra Thompson '10 Interning at Edinburgh Fringe FestivalShelley Hoy '10 and Chandra Thompson '10 are spending the summer interning at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, the theatre portion of the largest arts festival in the world. They spent two weeks in Cardiff, Wales, at the end of July at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama working with students and lecturers at the College. Now, and for the rest of August Hoy and Thompson are living and working in Edinburgh, Scotland, as interns with the Royal Welsh College to run Venue 13, one of more than 140 venues at the festival. They are helping to put on six different shows at the venue. More ... |
| Copyright © 2008 The Trustees of Hamilton College. All rights reserved. top of page | printable page | text: T T T | ||