By Kevin Rogers
Asisstant Opinion Editor
There are a number of people at Fordham University in New York City who should be ashamed of themselves for events in the past week. When the university’s College Republicans scheduled a lecture from controversial conservative pundit Ann Coulter to campus, the ashamed parties had some tests to pass, and they all failed miserably.
Coulter is a best-selling author, columnist and television personality well known for her controversial views and comments on liberals, gays, Muslims and Democratic politicians. She’s said some outlandish things, but she remains one of most well-known and most-prominent voices on the conservative commentator circuit.
The story is simple: the College Republicans invited Coulter to speak using their student fee budget; some students protested and the administration pressured the club to cancel. The club folded and apologized for their fearful crimes of having the audacity to invite a controversial speaker to campus, according to a Nov. 9 article in The Observer, Fordham’s student newspaper.
The controversy hit national news after Rev. Joseph McShane, S.J., president of the Jesuit university, blasted the College Republicans in a press release, questioning the club’s maturity and voicing disgust over Coulter’s demeanor and opinions.
But before the release made it to the university and media, the College Republicans had already succumbed to the pressure from students and the administration and rescinded the invitation, offering an apology, according to The Observer. Roughly 2,000 students have signed a petition against Coulter coming to campus, according to a Nov. 14 New York Daily News story.
You’re probably wondering who’s at fault here, but all parties deserve blame for their actions in this instance.
The students who raised an outcry over the issue deserve a chunk of the blame. Instead of taking the Coulter visit as an opportunity to question her ideas, they simply looked to stifle the appearance altogether. The students who were so perturbed by the potential appearance should have planned to attend and respond to whatever points she might have raised.
There’s nothing wrong with challenging a speaker or listening to a speaker who might challenge people’s views. Because of the outcry, the hundreds who stood in the way of free expression missed out on that opportunity.
The administration also deserves a good knock to the head. While McShane made it clear he would not force the group to cancel the appearance over free speech concerns, he might as well have. The public shaming of the College Republicans made it clear the administration was hardly willing to accept a Coulter visit. The release was little more of a coercive changing than an attempt to stress the administration’s support of free speech.
The student and administration attempts to stifle Coulter’s appearance are troubling, but the most blame lies with the College Republicans for failing to stand for their decisions. Instead of defending why they wanted Coulter, they apologized for accomplishing to book a national figure to speak at campus.
They claimed to not know about the controversy surrounding Coulter, but if they were willing to drop $10,000 to bring her to Fordham, I’d like to think they knew what Coulter would bring. Chances are they knew exactly what they were buying but lacked the conviction to defend their choice. They should’ve pushed the administration to act on Coulter and claim the moral high ground in a defense of club choice and free speech. Instead, they backed down.
If we disagree with a speaker, we shouldn’t look to shut down that voice. We should voice our disagreement and participate in a conversation. Because of the administration’s attempt to stifle the appearance and the College Republicans’ lack of ability to defend their investment, that’s a conversation that couldn’t be had at Fordham.
