UW-Whitewater is receiving both acclaim and condemnation after deciding to allow American Indian activist Ward Churchill speak as part of its Native Pride Week, according to an Associated Press article.
Churchill, a professor of ethnic studies at the University of Colorado, made comments in an essay written after the Sept. 11 attacks effectively saying the United States asked for it. The essay also compared some victims of the attacks to Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann.
| The Issue UW-Whitewater hosted speaker Ward Churchill Tuesday night, despite his controversial post-Sept. 11 comments. |
UW-Whitewater’s decision prompted the Wisconsin Assembly to condemn the “anti-American hate speech” promoted by Churchill in a bill that passed 67-31 last week, and school officials say some alumni have threatened to pull funding.
On the other hand, UW System President Kevin Reilly stood by the university’s decision, saying it is higher education’s role to promote different kinds of thought and allow students to disagree.
If anything, a college campus is the ideal place for a speaker such as Churchill. Students have the ability to take what speakers say critically and form independent opinions. While Churchill’s comments were inappropriate, the Whitewater audience had the opportunity to make up its own minds.
Furthermore, the decision made by Whitewater and supported by Reilly should be commended. Instead of giving in to the financial threats placed by some alumni and the pressures of the State Assembly, Whitewater is taking a hard, albeit unpopular, stance.
Whitewater is proving that the UW System can be a proponent of free speech, and its students are intelligent enough to form their own opinions.
