Over the past several months, there has been an increasingly strident debate about the place and appropriateness of university-sponsored speakers.
It started with Dr. Walter Block’s rather tactless, if academically open, discussion on wage disparity, gender, and race in the workplace, sponsored by Loyola Marymount. If I understand Dr. Block correctly, he presented a “politically incorrect alternative” to common theories concerning wage disparity.
Though these “alternative theories” have racist and sexist undertones, it is important to note that Block did not present those theories as truths. He merely presented those theories, along with politically correct theories, as some of many opposing viewpoints – none of which he necessarily believed.
As students, it is our duty to listen to opposing views, consider them, and discard or retain them as we see fit. This is an essential part of any academic environment. What is the point of listing to a speaker with whom you already agree? There is nothing new to be learned.
Recently, Loyola New Orleans has come under fire for inviting Governor Bobby Jindal to speak at commencement. Critics say Jindal’s conservative views are not representative of New Orleans or Loyola. This is certainly true. Jindal can be positively archaic at times. That does not mean he should not speak.
The same debate is ongoing at Notre Dame University, where many are protesting the choice of President Obama as commencement speaker, correctly citing his abortion and stem cell research stances as contrary to what the school represents.
Does this mean that the two should not be allowed to speak? Of course not. If we allowed only speakers that fully represent the university’s values, we would have few eligible candidates. In fact, that would probably disqualify most of the Jesuits.
Both Jindal and Obama are well-respected men in their own rights who have done great things in their relatively young lives. This in itself should qualify them as speakers. Even if the opposite were true and they were complete scoundrels, like William Jefferson or Edwin Edwards, they should still be allowed to speak – though not at a commencement.
If you disagree with them, please, by all means feel free to protest. Show up with signs, demonstrate, express yourself in any peaceful way you can think of, but do not ban them from speaking.
In fact, we should all follow the example of the Tulane Baptist Collegiate Ministry. Even though they are solidly anti-pornography, they invited famed porn-star Ron Jeremy to debate at Tulane, something that spurred open, honest, and intelligent discussion that got people thinking.
Silencing or shunning the people with whom you disagree will do just the opposite.
