Student-initiated forum draws attention
By Emily Harwood
Writer
An open discussion inspired by recent controversial speakers Ayaan Hirsi Ali and F.W. de Klerk featured passionate debate on topics such as religion, freedom of speech, and politics. Students, faculty, staff and members of the Lewisburg community attended the event on Monday evening.
“Tonight, let us all be students and teachers in order to develop a more global understanding of the issues at hand, through the creation of a environment open to the consideration of all perspectives,” said Scott Teagarden ’10.
Teagarden, along with Mahdi Woodard ’09 and Nadia Sasso ’11, organized the discussion. Carmen Gillespie, associate professor of English, and Katherine Faull, professor of German and humanities, moderated. The event took place in the Terrace Room of the Elaine Langone Center.
Ayaan Hirsi Ali and F.W. de Klerk were brought to campus by the Bucknell Forum speaker series, “Global Leadership: Questions for the 21st Century.”
Some found the recent lecture topics not only controversial, but also extremely offensive, particularly Hirsi Ali’s views on Islam.
“[Hirsi] Ali mixed both religion and politics, labeled it as fact, and greatly disgraced the Muslim community,” Marissa Calhoun ’10 said.
Rabbi Serena Fujita agreed.
“For me, what was absolutely the most distressing part was how rude she was to individual students who asked such wonderful and thought-provoking questions. It was outrageous,” she said.
On the other hand, some believe the speakers were simply exercising their freedom of speech and were sharing personal experiences, and nothing stated should be taken personally.
“By denying [Hirsi Ali] the right to speak and refusing to consider her ideas, we are limiting both her right to free speech and impeding the expansion of true intellectual diversity at [the University],” Jeff Taylor ’12 said.
Jason Friedberg, chief of Public Safety, believes bringing these controversial speakers to campus is exactly what the University should be doing.
“What it does is it drives us to think critically. Whether or not she wanted to, Ms. [Hirsi Ali] engaged the entire campus in discussion. Both sides came [to the discussion] to digest and filter the good and bad,” Friedberg said.
Students criticized the administration for passing over the less popular truths about de Klerk prior to his lecture, saying valuable information was omitted from the positive and heavily advertised introduction the University published.
“I sat there in shock that this man was applauded,” Fujita said.
Most agreed that regardless of the subject and content of a lecture, students should attend lectures with a respectful and open mind, but be prepared to critically analyze the information to form personal opinions.
Attendees also put aside differing opinions for a moment to agree about the lack of awareness on campus and the fact that something needs to change, citing this dialogue as the first step in the right direction.
Everyone should “break out in groups and have a real discussion after speakers,” Fujita said. She suggested post-lecture debates should become more frequent.
