Kevin Vranes has a phud in Physical Ocean- ography and Cli- matology. He now studies sci- ence policy and politics at the Ed has already pointed out Lee Bollinger's statement on free speech at Columbia University. I'm in total agreement with Ed and have nothing substantive to add, but I do have a quirky story that relates.
My wife and I are both Columbia grads of various kinds (I did my Ph.D. there). Like most large universities, Columbia has both college-specific graduation ceremonies and a university-wide celebration that is more about speeches and colors and less about calling out the name of every graduate. The university-wide convocation is a chance for all of the university's graduates, from all undergraduate, graduate and professional schools, to be regaled with a speech by the president of the university. There is other pomp and circumstance that goes on, but the functional centerpiece to the event is the president's speech (no politicians, celebs or business leaders here).
I never went to the university-wide convocation when I graduated, but my wife participated in hers (she graduated a year later than I) so I sat in the audience for it. And, in a story so funny that I still tell it to this day, I got to see Lee Bollinger get up close and personal with the same free speech issues he discusses in his communiqué.
As we sat in the cold rain, wondering when the hell all the speechifying was going to end, a commotion suddenly erupted on stage. Well, not a great commotion, but a scuffling and interruption to Lee's speech that came through loud and clear over the PA system. Now, Lee might have been saving the world in that single speech or reading sex lit, but all I heard was droning on and on. I was cold and wet and just wanted to get the hell out of there. So imagine the scene:
"Blah blah blah, and so I also blah blah blah on the blah, and when you want to blah blah blah, you might find blah blah — —
mmmmmm.....grrr....sssss.....mmmmm....crack!"
Suddenly a new voice comes over the speakers, this one a bit more shrill:
"Excuse me, excuse me, Columbia University tortures animals!! Columbia University tortures animals!!"
My head snaps up. I look to the stage, finally wide awake. And I see a darkly bearded guy in Columbia's trademark powder-blue cap and gown grabbing the mike like Chuck D, holding Bollinger back with one hand and continuing to spew into the mic on the evils of animal research. ("Columbia tortures animals!!") I also see a few burly faculty members in their black robes with multi-colored sashes headed for the podium, and, belatedly the inept university security patrol. Incredibly, the kid is able to get many seconds of words off about Columbia's role in mad animal research before he is picked up and carted off sideways, legs kicking free air.
So there Lee was, interrupted by a protester. Rudely interrupted, you might say. It took him a few seconds to recover, but it helped that most of the audience started booing the interloper when they woke up and realized what was going on.
Now, incredibly, the full-time university security force must have assumed this was going to be a one-time-only incident. It wasn't more than five or ten minutes later that yet another animal-rights protester, looking oddly similar to the first if memory serves, was able to break up on to the stage and grab the mic again and rally the cause.
The slapstick humor of the event doesn't come out in the cyber-telling, I think, but if you ever meet me in person ask me to play-act out the roles and we'll see if I can get you on the floor, slapping your knees. Bigger point is, though, that Lee Bollinger has personal experience with having his public speech interrupted and I'm sure that experience colors his current response.
Comments
# 1 | J-Dog | October 12, 2006 4:37 PM
So, does Columbia water-board squirrels or something? Make dogs stand in a pyramid? Hide the chimps bananas?
Please ask Lee the next time you see him.
# 2 | Robster | October 12, 2006 5:52 PM
I always love asking animal rights people if veternary medicine is ok if it came from animal research. I usually get sputtering confusion as a response.
# 3 | Western Geologist | October 12, 2006 8:50 PM
Bollinger was president for part of the time when I was at the University of Michigan. I remember that he spoke at my graduation (also my wife's), but that ceremony was certainly a lot more boring than yours.
I do remember a few notable events. A group called the Students of Color Coalition (SCC) occupied the offices of a group called Michigamua (located in the student union) for more than a month to protest offenses to Native Americans. For a bit of background Michigamua was a student society that was founded in 1902. Historically it used Native American artifacts in some of its ceremonies although it had agreed to stop doing so in 1989. SCC insisted that Michgamua was still using Native American artifacts and that it's name was inappropriately Native American. The occupation was fairly nondisruptive (except to Michigamua, of course). The SCC draped a banner from the upper part of the union, and I remember seeing that on my way to and from my bus stop. I think Bollinger handled the situation very well. Statements he made during the standoff are here and here.
Fred Phelps also came to campus once (to protest Affirmative Action if memory serves). I remember walking by a group of people with his usual signs. The thing that sticks in my memory is an ~5 year old boy proudly holding a sign that said "Matthew Shepard is burning in Hell." As disgusting as Westboro Baptist church is, they were allowed to protest.
On a lighter note, have you seen The Daily Show's coverage of the Columbia protest?