The College Republicans of Fordham University, a Jesuit institution in New York, have found themselves at odds with the perceived “incivility” of modern politics.
After learning that the College Republicans had invited conservative firebrand Ann Coulter to speak on campus, Fordham University President Joseph McShane penned an open letter to the campus expressing his disdain for an upcoming function.
“To say that I am disappointed with the judgment and maturity of the College Republicans, however, would be a tremendous understatement. There are many people who can speak to the conservative point of view with integrity and conviction, but Ms. Coulter is not among them. Her rhetoric is often hateful and needlessly provocative — more heat than light — and her message is aimed squarely at the darker side of our nature,” wrote McShane.
After heftily castigating the College Republicans and accusing Coulter of “hate speech, name-calling, and incivility” McShane mustered a weak reminder that “prohibiting Ms. Coulter from speaking at Fordham would be to do greater violence to the academy, and to the Jesuit tradition of fearless and robust engagement.”
Ultimately, the Fordham College Republicans chapter opted to cancel Coulter’s visit. The President of College Republicans, Ted Conrad, wrote his own letter to campus apologizing for the invitation and expressing a renewed commitment to being “sensitive and compassionate.”
“Looking at the concerns raised about Ms. Coulter, many of them reasonable, we have determined that some of her comments do not represent the ideals of the College Republicans and are inconsistent with both our organization’s mission and the University’s. We regret that we failed to thoroughly research her before announcing; that is our error and we do not excuse ourselves for it,” he said.
Conrad and McShane’s letters shed light on the precarious concept of ‘civility’, opined by those on the Left when rhetoric becomes too feisty. Like beauty or fairness, civility is oft in the eye of the beholder. After one the most negative presidential campaign in history, ‘civility’ is no longer a valid retreat from political speech we disagree with.
Much to the chagrin of liberal administrators, college education should expose students to a gamut of ideas. Young conservatives around the country need encouragement to fearlessly engage in campus discussions and create contrast.
In his letter McShane said that “The College Republicans have unwittingly provided Fordham with a test of its character: do we abandon our ideals in the face of repugnant speech and seek to stifle Ms. Coulter’s (and the student organizers’) opinions, or do we use her appearance as an opportunity to prove that our ideas are better and our faith in the academy — and one another — stronger?”
The Fordham University College Republicans had an opportunity to prove that their opinions were stronger than the Left’s attempts to restrict free speech and they allowed themselves to be intimidated into siding with the latter.
A new era of conservatism is brimming, but this requires young conservatives across the nation to hold their ground on campus and not kowtow to misplaced pressures from within and outside of their Universities.
