Speaker Invitation Launches Campus Debate
Campus officials defend a speaking invitation to a woman convicted of bombing the U.S. Capitol, but critics say university used poor judgment
The week at Duke was marked by an active and highly publicized discussion about the value of academic freedom and whether it was appropriate to extend a speaking invitation to a woman convicted of bombing the U.S. Capitol in 1983.
At the center of the discussion was Laura Whitehorn, an AIDS activist who speaks around the country about HIV-AIDS in prisons. She was invited by a Duke visiting professor in the Department of African and African-American Studies (AAAS) to speak on campus on March 3.
Last Friday, a column by James Taranto in the Wall Street Journal's online 'Opinion Journal' criticized the university for the invitation and for not mentioning the fact that Whitehorn was convicted of the Capitol bombing and spent 14 years in prison for it. Whitehorn said the bomb, which went off in an unoccupied part of the Capitol, was placed as a protest to the U.S. invasion of Grenada and was not intended to injure anyone.
The response across the country was swift. Hundreds of e-mails, overwhelmingly negative, protested the invitation to Whitehorn. Stories in both the local and national media reflected the concerns about the invitation, but also addressed the university's responsibility to preserve academic freedom.
David Jarmul, associate vice president for news and communications, released a statement saying, 'Duke does not exert control over or pressure its faculty and departments in their selection of campus speakers. One of our nation's greatest values, and one we at Duke celebrate, is the freedom for people to express their thoughts openly. Students, faculty and other members of the Duke community benefit from hearing and debating a wide variety of ideas.'
As the week progressed, other voices were heard. The Duke Conservative Union ran a full-page ad in the Chronicle criticizing AAAS for the invitation and for initially including no mention on its department Web page of Whitehorn's involvement in the Capitol bombing. Calling Whitehorn a terrorist, the DCU ad urged readers to e-mail the program and express their displeasure at the invitation. 'What's next?' the ad said. 'Perhaps the AAAS will bring Osama bin Laden to speak on campus; he, like Ms. Whitehorn, hoped to destroy the U.S. Capitol Building.'
As the week progressed, the media attention died down, but the internal conversation continued. Printed below are several of the hundreds of e-mails received during the week, plus part of a response written by President Nannerl O. Keohane to the 'Opinion Journal.'
Nannerl O. Keohane: Debate useful for campus
Mike Hanley: There are better choices than Whitehorn
Roy Kiefer: I went to war to protect American freedom of speech