“I do agree with her that it’s probably more of a liberal problem across the country just because administrators are usually more liberal,” Cawley said.
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Whether or not the university should comply with that is a different story.”Ĭawley said she agreed with other points that Powers made, such as liberal students across the country being the primary drivers for universities making such decisions. In reference to that portion of Powers’ speech, Cawley said, “If they want to tell the university that they don’t like that they’re inviting a speaker to come, they should be able to do that. Another possible reason, Powers suggested in her speech, was that liberal students protest universities’ invitations for speakers at these events, and the universities then rescind their invitations based on the backlash of these liberal students. This could be due to declining the invitations for fear of the public defaming them for their speeches, she said.
Powers said that in the past few years conservatives have been disinvited or pressured to withdraw from commencement speeches due to students and faculty protesting those conservative speakers. In her speech, Powers addressed the issue of “commencement shaming,” where the honor of speaking at a commencement turns into “a high-profile humiliation.” “I don’t think all types of speech should be embraced without some type of backlash,” she said.Ĭawley, who said she was speaking for herself and not for the Walker Institute board, gave the example of hate speech being one of those types of speech that perhaps should not be embraced or tolerated on campuses. “In a way, it’s just what she was talking about - that we shouldn’t even have the discussion,” McNamara said.Īshlee Cawley, a political science and English major and a student board member of the Walker Institute, said she thinks people should be able to protest speakers without being vilified. Carol McNamara, director of the Walker Institute, said one faculty member - who wished to remain anonymous -sent her an email saying that WSU should not invite Powers to speak. However, not all WSU faculty were as excited for Powers.
“She is going at the universities and at the media because she says that they’re the ones who control those areas that are so important.” “Kirsten Powers takes a different point of view than most people who are considered to be liberal, even though she’s liberal,” Smith said. Kim Smith, a communication instructor, expressed her excitement for Powers’ appearance. This was the main event of a week’s worth of Constitution-related activities. Walker Institute of Politics and Public Service, WSUSA and the provost’s office–to commemorate Constitution Day. The overflow crowd showed up for the convocation–sponsored by the Olene S.
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17 to hear Kirstin Powers talk about how free speech is being repressed on campuses nationwide. People of all ages crammed into the Wildcat Theater in the Shepherd Union Sept. Kirsten Powers gives her Constitution Week speech at the Weber State University’s Wildcat Theater on Thursday.
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