Ann Coulter vs. the Jesuits at Fordham: A college invite is rescinded
Pundit Ann Coulter
I have written this blog now for several years, and only mentioned acidic pundit Ann Coulter once. Three weeks later, I am bringing her up again because this incident demonstrates a sensible way to handle controversies over college speakers.
Coulter was invited to Fordham University in New York to speak on Nov. 29 by the College Republicans.
The planned appearance triggered protests and a student petition. A group of students argued that tuition should not be used to underwrite speakers at the private college who are “not compatible with the values the Fordham community professes – particularly the Jesuit tenet of ‘Men and Women for and With Others’.”
See what you think of Fordham President Joseph M. McShane’s response and of the decision Friday night by the Fordham College Republicans to cancel Coulter’s appearance.
First, Father McShane’s statement:
The College Republicans, a student club at Fordham University, has invited Ann Coulter to speak on campus on November 29. The event is funded through student activity fees and is not open to the public nor the media. Student groups are allowed, and encouraged, to invite speakers who represent diverse, and sometimes unpopular, points of view, in keeping with the canons of academic freedom. Accordingly, the University will not block the College Republicans from hosting their speaker of choice on campus.
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.
As members of a Jesuit institution, we are called upon to deal with one another with civility and compassion, not to sling mud and impugn the motives of those with whom we disagree or to engage in racial or social stereotyping. In the wake of several bias incidents last spring, I told the University community that I hold out great contempt for anyone who would intentionally inflict pain on another human being because of their race, gender, sexual orientation, or creed.
“Disgust” was the word I used to sum up my feelings about those incidents. Hate speech, name-calling, and incivility are completely at odds with the Jesuit ideals that have always guided and animated Fordham.
Still, to prohibit 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. Preventing Ms. Coulter from speaking would counter one wrong with another. The old saw goes that the answer to bad speech is more speech. This is especially true at a university, and I fully expect our students, faculty, alumni, parents, and staff to voice their opposition, civilly and respectfully, and forcefully.
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? We have chosen the latter course, confident in our community and in the power of decency and reason to overcome hatred and prejudice.
Joseph M. McShane, S.J., President
From the College Republicans late Friday:
The College Republicans regret the controversy surrounding our planned lecture featuring Ann Coulter. The size and severity of opposition to this event have caught us by surprise and caused us to question our decision to welcome her to Rose Hill. 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. Consistent with our strong disagreement with certain comments by Ms. Coulter, we have chosen to cancel the event and rescind Ms. Coulter’s invitation to speak at Fordham.
We made this choice freely before Father McShane’s email was sent out and we became aware of his feelings – had the President simply reached out to us before releasing his statement, he would have learned that the event was being cancelled. We hope the University community will forgive the College Republicans for our error and continue to allow us to serve as its main voice of the sensible, compassionate, and conservative political movement that we strive to be. We fell short of that standard this time, and we offer our sincere apologies.
–From Maureen Downey, for the AJC Get Schooled blog
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413 comments Add your comment
MortalWombat
November 10th, 2012
1:28 pm
Missplaced apostrophes aside, the “Church” is well known for its tolerance of child molesters.
Top School
November 10th, 2012
1:35 pm
Yea…those reruns on Fox News and looping that same tragic scene over and over …what a waste of valuable time to fill in between the commercials. We are all guilty of being suckered in by fools.
Put it on YOUTUBE… its there if you want to watch it and stop it.
crankee-yankee
November 10th, 2012
1:36 pm
“…the so called president…”
The President, duly elected, you do not have to respect the man but please respect the office.
“…paid speakers at colleges … a racket”.
Too true
code writer
November 10th, 2012
1:38 pm
To invite someone with hateful, non-helpful views to an event like this is far more hurtful than helpful.
I am applaud the young persons who made the decision to rescind their invitation.
More persons in our society should be just as concerned about such extreme behavior, either from the right or left!
Extreme behavior can and does become cancerous to the soul, not to mention our nation.
Ryan
November 10th, 2012
1:42 pm
You don’t need to have religious convictions to feel that Ann Coulter sucks at life. She won’t be missed.
Sissy
November 10th, 2012
1:55 pm
Good gracious- what redeeming thing could that dim witted, hateful woman offer?
Beverly Fraud
November 10th, 2012
1:57 pm
Maureen are you aware that Rutgers paid Snooki-the Jersey reality star-$32,000 to speak at their school?
Do they study there?
November 10th, 2012
2:08 pm
Should reject Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton from speaking for the same reasons. They lie, slander others (if Romney had won, blacks would be slaves again, correct?), extort money, etc.
Role models….ha ha.
Georgia
November 10th, 2012
2:20 pm
Ann Coulter is angry with single women because they voted for Obama. She feels betrayed. After all, Ann Coulter is a single woman. She’s writing a book venting her anger toward this demographic group. It’s titled, “Muffed”. (Her last book was called “Mugged”). Ann Coulter likes to stick with a winning formula.
Brandy
November 10th, 2012
2:23 pm
Score 1 for the Jesuits, one and all! As a proud alum of a different Jesuit institution and an (unfortunate) sorority sister of Ms. Coulter, I applaud such a well thought out rebuttal of her views, defense of the freedom of speech, and pulling of the request.
Mama Says
November 10th, 2012
2:25 pm
Here again is another example of the left failing to practice what they preach. No pun intended.
The free speech issue does not apply here, welli take that back. As a college I am sure public money is funding the school at some point. If that is the case then the republicans have just as much right to invite a speaker as the atheis do in preventing prayer in public schools. The issue. Is not do you agree with the speaker, the issue is what happened to the basic principal of tolerance, both in the church and in america ?
We founded this country under basic rights. Which include the right to associate. Find me one human being in this country that any of us believe is right in everything they say.
The parameters by which we now judge is solely based on popularity. I assure you if Bill Clinton was invited by the democrats on campus it would be a huge fanfare and no person, currently upset about Ann would be talking about left wing hate speech.
I am not saying Clinton is as raw as Ann but he does support the basic thoughts of all liberals and to a lot of conservatives those thoughts are offensive.
The only fair solution, given tha universities of thought are editing the thought process, by pressure, is to ban all guest speakers. That way neither side will have to talk to or hear the other.
Sad way to promote critical thinking and yet another failure of our educational system.
It appears we now program thought rather than free it.
Baker
November 10th, 2012
2:26 pm
Somebody may have said this, but here’s my two cents lest you’ve put your life on hold waiting for it:
Taking the invite from Ann Coulter is fine. I rarely think she does anything good for anyone but herself, however, I hope that Fordham will also be rescinding invitations from flame-throwing Democrats, i.e. pretty much anyone who appears on MSNBC.
Old timer
November 10th, 2012
2:27 pm
There are hateful speakers on both sides of the fence……maybe they should invited someone to counter her the next day and let students here both sides. The congressman who said all whites would burn in hell after the charter amendment passed is a good example and he was on TV over and over….
Old timer
November 10th, 2012
2:28 pm
I would also say, as someone who is other fa, students who do not want to hear her…..do not go.
Old timer
November 10th, 2012
2:28 pm
Fan
Old timer
November 10th, 2012
2:29 pm
Ok…try again…not her fan
NWGA Teacher
November 10th, 2012
2:42 pm
Just found myself agreeing with Pride and Joy. Snowballs are rolling through hell. The Jesuits might find that appropriate.
Dr. Monica Henson
November 10th, 2012
3:00 pm
Ann Coulter is loathsome to the extreme and exists to profit by spewing hatred. She enjoys the same freedom of speech as any other American, but she deserves no audience whatsoever for her sickening brand of “commentary.” Any group that would provide her a platform is contributing willingly to the divisiveness that has harmed our country deeply for the last two decades.
bootney farnsworth
November 10th, 2012
3:20 pm
what a load of politically correct BS.
so much for the alleged concept of being open to all opinions and all points of view.
its a disservice to everyone.
-the students for not being adult enough to tolerate alternative POVs
-the institution for have the intellectual honesty of a beer can
-the faculty for not demanding her having the right to speak
Greg Richards
November 10th, 2012
3:27 pm
A notable absence of specifics, of any examples of Ann Coulter’s alleged “hateful” speech. As to provocative, well, this IS a university, isn’t it? Galileo was provocative, George Orwell was provocative, Friedrich von Hayek was provocative. Martin Luther was provocative. Maybe a bad example for a Catholic university, but not an irrelevant one.
About questioning others’ motives…this is virtually the ONLY technique in the liberal/left/Democrat lexicon. What is “war on women,” “throwing granny over the cliff,” “racism,” but questioning the motives of those who disagree with the liberal conventional wisdom? Ann Coulter refuses to be restricted to an approved corner of the public forum. She keeps the freedom of speech open for conservatives. She is one of the most original and conceptual thinkers now writing for the public.
In sum, you have disgraced yourselves, both Fordham writ large and the College Republicans.
There is no more questioning of a public figure’s motives than to characterize their/her thought and speech as “hate.” That is quite simply a ridiculous, really an embarrassing, position to take. It marks Fordham as merely a second rate purveyor of liberal pieties, notwithstanding the ruin those pieties have visited on our society.
bootney farnsworth
November 10th, 2012
3:28 pm
@ Dr Monica
your statement is a hypocritical load, intellectually dishonest, and straight out of politically correct playbook.
demonize the opposition, deny them the opportunity to speak under the guise of civility, and claim moral superority while doing it.
if you any intellectual integrity you’d welcome her presentation and defeat her -if you can- on the battlefield of ideas.
vietnamvet
November 10th, 2012
3:29 pm
As the relative of a student @ Fordham (one who was in the movement to prevent Coulter from speaking) I think AC should have been allowed to speak @ the school. . My wish that she be allowed to speak is only supassed by my disagreement with what she says.
Since Veterans Day is tomorrow and I am one, let me say this: People died for her right to say hateful, repugnant, reprehensible,, revolting things
bootney farnsworth
November 10th, 2012
3:32 pm
the student fees Fordham are not supposed to be restricted to only what the left of center students wishes to do with them.
if there were established rules the Republic club violated, that’s one thing. to allow them to extend the invitation then pull it when someone wets their pants is wrong and cowardly
ChartersStarter, Too
November 10th, 2012
3:34 pm
Very interesting read!
Father McShane handled the decision with integrity – putting the university ahead of his personal feelings.
The student group acknowledged having not researched thoroughly prior to making a decision to bring her.
Regardless of feelings about Ann Coulter, both the University and the student group acted very sensibly and thoughtfully about the issue in dispute.
bootney farnsworth
November 10th, 2012
3:35 pm
can’t help but wonder if the invite would have been pulled if Romney had won.
Filled with Hope
November 10th, 2012
3:35 pm
This fills me with hope that our young people are throwing off the negativity and mean spirit of their elders. Good for them! It fills me with hope.
bootney farnsworth
November 10th, 2012
3:38 pm
as a long time higher ed worker, Fordham’s admin was all over the republicans email response.
they were told what to say, how to say it, and how to give McShane cover.
Jack ®
November 10th, 2012
3:41 pm
Ann Coulter does appeal to our dark nature as McShane states. I’ll take my dark nature anytime against a lily white-natured, opinionated hypocrite of any religion.
bootney farnsworth
November 10th, 2012
3:42 pm
show of hand of who buys the nonsense they had no idea what Coulter’s style and rep are.
bootney farnsworth
November 10th, 2012
3:46 pm
and for the record, I would have never invited her in the first place. there are plenty of others who articulate the republican position better than she does, and in a much more agreeable form.
-Medved
-Inghram
-Malkin
-Walter Williams
-JC Watts
just a few off the top of my head
Ol' Timer
November 10th, 2012
3:46 pm
I commend the College Republicans. Ms. Coulter’s inappropriate behavior is reinforced by those who pay her to give speeches and buy her books. Her behaviors would change if her present inappropriate behaviors were not so profitable for her.
anti-coulter
November 10th, 2012
3:59 pm
Coulter simply profits off of a narrow base of hate-filled, reactionary zombies who buy her books and visit her web site on a daily basis. She is insightful only in the regard that she knows how to fill her bank account by feeding a hateful minority of the public. Coulter probably doesn’t even believe half of the bile she spews in her books and speeches.
Maureen Downey
November 10th, 2012
4:03 pm
@Beverly. Yes. Students are the ones at Rutgers who pick the speakers. Can’t imagine why they thought she had anything more to say than what she used to say on “Jersey Shore.”
Maureen
Here is a student blog from Rutgers addressing that choice:
http://admissions.rutgers.edu/BLOGS/STUDENTS/post/2011/04/06/The-complete-factual-account-of-the-SNOOKI-debacle.aspx
Voter
November 10th, 2012
4:03 pm
Is anyone surprised by this? Censorship is but the next liberty to fall. Someone doesn’t like this or someone doesn’t like that. What happen to freedom of speech?
Lee
November 10th, 2012
4:04 pm
To my knowledge, Ann Coulter has never incited a riot that resulted in the death of someone…
Like, say, Al Sharpton.
Where was Maureen when Sharpton gave the commencement address at Morehouse.
“Acidic” indeed….
“Hateful speech” indeed….
Apparently not if a left wing, politically correct race baiting hack spews it…
James Ryan
November 10th, 2012
4:34 pm
As the father of a Fordham student I would have been appalled if part of her tuition fees were used to pay Coulter’s $10,000 fee, however the Yound Republicans must have received approval from a board at the school to approve of this expenditure, so I think that Fr. McShane is getting some good, free PR for something he, indirectly, approved of.
Sonny B. Layne
November 10th, 2012
4:36 pm
I honestly don’t believe that there is anything that Ann Coulter can do well, and that includes commenting on politics. She certainly helped Mitt Romney win the Presidency and also boosted the status of the Republican Party.
Lexi
November 10th, 2012
4:38 pm
Ann Coulter is many things, but “dim witted” is not one. She is an honors graduate of Cornell and Michigan Law, where she was an editor of the highly regarded law review. And, you may disagree with her viewpoints, but she has a string of bestselling, humorous, well written books, covering a range of topics.
It is the zenith of hypocrisy to suggest that Ms. Coulter has a monopoly on what some call “hate speech.” Our dear president, keeping it classy, thinks we should vote to take “revenge” on our adversaries. Fact is, those who use the term “hate speech” routinely use it to stifle speech with which they disagree (or hate), or to suppress facts they believe or fear are true, but are contrary to the way they suppressors wish the facts were. As the saying goes, popular speech doesn’t need to be protected.
BigAintheBigA
November 10th, 2012
4:55 pm
I don’t see a big deal. It’s a Jesuit school, Coulter was invited by the republican students, she is a fairly well known, albeit controversial, firebrand associated with conservative ideology and the good Father there recommended against it and the students decided to think better of it. So what? I don’t see a free speech issue at all. There were obvious reasons they might like to have her there but after counseling on the matter from their betters they changed their mind. End of story. The demonizing of Ann Coulter, on the other hand, because she doesn’t represent everyone’s values or persuasions, or the way some remember the GOP, to the extent of saying she’s hateful and irrelevant in the 21st century political landscape here in the United States of America and should be scorned from existence is draconian and reprehensible and disgusting and an abridgement of the basic principles associated with freedom of speech.
red herring
November 10th, 2012
4:57 pm
it’s ok to invite dictators from other countries to speak at our institutes of “higher learning?” but then deny free speech to a person from another political party? that doesn’t wash. unless you can publish what led the college republicans to withdraw their invitation then this article shouldn’t have been written. that’s a large problem in our schools and colleges today —the students that don’t agree with faculty on their political stance get punished and/or threatened.
Ronin
November 10th, 2012
4:58 pm
While I’m no fan of Ann Coulter, she has an opinion and some agree with her platform.
It sounds like the young college Republicans got sent to the Holy woodshed.
Free speech is just that, some is divisive and downright harsh. However, the so called labeled “hate speech” is just another politically correct term, same with hate crimes.
Bill Mackinnon
November 10th, 2012
5:15 pm
Dog ‘88 @1:18
Whew! It is clear you are against third trimester abortions. The vehemence of you writing suggests a lot more hate than most. Wonder what logic caused you to comment in an education blog? Seems like you should be on an old soap box on a street corner where people could see who and what you are. I guess Ann Coulter is one of your heroines.
Bill Mackinnon
November 10th, 2012
5:24 pm
Lexi @ 4:38
Your comments about Coulter’s education simply prove that resumes and higher education prove nothing about character and judgement, not to mention values such as compassion. The only conclusion to be drawn from your information is that somewhere along the way, Coulter learned how to make money without making a positive contribution to our culture. She’s a really good example of how to coarsen our society through her destructive, often hateful, cynicism.
Bruce Kendall
November 10th, 2012
5:28 pm
I am aware of Ann Coulter and the emotional-string-pulling artists previously mentioned. However, the question I asked myself; would I want my son to see and hear them? My answer is yes, but as always with the trepidation a father feels as his children face a new challenge.
I hope when Number-One-Son attends college, those who are supposed to be responsible for administering the institution, have the courage to recognize we do not live in a vacuum, and all voices need to be heard. I will use this as an example of the lack of that courage and responsibility, in a future discussion with my son. He needs to know that others live their lives in fear, and how some lash out in anger, of that fear.
Thanks Maureen for posting this.
Dr. Socrates
November 10th, 2012
5:34 pm
Father McShane’s response is among the most erudite defenses of free speech I have ever read. First, let me identify myself as an arch-conservative anarcho-capitalist Libertarian.
Ms. Coulter does more harm to the conservative cause than good. Unfortunately, William F. Buckley is dead and there are no good replacements. Pat Buchanan in his early days came close. The progressives never really had an eloquent defender, Gore Vidal inclusive.
Nevertheless, the mass media glorifies know-nothings like Ms. Coulter and Rush Limbaugh, or Bill Maher and fill-in-the-blank Hollywood actors on the left. Their speech is the lowest form of communication, reflective not only of an extraordinary absence of intelligence but also an evolutionary regression in human discourse.
Let us thank the AJC for reprinting this story with the letters. It is a great lesson in what real debate should be and how to resolve a problem with freedom of speech.
Rose
November 10th, 2012
5:41 pm
Right on! She is one vile woman. I love a good argument, but she is something else. And no matter what, she’s always doing it to promote her books. She’s an entertainer as far as I’m concerned with some major issues.
Robin
November 10th, 2012
5:42 pm
@indigo 12:32, That’s great, honey. We’re all glad you’re regular. You win at trolling blog comments; enjoy talking with yourself.
Scrivener
November 10th, 2012
5:54 pm
@Robin: @indigo 12:32, That’s great, honey. We’re all glad you’re regular. You win at trolling blog comments; enjoy talking with yourself.
Exactly right, Robin. Indigo chides someone else about “adult maturity,” “mental maturity” and then talks about pooping. Wow, that’s mature. And BTW, Indigo, I’m sure Ann Coulter could run circles around you intellectually.
Yorke
November 10th, 2012
5:58 pm
as a student of the university, this is appalling. the president is a total hypocrite. regardless of whether one disagrees with ann, as i personally do, i cannot sit back and watch a group of students be put down by the administration due to conflicting views. open environment? my ass.
I love teaching. I hate what it is becoming...
November 10th, 2012
6:03 pm
I am somewhat surprised they would invite her in the first place. My more conservative friends can’t stand the woman. Like Limbaugh, Beck, Riley,Hannity, etc. she plays her audience more for “shock” than anything else. I am not sure there would be much “educational” in her presentation. Surely there are some figures in the Republican party who would do more than stir up the crowd with vile, over the top, attacks on the “liberals” of the nation – someone who would present an informative, thoughtful talk on the fundamentals of republican thought? Someone who might inspire non-Republicans to attend and listen in hopes of finding some common ground upon which to start building? Like it or not, we are ALL citizens of this nation, and we are going to have to find a way to start working together – or we are ALL going down with the ship!
Or maybe I seek to give the Young Republicans too much credit. Maybe the whole point was to invite someone who would present a vile, over the top, attack on liberals of the nation, so they could cheer and feel superior.