Trying to get a word in edgewise...

...and not succeeding is how it went at Emory University when David Horowitz took the podium for his lecture on radical Islam.  Protesters, many who were obviously not part of the student body, became so disruptive that police were called in and Horowitz had to be escorted off stage.

Many in the audience left the event disappointed. After the event, even some students who proclaimed their hatred David Horowitz expressed their disappointment and sadness with what transpired. Other students and professors expressed that this made Emory look bad. “Even the students who did not agree with David Horowitz did not get a chance to speak their minds because of the protesters’ disruptive actions,” said Emory Professor Mark Bauerlein. “No one was able to listen to the lecture or to speak themselves – pro or con – everyone was shut down.”

Although the actions of campus leftists culminated during David Horowitz’s lecture, in reality what transpired is indicative of what has become a toxic environment on today’s university campuses. Conservative viewpoints are repeatedly stifled and censored, and often those who dare to question the left-wing orthodoxy are treated as second-class citizens on campus. Emory University is no exception, and has once again demonstrated the campus community’s utter intolerance and inability to engage in civil debate.

When Horowitz left the stage protesters began to chant, “This is what democracy looks like.”  But reflecting on the incident afterwards Horwitz said, “We’ve already won this debate.” 

Comments

[scyllacat]

Emory Alumna here:

I'm just as disturbed with the characterization that because we have protesters that can shut down a lecture it indicates that the "campus" is against "conservatism."

Now, I'm more willing to go with the idea that conservatism is less accepted. I'll never forget going to a discussion on gay rights and asking why people should care about what you did with your social life after work, or what business it was of theirs. I was treated as thought I had said something denegratingly homophobic for not recognizing that you should be able to make personal phone calls at work that were explicit enough for people to know you had a gay lover.

On the other hand, there is plainly an indication that students who agreed and disagreed wanted to HEAR and DISCUSS Horowitz's lecture, and that is was not "EMORY UNIVERSITY" that was shutting down discourse. Perhaps the commenters should look at the ideas that are making young people today think that bullying and shouting down ideas they dislike is a viable form of political discourse.

After all, Socrates was executed for fomenting exactly this kind of dissent, the kind that uses the rights of free speech and assembly, argument and disagreement, to devalue and make worthless all attempts at reform and reasoned discourse.

[Tom Bowler]

I'm just as disturbed with the characterization that because we have protesters that can shut down a lecture it indicates that the "campus" is against "conservatism."

If the university allows a small vocal minority to shut down a conservative lecture, it's not unreasonable to conclude that it tacitly approves the action. University of Florida police certainly didn't approve of anyone speaking out of turn when John Kerry appeared there last month, tasering a heckler rather than risking a disruption.

I think there is little question that college and university campuses are hostile to conservative ideas. All Emory had to do to shut down the lecture was to remain passive and to honor the protesters' "rights" to drown out Horowitz with their "free speech".