Columbia Censors Conservatives

by C.J. Carnacchio

As the debate over affirmative action heats up, conservatives and liberals are frequently locking horns and making headlines. At a November 13-14 Accuracy in Academia (AIA) conference entitled "A Place at the Table: Conservative Ideas in Higher Education" held at Columbia University, about150 protesters gathered to express their outrage that prominent affirmative action foe Ward Connerly was a featured speaker. Other speakers included best-selling author Dinesh D'Souza and U.S. News and World Report columnist John Leo.

Connerly is the University of California regent who led the campaign against race-based admissions in the state, which culminated with the passage of the controversial Proposition 209. Connerly was giving a speech about affirmative action in higher education at a private dinner on the first night of the conference, when, according to Columbia administrators, a contingent of protesters nearly stormed the building in an effort to disrupt the conference. The incident was reminiscent of the debacle which occurred at the University of Michigan last March, when an angry mob of protesters attempted to silence Mr. Connerly's views.

The presence of the protesters prompted Columbia administrators and campus security officials to tighten security measures. On the second day of the conference all non-Columbia students were barred from campus. Only Columbia students, professors, and staffers were admitted to an open forum at the Faculty Club. Thirty New York Police Department officers assisted in blocking the entrance to the Faculty Club. Accuracy in Academia spokesman Michael Capel was quoted in the online magazine frontpagemag.com as saying, "It really looked like a police state."

Officials at Accuracy in Academia claim the university exaggerated the security threat in order to censor the scheduled speakers. AIA Executive Director Dan Flynn was quoted in frontpagemag.com as saying, "Essentially, Columbia told us that the speakers could still deliver their remarks, but the people who had traveled to the conference could not gather to hear them. Banning the spectators instead of the speakers is certainly a unique way to censor an event."

Since the majority of the conference participants were not affiliated with Columbia, organizers were forced to hold the second day's events in nearby Morningside Park, which is located off-campus. The conference speakers, who were without the aid of sound equipment, were quickly drowned out by the chanting of angry protesters.

By the end of the conference, the protesters had claimed victory. According to the Columbia Spectator, Roxanne Smithers, president of the Black Students' Union, said, "I thought it was great. They were entirely dislocated. The black people have been dislocated for years, and they were dislocated for a couple of hours. It doesn't equalize it, but it's a start."

The Faculty House offered Accuracy in Academia a refund, but the group's leaders say they will sue Columbia for the travel and hotel expenses of participants. Capel was quoted in frontpagemag.com as saying, "We had a contract, which they breached."

AIA Executive Director Flynn was quoted in the Chronicle of Higher Education as saying, "Quite clearly, Columbia's administration does not agree that conservatives have a place at the table." Unfortunately, events at universities across the nation seem to suggest that Columbia is not alone. MR

This article was published in the 9 December 1998 edition of The Michigan Review (Volume 17, Number 5).
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