Aretha Franklin would have been extremely disappointed with the audience attending Rudy Giuliani’s speech in Bender Arena this Saturday. Between some poor comments and loud booing from some adult audience members, there was a distinct lack of respect in the air that we should be ashamed of. As the most politically active campus in the nation and a strong promoter of CIVITAS, we should be aiming to encourage better civil discourse.
We recognize that this is a predominantly liberal campus, but having such a distinction does not give us the right to disrespect speakers that hold opposing political beliefs. We’ve all heard the phrase “agree to disagree,” and events such as this are the perfect time to apply such a practice. Though we may not agree, like, or even want to tolerate someone else’s opinions, there is no reason to publicly cause a ruckus for such reasons.
We’re a campus that encourages CIVITAS, and for an occurrence like this to happen within such an environment means that we are not living up to the standards we promote. This is not the first instance of a guest speaker coming to our campus and facing disrespectful treatment (although no one was arrested this time). The comments and actions made Saturday night are not reflective of the intelligent student body we are. Although some of the disrespectful actions made were done so by visitors to the University, the point still remains that we need to carry out CIVITAS in all aspects of community life.
We shouldn't feel the need to get up and boo at a public event – instead, we should use a public medium (our wonderful newspaper) to voice our opinion in a civil manner. We realize that you may not agree with us, and so we provide an option by which you can reply to us and have your say, also in a civil manner. Write letters to the editor. Submit columns to the editorial page. This section is for opinions to be voiced and heard.
Overwhelmingly, those at Giuliani's speech were well behaved and we commend the Kennedy Political Union for organizing such a successful event.
But we promote CIVITAS for a reason, and we need to remember to do so in all aspects of our campus life. If you feel the dire need to have your say, please do so with the principles of civil discourse and respect in mind.
