Had to choose between platforming a controversial speaker or keeping the peace in my department

Last semester our student events board had to pick between booking a known commentator who stirs up activists or just bringing in a boring career panel. I voted for the speaker because I think college should be uncomfortable sometimes, but we got 50 protest emails and the dean shut it down anyway. Anyone else have to make that call and regret whatever they picked?

2 comments

2 Comments

ryan7195d ago

Gotta disagree a bit here. College can be uncomfortable but there's a difference between hearing a tough take and platforming someone whose whole brand is trying to get a rise out of marginalized students. Your events board has to balance free speech with not making half your campus feel unsafe or targeted. I've seen that play out and the fallout from the "edgy" speaker option usually hurts way more than the boring panel ever could.

blair_allen5d ago

Yeah I used to be all in on the "college needs more uncomfortable conversations" thing until we actually booked a speaker like that and watched the fallout wreck our department for weeks. The protests and emails were constant, people stopped talking to each other in the hallways, and it didn't feel like anyone learned anything useful. It changed my mind pretty fast because the cost wasn't worth some vague idea of intellectual growth that never actually happened.