My professor told us not to invite a pro-Israel speaker - thought that was odd for a poli-sci class

Last semester at the University of Oregon, our political science professor told us we shouldn't invite a certain speaker because it would "cause problems" on campus, but isn't that exactly when we need to hear different views? Has anyone else had a professor try to steer your event planning away from controversial speakers?

2 comments

2 Comments

lily36025d ago

Honestly, I gotta push back a little on the phrase "isn't that exactly when we need to hear different views." I mean, yeah, in a perfect world, hearing from someone you disagree with is good. But there's a big difference between debating a policy idea and platforming someone who's openly hostile to a group of students. At my school, we had a speaker who straight up said some things about trans students that were just hateful, not educational. It didn't spark debate, it just made people feel unsafe. Maybe your prof knows that this speaker isn't coming to have a real conversation, they're coming to stir stuff up and target people.

ryang6525d ago

University of Oregon student council spent $12,000 bringing in a speaker two years ago who ended up just reading off talking points from a think tank and refused to take questions from students. That's not debate, that's a PR stunt. @lily360 is right that safety matters but the bigger problem is universities pretending to protect students while actually protecting themselves from angry donors and alumni. My poli-sci professor told us flat out "if you want to hear both sides, host a debate format where the speaker has to actually engage with critics." That's the real issue here - not the speaker themselves but the conditions around how they show up on campus. A professor telling you not to invite someone might be trying to keep you from wasting your event budget on someone who won't actually add to the conversation.