Anderson's To Host Free Speech Forum – thoughts?
So, the thought of Bill Ayers speaking in Naperville apparently really upset some folks and as a result the event was cancelled, interesting. I was a college student back in those days of the Weathermen, SDS, students taking over buildings on campuses across the country and protests (peaceful and violent) in cities nationwide in protest over an unpopular war. While I do not intend to get into my personal views on that or any war here, it does really get me wondering that there are those among us who are so offended when someone whose views and past history don’t agree with our own. Is civil discourse not something that is encouraged in our community? Share your thoughts, please…civilly
From the Naperville Sun, April 19, 2009
Anderson’s Bookshop will host an evening of discussion on free speech at 7 p.m. Monday, moderated by Dr. Stephen Maynard Caliendo, associate professor of political science at Naperville’s North Central College.
On hand will be a panel of experts representing diverse viewpoints to discuss free speech and the recent controversy about Bill Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn’s canceled visit to Naperville. A period of public participation will be included.
The event takes place at Anderson’s Bookshop, 123 W. Jefferson Ave. in downtown Naperville. No reservations are required for the free program.
“Just bring your ideas,” said Becky Anderson, co-owner of the longtime family-owned bookstore. “We want people to come in and have a civil examination of issues stirred up by the scheduled appearance, and subsequent cancellation, of the Ayers and Dohrn event.”
That initial event, which had been arranged for April 8, was canceled after it met with vigorous opposition via repeated phone calls and angry e-mails that resulted in concerns about the safety of Anderson’s customers and staff.
The plug was pulled two days before the scheduled event with Ayers, a professor of education at the University of Illinois — Chicago, who was a ’60s political activist and radical leader of the Weathermen Underground. Also slated to join him was his wife, Bernardine Dohrn, a fellow Vietnam-era reformer, today the director of the Children and Family Law Justice Center and a clinical associate professor of law at Northwestern University .
Anderson said the new program is being offered as a “town meeting-style outlet for examining how respectful discourse can enrich our lives and our community.” Monday’s forum, to be led by Caliendo, will feature panelists Jane Barnes, president of the Naperville League of Women Voters; Keith Carlson, Naperville Central High School’s communication arts teacher and Central Times student newspaper faculty adviser, and Steve Macek, associate professor of speech communication and coordinator of urban and suburban studies at North Central College. Additional panelists may include a student representative of Naperville North High School’s North Star student newspaper and two other community members whose participation has not yet been confirmed.
For more information, contact Anderson’s Bookshop in Naperville at 630-355-2665.
