Kimberly Guilfoyle — news personality and one of the co-hosts of the “Five on Fox News Channel” — will speak on the necessity of balanced political discourseat Cornell on April 12.
“We are very excited to host Ms. Guilfoyle at Cornell,” said Mark LaPointe ’16, chairman of Cornell Republicans. “Her talk on interpreting the news and political issues in an objective manner comes at a crucial time as we prepare for the presidential election in November.”
Guilfoyle is the co-host of Fox News Channel’s “The Five,” legal analyst on “The O’Reilly Factor,” and political analyst on “Hannity,” according to a press release from the Cornell Republicans.
The club invited Guilfoyle to campus because she will offer a “fair and balanced” stance on both politics and specifically on Fox News’ 2016 presidential election coverage, according to Austin McLaughlin ’18, secretary of the Cornell Republicans.
Guilfoyle’s keynote speech will address the manner in which the election has been portrayed in the news, emphasizing the need for a style that respects and values dissenting opinions. The club’s press release explained that Guilfoyle’s experience as a host on Fox News prepared her well to speak on this subject.
“While not an outspoken conservative like we have hosted in the past, Guilfoyle should provide an objective opinion on the GOP candidates especially as it relates to her own experiences in media and on ‘The Five,’” McLaughlin said.
LaPointe added that he hopes Guilfoyle’s talk will be informative to the Cornell community, as she will likely speak to the value of respectfully listening to dissenting opinions.
“Ms. Guilfoyle is well-qualified to speak about individual and objective thought from her career in the news industry and from being a former attorney,” he said. “We expect the event to be a unique opportunity to hear about Ms. Guilfoyle’s experiences, lessons that we should consider and her thoughts on the election thus far.”
LaPointe said he expects Guilfoyle’s presentation will be of particular interest to the student body — especially considering the recent attention drawn to Cornell faculty’s political campaign donations as heavily left-leaning, as reported by The Sun.
“As students, we strive to expand our intellectual horizons,” LaPointe said. “However, Cornell does not always provide students with a balanced representation of ideological viewpoints based on faculty political leanings as various reports indicate.”
Recently the Cornell Republicans has hosted events on topics including education, racial equality, bipartisanship, and ISIS and foreign involvement. In the future, they plan to continue seeking out relatable speakers with unique perspectives on relevant political issues, according to LaPointe.