Re: “University Has Reportedly Invited Ann Coulter ’84 Back to Campus” (news, March 10)
To the Editor:
I had the privilege of visiting Cornell this week to deliver a lecture in the Bowers CIS Distinguished Speaker Series on Free Expression. A few audience members disagreed with some of my arguments, but none were disruptive, and we had thought-provoking conversations afterward. It was a pleasure to meet many Cornell faculty and students who are deeply thinking about the role of freedom of expression on campus.
That is why I was disappointed to read the Daily Sun’s editorial opposing the university administration’s decision to invite Ann Coulter to speak, more than a year after she had been shouted off the stage at Cornell. I write to neither oppose nor support Coulter’s political positions, but to encourage the campus community to see this as an opportunity for everyone to exercise their freedom of expression. Attend Coulter’s speech. Or don’t attend. But if you do attend, listen to what she has to say and do not shout her down. If you disagree, explain why you believe so through separate events, letters to the editor and other venues that are widely available on campus.
You are members of one of the most robust academic communities in the world. I have complete confidence that each of you can hear Coulter’s words and develop your own impressions and responses. Use this opportunity to participate in the marketplace of ideas rather than shutting it down. Blocking Coulter’s speech — either by shouting her off stage or preventing her from coming to campus — does little to rebut her statements. To an outside observer, her arguments might appear more powerful if the campus community blocks her from ever making them. As Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. wrote in 1929, freedom of thought encompasses “not free thought for those who agree with us but freedom for the thought that we hate.”
— Prof. Jeff Kosseff, United States Naval Academy
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this letter are only the author’s and do not reflect the views of the Defense Department, Department of Navy, or Naval Academy.