Fordham University president Joseph McShane, S.J., faulted campus College Republicans for inviting Ann Coulter to speak, saying that her rhetoric appeals to the “darker side” of human nature.
“To say that I am disappointed with the judgment and maturity of the College Republicans, however, would be a tremendous understatement,” McShane said in a statement emailed to the university (the Young America’s Foundation has the email here). “There are many people who can speak to the conservative point of view with integrity and conviction, but Ms. Coulter is not among them. Her rhetoric is often hateful and needlessly provocative-more heat than light-and her message is aimed squarely at the darker side of our nature.”
McShane stated explicitly that the school would not interfere with the CRs right to host Coulter. “The College Republicans have unwittingly provided Fordham with a test of its character: do we abandon our ideals in the face of repugnant speech and seek to stifle Ms. Coulter’s (and the student organizers’) opinions, or do we use her appearance as an opportunity to prove that our ideas are better and our faith in the academy-and one another-stronger?” he wrote. “We have chosen the latter course, confident in our community, and in the power of decency and reason to overcome hatred and prejudice.”
The event is scheduled for November 29, according to YAF.
