Minnesota College Bans Nobel Laureate Desmond Tutu From Talk On Peace and Justice

[babylonsister]

Minnesota College Bans Nobel Laureate Tutu From Talk On Peace and Justice
by Scott Jaschik

Last week’s visit by Iran’s president to Columbia University symbolized to many the openness of American higher education to hearing controversial ideas and individuals. An incident coming to light at the University of St. Thomas, in Minnesota, illustrates that some speakers are denied campus platforms. In this case, the would-be speaker isn’t a Holocaust denier. Nor does he run a government that routinely denies basic civil rights to scholars, journalists or gay people.



The speaker barred at St. Thomas won the Nobel Peace Prize.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who won the prize for his nonviolent opposition to South Africa’s apartheid regime, was deemed unworthy of appearing at St. Thomas because of comments he made criticizing Israel - comments the university says were “hurtful” to some Jewish people. Further, the university demoted the director of the program that invited Tutu after she wrote a letter to him and others complaining about the revocation of the invitation. (She retains a tenured faculty job.)

While the incident happened several months ago, it has only just become public, when it was reported by City Pages, the alt-weekly in Minneapolis-St. Paul. The revoked invitation has some faculty members at the university seething.

“There isn’t any academic freedom here when this happens,” said Marv Davidov, an adjunct faculty member who has taught courses about nonviolence for 15 years at the university. “This is cowardice.”

more...

http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/10/04/4301/

[burythehatchet]

1. Moral of the story, ...I'll let you decide. n/t

[babylonsister]

2. I know. nt

[Richard Steele]

Done. nm

[marmar]

3. What the ....? I'm literally speechless......

What kind of alternate universe are we living in?

:wtf: :wtf: :wtf:

[AuntPatsy]

4. As always nothing makes sense.

[azurnoir]

5. Essencially it is St Thomas's loss

They have made their "Bush League" politics known. Rev. Tutu will speak at Metropolitan State Collage instead, physically less then a mile from St Thomas, philosophically a world away.

http://www.startribune.com/462/story/1463394.html

[Bluerthanblue]

6. how incredibly sad, and what a

stupid decision.

This exposes a terrible bigotry-

on the part of a select minority.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

7. Yet they invited Anne Coulter.

I guess that says all there is to say about the University of St. Thomas, Minnesota.

[burythehatchet]

8. She has NEVER criticized Israel, so why wouldn't she be invited?

:shrug: