2008 Woodie Awards
Speaker Policy committee forms
Deanna Soileau
Issue date: 5/1/08 Section: Front Page
A speakers policy committee, co-chaired by UST's Vice President of Academic Affairs John Hittinger and Faculty Senate Chair Rick Young, was appointed to create guidelines for non-political speakers invited to lecture on-campus after civil rights activist Dolores Huerta was "uninvited" from speaking in February.
Tensions resulted among administrators, faculty and students after President Robert Ivany's decision to cancel Huerta's lecture on worker's movements because of her pro-choice stance.
Young said he believes the Huerta situation was not the only reason the speakers policy committee was formed; rather, it was the complaints from the University community that arose after the incident which created the need for a formal policy.
"We could have brought somebody on-campus who was extraordinarily controversial…but if nobody raised any question about it, then I'm not sure that [a speaker policy] would have come up," Young said. "The purpose of this policy is to allow the administrators and faculty and staff to have notice of how the consideration for a speaker or event should happen."
Members of UST's social justice committee sent a letter to Hittinger and Young encouraging dialogue with speakers such as Huerta, according to committee chair Trish Vandiver.
"We indicated that we did not believe refusing an invitation for Delores Huerta to speak was in the best interest of dialogue and discourse, and that it is worthwhile to engage in discourse that challenges one's beliefs," Vandiver said. "The Committee does not support Mrs. Huerta's stand on reproductive rights, but we do believe that there is room to discuss ideas and seek common ground."
Speakers policy committee members consist of both administrators and faculty who represent departments that most often host speakers, according to Young. The committee includes co-chairs Hittinger and Young, Dean of Arts and Sciences Dominic Aquila, Vice President of Student Affairs Steve Sutton, political science professors John Burke and Jean-Phillippe Faletta, philosophy professor the Rev. Anthony Giampietro, international studies professor Hans Stockton, English professor Janet Lowery and student representatives Josh Gautreau and Thomas Mendez.
Tensions resulted among administrators, faculty and students after President Robert Ivany's decision to cancel Huerta's lecture on worker's movements because of her pro-choice stance.
Young said he believes the Huerta situation was not the only reason the speakers policy committee was formed; rather, it was the complaints from the University community that arose after the incident which created the need for a formal policy.
"We could have brought somebody on-campus who was extraordinarily controversial…but if nobody raised any question about it, then I'm not sure that [a speaker policy] would have come up," Young said. "The purpose of this policy is to allow the administrators and faculty and staff to have notice of how the consideration for a speaker or event should happen."
Members of UST's social justice committee sent a letter to Hittinger and Young encouraging dialogue with speakers such as Huerta, according to committee chair Trish Vandiver.
"We indicated that we did not believe refusing an invitation for Delores Huerta to speak was in the best interest of dialogue and discourse, and that it is worthwhile to engage in discourse that challenges one's beliefs," Vandiver said. "The Committee does not support Mrs. Huerta's stand on reproductive rights, but we do believe that there is room to discuss ideas and seek common ground."
Speakers policy committee members consist of both administrators and faculty who represent departments that most often host speakers, according to Young. The committee includes co-chairs Hittinger and Young, Dean of Arts and Sciences Dominic Aquila, Vice President of Student Affairs Steve Sutton, political science professors John Burke and Jean-Phillippe Faletta, philosophy professor the Rev. Anthony Giampietro, international studies professor Hans Stockton, English professor Janet Lowery and student representatives Josh Gautreau and Thomas Mendez.