ANTI-FREE SPEECH: Leftist Middlebury College students turned their backs and shouted down political scientist and Bell Curve author Dr. Charles Murray on Thursday.

MIDDLEBURY, Vt. Anti-free speech students fromMiddlebury College disrupted a planned lecture by guest speaker,political scientist andauthor Charles Murray in the McCullough StudentCenter on Thursday.

The event, which included severaldark-masked, bandit-like student protestors, descended quicklyintoarowdyeffortto preventthe Harvard- and MIT-educated speakerfrom discussing his book, Coming Apart. The student protest effort succeeded.

Murrayis affiliated with the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank in Washington, D.C. He also is the co-authorofthe1994 book The Bell Curve, an study ofrace and intelligence.

On campus, Murrays appearance was being castas adisplay of academic free speech versus shutting down what protesting students called hate speech.

Before Murrayappeared on stage,William Burger, thecolleges vice president of communications, told students about the colleges rules of conduct for First Amendment protests. He noted that failing to follow the rules couldresult in reprimands includingacademic dismissal.

Middlebury College President Laurie Pattonofferedher reasons for allowing thefree and open discussionbya researcher she did not personally agree with. I would regret it terribly if my presence here is read to be something that it is not an endorsement of Mr. Murrays research and writings, she said.

Students booed Patton wholeft the stage visiblyshaken.

Free speech?

The loud,sustainedprotest inside the auditorium included manystudents turning their backs on Murray when hewalked on stage.

With their backs to Murray, students heldup posters with hand-scrawled protest slogans such as White Supremacy is the Enemy and Race is a Construct and F Eugenics.

Many in the Middlebury audience shouted, Racist, sexist, anti-gay, Charles Murray go away! in unison. One protestor in the audience shouted Yiannopoulos! referring to former Breitbart Newscommentator Milo Yiannopoulos, andperhaps the violent University of California, Berkeley protest against him in February.

Chanting continued for nearly 30 minutes until Murray wasescorted offstageby Allison Stanger, professor of international politics and economics at the college. Asecurity guard and student membersof the American Enterprise Institute astudent-runcampus club whicharranged the authors appearance also escorted Murray.

When Stanger returned on stage and took the podium microphone, she said, Well have a great dialog if youd let us continue, but youre not going to let us speak. Brothers and sisters, namaste.

Murraywas usheredto an undisclosed room on campus to deliver hislecture via live stream video. However, whenalarge video projection screen was lowered for audience viewing and the live streaming began,loud protesting continued, making it impossible for audience members to hear Murray and moderator Stanger.

Most people know Murray for The Bell Curve. Butthe speakerwas invited to Middlebury to discuss Coming Apart, a more recent bookabout the moral decline of white America and the growingeconomicdivide.

Many student voices

Saanvi Khambatta,a senior studyingeconomics, came to the event tolearn aboutMurrays intellectual thought process.

I wanted to see a different perspective, she told Watchdog. Charles Murray does not have the credentials,but he does influence a lot of people in our nation. I disagree with his ideas but I feel like I should know about his ideas to challenge me intellectually.

Anna May Walker, a sophomore English major, was appalled by the behavior of fellow students.

Silencing Charles Murray is another example of two wrongs not making a right. Let him speak andengage intellectually, she said.Sure, I would have preferred him not to have been invited to campus,but hes here and now were guilty. Were people unwilling to hear the voices of others despitedemanding our own voices be heard.

Walker said she fearsthat students who stand for free speech at the college will face intimidation and retribution.

I know in saying these words I jeopardize myself in many ways.I will face the wrath of this community that we clearly see here today. It frightens me. This? This was not the answer, she said.

The real world beyond this campus cant be controlled and shut downwith shouted sentences. If Murrays ideas arent legitimate, then we shouldprove it by discussion, not shouting. We are undermining theauthenticity of this institution with this whole process.

Stanger reportedly was violently assaultedduring the event and was treated at nearby Porter Hospital. Fire alarms wereset offandseveral campus electronic devices were disrupted. Burger said some students identified by staff members will be punished for interrupting the event.

Lou Varricchio is the bureau chief for Vermont Watchdog. You can contact him [emailprotected]

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Middlebury College students shout down speaker in display against free speech - Watchdog.org