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In the past week, a poster campaign has hit Harvard University drawing the distinction between Harvard University President Lawrence Summers and Ward Churchill. Lawrence Summers is the first president in 400 years of Harvard history to receive a lack of confidence vote from the faculty, by a vote of 218-185 on March 15 for various unsubstantiated comments about the alleged lack of ability of wimmin in science.(1)
As we go to press, the Summers administration has prepared a further crackdown on free speech at Harvard by telling some students it does not permit a demonstration against the CIA on April 12. A group called the Harvard Social Forum and "No War" and an Arab Students group are having difficulty with the Harvard administration. Regarding a demonstration against the CIA and Department of Homeland Security the Summers administration said: "This demonstration does not have our approval and you will not be allowed to demonstrate," according to Harvard Social Forum. So once again, a university administration demonstrates its illiteracy: the First Amendment distinguishes between "government" and the "people." The CIA is government. It is not the CIA that has freedom of speech guaranteed by the highest law of the land, contrary to functional illiterates such as Nathan Glazer.
Harvard police have also tried to shut down activism for the Ward Churchill rally by initially calling it "soliciting" to be asking for a petition signature. Fortunately, Harvard has a ring of city property around it where people can petition, but the day when academic freedom exceeded "townie" freedom is gone. Judging from signs the Harvard administration posted in support of the City of Cambridge's interpretation of the First Amendment that allowed some city bureaucrats to withdraw from the public postering access to public property such as lamp poles, Harvard has become a negative influence in the community as well.
There are numerous reactionary activists who try to draw an equivalence between speech by an administrator in charge of wimmin and speech by a former administrator not in charge of 9/11 victims. An example would be comments at the reactionary publication for intellectuals, the National Review.(2)
Ward Churchill made a comment about "little Eichmanns" and Summers made a comment on wimmin, so some are trying to protect Summers by pointing to Churchill. The astonishing thing about this argument is that Ward Churchill already resigned his administrative duties as chair of Ethnic Studies after the furor concerning him, so there should be no analogy drawn in the first place, since Summers has not resigned his administrative duties as some have asked.
Churchill is now fighting for all those faculty who would like to keep their tenure and academic freedom. Summers is a university administrator in charge of many wimmin.
If Summers wants to leave the presidency and take up research on wimmin's issues, he should join a wimmin's studies department and leave the presidency behind. Otherwise, he should have read some of the books by Harvard faculty such as Ruth Hubbard's Biological Woman or Genes and Gender II.
In contrast, Churchill's speech that caused the Colorado governor Bill Owens to ask for his firing was on the topic of comparative genocide, something Churchill has done published work on. Even so, Churchill is not in charge of anything in connection to 9/11 victims, such as any victims memorial fund.
Another difference is that Churchill has received over 100 death threats and he has had speeches cancelled and discussions about police ability to protect him in various places. No such violent threats have arisen in connection to Summers.
Under Lawrence Summers, police cordoned off Harvard Yard and asked for identification to enter a demonstration concerning wages at Harvard, the first time in history that MIM is aware this has happened to Harvard Yard. Usually, Harvard Yard is shut down only for the annual regatta on the Charles River (boat races) and partly for the commencement. Harvard police have also tried to shut down activism for the Ward Churchill rally by initially calling it "soliciting" to be asking for petition signatures.
Furthermore, although the poster kiosks that are patently too small to hold all the posters for all the talks, parties and performances at Harvard arose before Summers, the little notification on each kiosk threatening fines against student groups for not posting the right number of posters in the right place and in the right size came under Summers. Not that Harvard is the first university to sterilize its atmosphere for the benefit of appearance to conformists, major classroom buildings Harvard and Emerson have had their bulletin boards removed wholesale.
The inability of Harvard to fine the military for posting recruiting posters on the same kiosks also exacerbated itself under Summers. Those posters have gone up at the same time as posters for Ward Churchill, but the military recruiter posters violate the university's size regulations. We are waiting to see that fine on the Pentagon.
On Summers's watch, the Harvard Law School took a threat from the Bush administration and had to allow anti-gay discrimination by military recruiters, until the Third Circuit court overturned the Bush administration and Harvard Law reinstated the ban in December, 2004. The fact that the Bush administration dared pass such a law shows the weakness of people in power such as Summers. The fact that Summers did not then lead effective resistance shows the misplaced priorities and concerns of the university.
All of these practices compare unfavorably with the attitude toward postering and demonstrations in Mao's Cultural Revolution. More importantly, all these practices have shown an increasing repressive trend over time at Harvard. Lawrence Summers is no poster boy for free speech. If present trends continue, Harvard will have a reputation for intellectual sterility. Students suffering under the whip of the university administration must learn how to get it under control, by hitting it right in the reputation if necessary.
Notes:
1. http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=584270&page=1
2. Typical would be Jonah Goldberg's comments.
http://www.nationalreview.com/thecorner/05_02_13_corner-archive.asp