As a young woman, I had such a high opinion of Columbia
University that I purchased some book covers adorned with its
logo. My foolish notion was to impress complete strangers with
the idea that I could afford to attend the Ivy League
institution, when in actuality I was at tuition-free Hunter
College.
My infatuation ended when the Columbia students rioted in 1968,
proving that the revered university accepted morons into its
hallowed halls. The riot that took place last Wednesday showed
that Columbia hasn't changed its admission standards.
In April, I wrote a column asking, "Are liberals the worst
bigots of all?" The left-leaning Columbia students
apparently answered that question in the affirmative on
Wednesday, as they railed against the appearance of two Minutemen
Project representatives and repeatedly yelled the "n"
word at the black director of the movement, Marvin Stewart. The
students then stormed the stage when the Minutemen founder, Jim
Gilchrist, stood up to speak, thus giving lie to the concept of
free speech at this bastion of tolerant elitism. In fact, such
trashy behavior has become more synonymous with liberal academia
than the tradition of good taste that's supposed to accompany a
fine education.
In 1968, the Columbia students claimed they rioted over the
building of a gym in a public park, but it was also because they
felt the university was complicit in the Vietnam War by allowing
ROTC drills on the South Field, military and CIA recruiters on
campus, and military experiments in its labs.
It wasn't their decision to protest these issues that led to the
forfeit of my respect, but the manner in which these protests
were conducted. I loathe violence, having witnessed so much of it
in the barrio of my childhood. I can certainly understand
protests such as those that occur in underdeveloped countries,
where the hopelessness of life leaves few options for escape
other than to violently overthrow the ruling powers. The Columbia
student protesters did not fit into that category. These
well-fed, middle-class individuals with the promise of the good
life ahead of them trashed, burned, and stole university property
and generally behaved like barbaric peasants.
Some but not all faculty members supported these riots. A
Columbia historian, Richard B.Morris, abhorred the violence and
was disgusted by the students and their illegal rampage. While he
never spoke out in public about the riots, he kept a historical
record of the events that are compiled in a book by Richard
Ranlet, "Richard B. Morris and American History in the
Twentieth Century." In an article for the Historic News
Network, Mr. Ranlet writes that Mr. Morris and his generation
respected the law. "How could the war be ended by radical
students urinating out of windows, as they did, or by their
screaming obscenities, or by their very public sexual intercourse
on the campus, which disgusted Morris?"
Well, these students were in my generation and they disgusted me
as well. In my neck of the woods, Hunter College students were
just as concerned about civil rights and injustice, but
demonstrated a lot more sophistication than our Ivy League
contemporaries. I recall the uproar that marked a scheduled
speaking appearance by the leader of the American Nazi Party,
Lincoln Rockwell. Rockwell was unable to attend, and the rumor
was that he was arrested en route to Hunter. A substitute
neo-Nazi by the name of Ryan delivered his hate speech to a large
audience that groaned and sometimes booed at the nonsensical hate
spewing from the young man's extremely thin lips. We didn't storm
the stage, interrupt his speech, or hurl epithets. Many of the
students were Jewish and certainly had just cause to object to
any Nazi speech, yet they allowed the speaker to reveal in his
own words the banality of the neo-Nazi movement, which was the
best course of action.
Contrast that scenario to the absurdity of what happened at
Columbia University last Wednesday. The Minutemen Project is a
group of volunteers who patrol the borders and alert the
authorities when they see illegals attempting to enter our
country from Mexico. They have a constitutional right to do so to
protect our borders. The student protesters carried signs calling
the Minutemen racists while their cohorts shouted the
"n" word at a black man. Disgraceful!
One student banner read "Workers of the World unite,"
clearly identifying the Marxist ideology of the groups.
The very best thing Columbia University can do to salvage its
reputation would be to hunt down all the students who
participated in the anti-free-speech riot and expel them.
Shouting and rioting are the trademarks of those who have nothing
of merit to say.
Besides, these students simply have no class.