Professor Chandler: I feel obligated to respond to this message on my own behalf as well as on behalf of many of the graduating students who are not privy to your email message below.
Regarding "Free Speech": It is fundamentally disingenuous to position a commencement address in the context of "free speech" or a "free exchange of ideas". No commencement address (to my knowledge) has included a debate format, a question/answer format, or a rebuttal address format. (Undoubtedly, many of those protesting Mr. Schwarzenegger's address would welcome his presence at any of the above formats.) Thus, we must not equate a protest of Mr. Schwarzenegger's address with "a denial of free speech." Moreover, no one can honestly say that Mr. Schwarzenegger's free speech rights have been or will be violated as long as he is the governor. Power simply does not work that way. (Just access ANY media source and you will find his ideas readily available.)
Regarding "Minority Rights": I wish you were correct in your statement that the rights of minorities based on race, gender, sexual preference, and ethnicity are valued. Sadly, however, you are mistaken (as your own dig at Progressive Alliance & MEChA points out). Moreover, as I understand it, the protests were not about "political opinions" as you state, but rather political actions and policies. I am quite certain that a commencement speaker of "conservative political opinion" (such as yourself) would not have been the target of protest. It is the actions, not the opinion, that are the target of protest precisely because it is ACTIONS that impact people and communities.
Regarding "hate-filled bigots": Wow. I don't even know where to start on this one. Are you really referring to SMC students this way, or only the ones you disagree with?
Regarding who the protesters were?: If you, or anyone else, is under the impression that the majority of those protesting in the audience were not SMC students, you are mistaken. If fact, many (probably over half) were not only SMC students, but GRADUATING and/or TRANSFERRING SMC students. Some, as you point out irrelevantly, were involved with various SMC student organizations, others were not. I know first-hand of many students who made their own decision not to "walk" at graduation, but rather to do what they thought was right--which was to protest against the commencement speaker's actions and policies.
Regarding students' families: It must also be pointed out that many of those graduating students in the "protesting audience" had by their side their parents, families, and friends. And while you are absolutely correct in stating that the protestors disrespected Mr. Schwarzenegger, we must also be clear that Mr. Schwarzenegger's presence at their own or their child's commencement disrespected many of our students and their families. Some faculty, including myself, choose to side with those students and their families. To me, the hard work of those students and their families is much more deserving of respect than the actions and policies of Mr. Schwarzenegger. The decision to go forward with this commencement speaker--a decision made by the SMC Board of Trustees and Administration--forced us all to make a choice: to whom do we show respect--the governor or our students and their families?
Some of our 2005 graduates have their own children or siblings in the public schools and were so outraged with the governor’s policies that they traveled to Sacramento to make their concerns known--not an easy decision to make for low-income families. And what do we expect when we bring this very governor to them as a role model, keynote speaker at the graduation they struggled to achieve?
Regarding an apology: The only apologies necessary should come from the SMC Board of Trustees to the hard-working, graduates of SMC (who succeeded in spite of Mr. Schwarzenegger's policies) for the disrespect shown towards them by not rescinding the commencement address invitation. I suppose the Board could also issue an apology for refusing to agendize the possibility of rescinding the invitation (even though all events on June 14th were absolutely predictable).
Guido L. Davis Del Piccolo
Assistant Professor, Sociology
Santa Monica College
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