Published in the Monday, April 6, 2009 issue of The Heights on page B8.

An Open Letter to the Boston College Community:

During our time at Boston College, we’ve seen changes in our university. In 2005, there were no codified restrictions on free speech for students at BC. In 2006, administrators unilaterally changed university policy, placing severe restrictions on open dialogue. We, the student organizers of the Professor Ayers lecture, believe that the cancellation of this event was a serious violation of the stated mission of Boston College—a mission claimed to be fulfilled through “academic excellence and intellectual rigor.”

You might have some questions about the course of last weekend’s events—so do we. Many of the specifics are unclear, but one thing is certain: the entire BC community’s freedom of expression, and with it the academic freedom of faculty, is no longer protected by administrative precedent.

Three student groups (Americans for Informed Democracy, College Democrats, and the AHANA Leadership Council) and two tenured faculty members (Professor Ken Kersch, Director of the Clough Center for the Study of Constitutional Democracy and Dean John Cawthorne of the Lynch School of Education) collaborated to organize the lecture on March 12^th, three and a half weeks ago.

On Friday afternoon, March 27^th, the administration informed us that they would be removing the faculty sponsors. The decision to remove faculty sponsorship was made without consulting the faculty sponsors. Dean Cawthorne and Professor Kersch were not informed and continue to sponsor the event to this day.

When we met with administrators to clarify the reasons behind the event’s cancellation, Vice President for Student Affairs Patrick Rombalski cited the administration’s lack of preparedness as the primary deciding factor. Vice President Rombalski was unprepared to handle the security surrounding the event. The newly formed Student Programs Office was in over its head.

Professor Ayers has offered to deliver his lecture at BC when issues of preparedness have been addressed by Vice President Rombalski and the Student Programs Office. We have started a clock, which serves as a measure of two ongoing administrative failures:

1. a count-up of the number of days, hours, minutes, and seconds students at Boston College have been denied their rights to freedom of expression;
2. a count-down to when those rights will be recognized and controversial speakers like Professor Ayers can be brought to campus—not because we agree with his past actions, but because we are committed to academic programming that confronts and discuss ideas; even ideas that are unpopular.

This letter also doubles as an invitation. We invite students, faculty and staff to attend a Free Speak Out in O’Neill Plaza on the Wednesday after Easter, April 15^th, to offer our community a chance to exert the rights to free expression that were denied to them by their university.

We also invite University President Father William Leahy (william.leahy.1@bc.edu), Executive Vice President Patrick Keating (patrick.keating.1@bc.edu), Provost and Dean of Faculties Cutberto Garza (bert.garza@bc.edu), Vice Provost for Undergraduate Academic Affairs Donald Hafner (hafner@bc.edu), and Vice President for Student Affairs Patrick Rombalski (rombalsk@bc.edu), to hear from the community and exert their rights of free expression as well.

Most importantly, we invite Vice President Rombalski to present students, faculty and staff with a timeline of preparation; how long will it take the Student Programs Office to adequately prepare for a controversial speaker – Professor Ayers – to give a lecture? Until Professor Ayers delivers a lecture on campus in person, the clock will continue to count the number of days students on this campus have been silenced. As of this printing, the clock is at 10 days. View the up-to-date clock, sign the petition, join the listserve and join the Facebook group at www.BCACADEMICFREEDOM.com .

Father Leahy and Vice President Rombalski set a dangerous precedent last weekend—one that allows events that have run the full gamut of student and faculty sponsorship to be cancelled at the administration’s indiscretion.

It has been 10 days since, and the flame of academic integrity has been extinguished. At the time of the Free Speak Out in O’Neil Plaza on Wednesday, April 15^th, students will have been silenced for 19 days. When will the fire be rekindled, so that students may once again be prepared to set the world aflame?

We, the students, faculty, and staff of Boston College, will be waiting for the administration’s answer in O’Neill Plaza on 4/15.

Sincerely yours,

Rhick Bose, A&S ‘09

Michael Madormo, A&S ‘09

Melissa Roberts, A&S ‘09

Alexandra Saieh, A&S ‘09

Scott Jelinek, A&S ‘10

Rachel Lamorte, A&S ‘10

Kristoffer Munden, A&S ‘11