The Jefferson Council invites you to hear George Will April 25th at the University of Virginia. The topic of his address could not be more timely: “The Bad Ideas Fueling Today’s Attack on The Best Idea — Free Speech.”
Will began writing national syndicated columns in 1976, making him one of the longest-running pundits of our time. He’s also one of the best, winning the Pulitzer Prize for commentary in 1977. Age has not in the least dimmed his way with words or the incisiveness of his critiques.
The assault on free speech has been a top-of-mind issue for the conservative columnist recently. Consider a recent column he wrote about campus radicals at Stanford who shut down the speech of federal Judge Stuart Kyle Duncan.
The noun “parent” has become a verb as many people embrace the belief that perfectibility can be approximated if parents are sufficiently diligent about child-rearing. So, “helicopter parents” hover over their offspring to spare them abrasive encounters with the world. And “participation trophies” are given to everyone on the soccer team, lest the excellence of a few dent others’ self-esteem — the fuel that supposedly propels upward social mobility.
Larded with unstinting parental praise and garlanded with unearned laurels, these cosseted children arrive at college thinking highly of themselves and expecting others to ratify their complacent self-assessment. Surely it was as undergraduates that Stanford’s law school silencers became what they are: expensively credentialed but negligibly educated brats.
On a topic closer to home, Will has written about the cancellation of Suparna Dutta on Virginia’s Board of Education.
Wretched excess is almost everywhere. That includes Richmond, where some Democrats are as obsessed by race, and as unpleasant, as were their predecessors when implementing “massive resistance” to school desegregation. [Governor Glenn] Youngkin recently nominated to the state Board of Education Suparna Dutta, a dark-skinned (sorry, pigmentation is, alas, pertinent) American.
After a Virginia Senate committee voted 14-0 (all its Democrats concurring) to confirm Dutta, some progressives (in conjunction with some Virginia Muslims) branded her a “white supremacist.” Democrats control the state Senate, and teachers unions control many of them. The Senate killed her nomination.
Will brings his tart tongue to Charlottesville April 25th. The speech starts 7:00 p.m. and will be held in the Minor Hall Auditorium. Co-sponsored by the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia.
Register now to guarantee admittance.
I appreciate the work that the Jefferson Council is doing to promote a diversity of viewpoints on campus. As an out of towner, is there any way these events can be made available via webcast to verified alumni? I would enjoy seeing George Will speak.
Jon, We videotape all events and post links on this blog. Keep you eye out.
President Ryan: Please announce that any student heckling, shutting down, or otherwise impeding free speech of George Will or any other speaker at The University will be immediately expelled. We don’t need a replay of the recent disgrace at the Stanford Law School.
You might be reassured to know that UVa does have firm policies against the disruption of invited speakers. I don’t think they’ve been put to a major test, but I have confidence in the resolve of the University Police Department to enforce the rules should they be.