As of Tuesday morning, Notre Dame’s campus was in a paradoxically silent uproar. There was tension. Everyone on campus experienced high anticipation, be it good or bad, of the arrival of speaker Ann Coulter. For those who do not know, Ann Coulter is a political commentator with an arguably drastic set of views. Ms. Coulter presents claims in a rather broad manner, frequently costing her the respect of the communities she speaks of. While every being is certainly entitled to their opinions, along with the freedom of speech, discourse between oppositions is productive in an environment of logic. Surely, this university’s student body has a great deal of intellect and logic. Ann Coulter’s visit should be respected as a pleasure for those who agree with her views and should be respected as a disappointment for those who disagree.
As a response to display the disappointment of Notre Dame’s invitation extended to Ms. Coulter to speak on campus, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, or NAACP, chose to follow through on a silent demonstration. This silent demonstration involved students wearing black outside of South Dining Hall, handing out Ms. Coulter’s quotes to have pinned on their clothing for Thursday’s classes. This is how the tension grew.
Ann Coulter’s invitation to campus has been controversial on a number of fronts, and this controversy has manifested itself in a sense of polarization between political and cultural affiliations on campus. Like the common debater and the average citizen, many live by a personal mantra of “agree to disagree.” This concept prevents hateful and violent outbursts between differing positions. You and I can have completely different stances on any given issue. However, because of the understanding that context is everything to a developed perspective, neither you nor I should go as far as to come off as disrespectful, dismissive or belittling to the other.
Mark Gianfalla, president of the Notre Dame College Republics, sent the above e-mail early on Tuesday morning to the club’s email listserv. The rhetoric and word choice struck all three of the above nerves (disrespectful, dismissive or belittling) with a great deal of students on campus. Gianfalla takes the time to remind members of the club of the time and place of the events for Ms. Coulter’s arrival.
After the important details, he followed this with a section devoted to what he wanted the ND College Republican’s response to NCAAP’s silent demonstration to be. Rather than being succinct and asking what he ultimately said in his conclusion (to wear American gear, or to wear ND College Republican gear), Gianfalla quickly built a false story out of common misconceptions generalized towards the opposing political party. This e-mail was, in almost no time, spread throughout the entirety of campus for all eyes to read. For example, Professor Maria McKenna’s College Seminar course, “Minority Experience in American Education,” discussed the email in class on Wednesday. McKenna’s class collaborated in writing a Viewpoint response to Gianfella, which The Observer published on Thursday.
Professor McKenna promptly e-mailed Father John Jenkins, the university’s president. She presented the e-mail as a means of speaking out. It is the silence and lack of retaliation that, Professor McKenna feels, strengthens the gap between students whose ideologies and opinions differ from one another’s. It is this silence that perpetuates these kinds of messages, and lets them seem permissible. While Professor McKenna says she is a “whole-hearted believer in free speech,” her point is equally valid among all individuals and she hoped to hear the leader of this university utilize his freedom as well.
If there is any take home message from this series of events, it is that people will disagree. People will say things that hurt us. People will retaliate, whether it is through words outside of South Dining Hall or tears in their dorm room. The points we aim to get across to an audience are best conveyed through logic and respect, not bitter insult and baselessness.
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