News broke earlier today via e-mail that an event featuring former U.S. Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, and former U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, Henry M. Paulson, Jr., was postponed due to scheduling conflicts. The Chicago Sun-Times recently reported that Rice had been double booked, set to attend a fundraising dinner only half an hour later than the start of her event at UChicago. Many students, however, have attributed the cancellation to a protest planned by members of the “Occupy Chicago” movement. Debate has sparked between different students and faculty groups about Rice and Paulson speaking at the university and whether certain actions promote the suppression of speech.
A Facebook event, titled “Unwelcoming Hank and Condi- Occupy Hyde Park”, was created a little more than a week ago by a group of students who were aggravated that UChicago was opening its doors to Rice and Paulson. In true internet fashion, the Facebook event attracted a number of arguments between students who opposed Rice’s arrival and others who felt that the protest could potentially lead to the suppression of speech. On the event’s wall, Condoleezza Rice is labeled a “war criminal” and “antidemocratic” numerous times, the words deceitful and terrorist also attached to her name. Several students apologetically stated that they could not make the event but assured that their support would remain strong. One student also posted a link to Rice’s faculty page at Stanford University which features her school contact number, perhaps with the hopes of providing upset individuals an outlet in which to disclose their opinions and frustrations to Rice herself.
However, not all students express similar sentiments to those who created the “unwelcome” event. One student questioned if such protests created a hostile environment that intimated individuals from speaking freely while another ironically applauded the group’s success in “stifling discourse and opinions”.
The University of Chicago has not, as of yet, revealed when, or even if, Rice and Paulson will reschedule their talk.
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at U Chicago chapter.