John Spritzler
David A. Caputo
President
Pace University
New York City, NY
president@pace.edu
In the 1960′s when I was an undergraduate at Dartmouth College (1964-8), and a member of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), we did all of the things that these Pace students are being threatened with expulstion for doing–held meetings in College buildings, held rallies, passed out literature, and accused a U.S. president of war crimes. In the 1960s we never asked anybody for permission, and nobody even dreamed of telling us we couldn’t do these things. It was taken for granted by all that free speech in the United States gave us the right to do these things, especially at a university.
That freedom led to students taking over the Administration building and thereby successfully getting rid of ROTC for ten years as part of the anti-Vietnam war movement. Our rulers have apparently decided that they want to nip such radical movements in the bud by preventing them from using free speech to gain support. Nowadays, freedom to meet and hold rallies and pass out leaflets is virtually gone. (Even though I work at Harvard, I was toldlast year I could not pass out a leaflet about Palestine/Israel on university property. Only public exposure made Harvard back down.)
These kids at Pace are being threatened with expulsion for doing what, in the 1960s, was everybody’s undisputed right. It’s bad enough that students have to first “register” a rally. What next? Will they have to get permission to express a non-government-approved thought? Time to fight back! I signed the Pace students’ online petition and I urge you to do so also, and spread the word. Pace University President Caputo needs to know that either he backs off intimidating these students, or he will be exposed as the modern day equivalent of a Nazi thug.
John Spritzler