Steve Chapman: Don’t Silence Graduation Speakers

“Oh, that my enemy would write
a book,” goes the old wish, coined by someone who knew there is no
better way to expose fools than through their own words. It’s an
idea that deserves consideration from the college students and
faculty unhappy with their schools’ choice in commencement
speakers. It’s understandable that students might prefer not to
share their big day with someone who has said or done things that
they find grossly objectionable, writes Steve Chapman. But forcing
them out or driving them away is the wrong response for all sorts
of reasons. The best response to allegedly villainous speakers is
not to turn them into martyrs by denying them a forum. The best
response is to let them speak and make them wish they hadn’t.