Letter to DePaul University

Dear Mr. Holtschneider,

DePaul University is a respectable institution of higher learning, however, it would be dishonest to sugarcoat my disappointment in the administration and campus security. As I was going through my morning news feed, I saw disturbing videos of students behaving in a manner unbecoming of their role as students and their future role as leaders of our nation and our community. I also saw the failure of the administration and campus security to protect the rights of free speech and assembly.

On May 24, a guest speaker was invited to the university and the event was held on university grounds. I was appalled at the attempt by some students to stifle the guest's freedom of speech and the students' freedom of assembly. We all have more productive and effective ways to express our disagreements. Instead of engaging in thoughtful, civilized discourse, students shouted insults at the speaker and the students assembled. One troublemaker was whistling into a microphone while another danced on the stage. Although I am not familiar with the rules and regulations of the university, I can imagine that there is some protection granted to students or organizations who have reserved a space for peaceful and lawful assembly. Campus security implicitly rewarded this childish behavior by their inaction and passivity. Strictly speaking, the interrupters may have been under their legal rights to behave as they did. But where is their common decency? Where was the administration to enforce the assemblers' exclusive use of the venue?

Although my daughters are technically adults, I believe the university bears some responsibility for their well-being, especially their safety and trust in the administration to enforce its own rules and regulations. My wife and I raised our kids to be open minded and to learn from as many people as they can, even from those whose perspectives they may find objectionable; and that everyone can be a teacher in some form or another. I am sure other parents would agree that the events that took place on May 24 did not reflect these ideals. Free speech and assembly, the most fundamental right of our nation, was not protected that day.

If the students and guest speaker were indeed permitted to speak at that venue, campus security and the police did nothing to guarantee the peace and safety of the gathering. An outside observer would have been confused as to who actually had permission to use the space. Outside the venue, one student was even caught on camera shouting offensive language at a group of students and, upon the realization of being recorded, tried to forcibly take away the camera from the owner. The particularly obnoxious students were all filmed and did not seem to express any sense of shame to match the incredulity of their actions.

Maybe it is because I grew up during a different time, but I imagine that this behavior, easily accessible and already widespread on the Internet, would present difficulties for these students in any situation where their reputations and characters would be called into question, such as running for public office. The media have already identified the perpetrators of the disturbances with incredible speed and detail.

Education is not only an investment in the future of the students, but in our futures as well. It is our children who will be running the world and taking care of the aged. They will inevitably encounter people from diverse cultures, backgrounds, and opinions. They will have to learn how to listen to other viewpoints and ideas, and make reasoned well-found judgments and decisions. What I read about this morning was traitorous to this and the rights which the founders of this country fought to protect. Just as we have high expectations of the students, we should also have high standards for the administration and faculty. This university is not only an academic institution, but one where the students should be learning to be upstanding members of society and to take personal responsibility for their own futures.

I look forward to hearing from you and the administration on how we can continue to foster in our children the values which have safeguarded the liberties of our country and our community.

Sincerely,
Abe Hakeem