Campus prepares for Gonzales speech, protest
Scott BresslerStudents and professors of all political persuasions are bracing themselves for controversy as former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales’ speech approaches.
A written statement drafted by 10 law school faculty members last week condemned Gonzales.
“Gonzales presided over unprecedented politicization of the Department of Justice,” said the statement, referring to his controversial firing of U.S. Attorneys. “Gonzales’ political misdeeds and ill-conceived legal opinions are of grave concern to all of us as lawyers, law professors and citizens.”
Though Gonzales has attempted to calm protestors by agreeing to the meeting, students and professors are continuing to voice their disapproval of his tenure as attorney general and the decision by Student Union to spend over $30,000 for his speech.
“Every member of the University community should be embarrassed that the Student Union is contributing $30,000 to Gonzales’ legal defense fund,” said Professor of Law Richard Kuhns, one of the authors of the statement. “After his ‘forgetfulness’ before Congress and his poor performance at the University of Florida, there is no reason to believe he will have anything worthwhile to say.”
At 5 p.m., Gonzales will meet with a group of 30 of his detractors. Most members of the College Democrats and the Peace Coalition will not attend the event, which conflicts with their planned protests outside of the 560 Building.
Sophomore Ryan Winograd, vice president of the College Republicans, said that the most members of the organizations were too invested in the protests to attend the meeting.
“I wouldn’t characterize their decision as avoidance,” he said. “They have put a lot of work into planning this protest, and they want to see it through.”
Members of the protest, however, stressed the importance of their demonstration.
“Virtually all of us would like to attend the question and answer session, but we’ve been planning the protest for months,” said Sean Rhoads, a member of the Peace Coalition. “We were given short notice on the session so we feel we should continue what we’ve been planning.”
A Feb. 14 faculty panel discussion hosted by the College Democrats and the Peace Coalition was devoted primarily to criticizing Gonzales’ policies and their legal implications. Professor of Law John Drobak and Professor of Philosophy John Doris were the featured speakers.
“Professor Doris spoke on war crimes and the psychology inherent in all conflicts,” said Rhoads. “Professor Drobak gave more of a legal run-through, showing how Gonzales was commandeering power.”
A similar panel will take place at 7 p.m. Monday night in Room 310 in the Anheuser-Busch Law Building. The “teach-in” will be another opportunity for students to hear from professors.
“There will be speakers discussing Gonzales and the rule of law-namely, whether, and to what degree, he violated the rule of law,” said Professor of Political Science James Spriggs.
Winograd, who will be attending dinner with Gonzales after the speech, accused liberals of a double standard.
“Let’s keep in mind that [Bill] Clinton fired a U.S. Attorney investigating Whitewater, which was a scandal involving Bill and Hillary and some highly questionable real estate dealings,” he said. “[After Sept. 11], the President undoubtedly should have been able to exercise some of his war powers. Bush had members of the Intelligence Committee, including Nancy Pelosi, briefed on these and other potentially controversial programs,” he said.
Kuhns strongly disagreed.
“The Attorney General has an ethical obligation to serve the interests of the people, not the whim of whoever happens to be President,” he said. “Free speech and dialogue are fine things. Using limited University resources-especially student resources-to subsidize Gonzales, who has a long record of forgetfulness and obfuscation, is not a fine thing.”
With a variety of reactions awaiting the former attorney general, both students and faculty are preparing themselves for his arrival.
Getting tickets to Alberto Gonzales speech
To attend, you will need to pick up a free ticket from the Edison Theatre Box Office in Mallinckrodt; a Washington University ID is required to get a ticket. No bags, purses or posters will be allowed inside the 560 Building.
There will be buses going to the 560 building from the Business school from 5-6 p.m. If you would like to walk to the 560 Building, walk north on Big Bend until you reach Delmar (the Loop). Then turn right and continue several blocks until you come to Trinity Ave. The 560 Building will be on your right.
Protesting the Speech
The College Democrats and Washington University Peace Coalition will be holding a rally outside of the 560 Building starting at 5 p.m.
There will also be two marches starting at 4 p.m. that will converge at the building. One march will start at the Delmar Metro Stop and go down Delmar. The other march will start at Ursa’s Fireside Lounge on the South 40 and go up Big Bend. Gather at Ursa’s starting at 3:30 p.m.
Popularity: 1% [?]
Related Posts
Print This Post