Farrell had previously conveyed similar sentiments in a Facebook post, which one student protester sent to The Daily Beast to highlight what she believed to be the most offensive student response.
He added that while he was no fan of Donald Trumps, I think its important that people who are have the right to express their opinions.
Harvey Klehr, a longtime professor of political science at Emory, was also unimpressed by the universitys response to students.
The administration doesnt want some kind of explosion and they think theyll avoid that by placating these students and patting them on the head, he said. Theyre living in a cocoon bubble, and the university is validating their fears. If these students are frightened by someone writing Trump 2016 on campus, they need to see a psychiatrist.
I despise Trump, but Emory is not some fundamentalist school where white supremacists send their children.
Indeed, the student body does not lack diversity. While 37.8 percent of its current freshman students self-identify as white, roughly 40 percent are self-identifying minorities. A remaining 17.7 percent describe themselves as international.
At Emory, its up to the adults to value diversity in all formsand to ensure that speech and political expression are not censored. Reviewing security surveillance tapes at the request of students who want any pro-Trump vandals identified or monitored is not leading by example. Its an unnecessary precaution and a slippery slope.
In his final speech as Distinguished University Professor at Emory last year, Salman Rushdiewho was censored and targeted with death threats for years after Irans former supreme leader issued a fatwa over his 1989 book, The Satanic Versesstressed the importance of free speech in a democracy.
He remarked that the urge to squelch it is beginning to be the greatest where they should be most defended, that is to say within the walls of the academy.These rights have been hard won,
hard won, Rushdie said. Do not easily give them up. Do not give an inch.
