Disingenuous is far too kind a word.
Dishonest, cowardly, and disturbing are more like it.
Reading Azusa Pacific University president John Wallace’s reasons for the last-minute disinvitation of sociologist Charles Murray from his campus makes you wonder if there is any limit to the excuses the academy will make to justify silencing those it deems “offensive.”
According to an open letter Dr. Murray penned to Azusa Pacific’s students, his invitation to speak about his latest book was rescinded due to “the lateness of the semester and the full record of [his] scholarship.” As both Murray and John Leo have pointed out, this speaking arrangement had been scheduled for months. It surely came as no surprise that April is late in the semester. This nonsense excuse resembles Brandeis University’s claim that it was “not aware” of Ayaan Hirsi Ali’s very public views on Islam before extending her the now-rescinded honor of an honorary degree. It reflects either blatant dishonesty or jaw-dropping incompetence.
Wallace’s vague reference to Murray’s “scholarship” as somehow disqualifying is profoundly disturbing. Are we now to understand that Azusa Pacific deems certain scholarly findings to be too offensive to be publicly aired on its campus? Has President Wallace placed the value of academic freedom below Sandra Korn’s vaunted concern for “academic justice?”
Unlike the cases of Ayaan Hirsi Ali and Ben Carson (who stepped down as commencement speaker at Johns Hopkins in the face of protest), Murray’s speech was not connected to the university’s upcoming graduation, which makes the school’s cowardice even worse. There was no concern that commencement would be disrupted or students would have their graduation ruined. This was simply an effort to prevent a controversial speaker from coming to campus—censorship at its worst.
Azusa Pacific’s trustees and alumni need to start getting more active in the defense of academic freedom at their university. If they don’t stand up for free speech, it seems no one else will.