Yes, it took a while for UNL Chancellor Harvey Perlman ((he's shown here on the right -- the one with the pupils in his eyes) to respond to our e-mail but we completely understand. After all, if he responded to everyone who wrote in protest of the University inviting unrepentant terrorist and socialist educator Bill Ayers to be the honored guest at the College of Education's birthday bash, then the Chancellor would have had little time for anything else.No, we credit the Chancellor for his manners.
It's just the content of his response that we fault -- for being tedious, trite and, in places, outright dumb. I print the Chancellor's kind note below and then follow with some specific comments about its messages.
I am sorry it has taken so long to respond.
Thank you for sending me your comments. I appreciate and understand your reaction to these events. While there are responses I might give to each of your comments, on balance I accept the fact that reasonable people can differ on what was done. In the end, what must be preserved is the ability of the university to present a wide variety of views, not just the views that are acceptable to a majority. Students deserves to know that they are getting an education that is not dictated by the passions of the moment but is diverse in its perspectives and, ultimately, provides them with the opportunity to forge their own version of the truth. I am confident that our students are bright enough, critical enough in their judgments, and grounded in the values that they learned at home, to make the most of these opportunities. Whether Ayers was beyond the pale is a matter of disagreement. Seventy universities, many in the midwest, have invited his views on public education. The Gates Foundation has done the same. The Nebraska Department of Education has done the same. His conduct during the Vietnam war was reprehensible. Whether this requires that we ignore his ideas which some, but certainly not all, think are valuable for the future is the question. I appreciate, at least in this instance, you would answer it differently than I would.
Ronald Reagan once said that if you can agree with someone 75% of the time you can still be friends. I'm hopeful that however much you disagree with this decision, that you and the University can still be friends. With our core missions, we are educating a record number of students that Nebraska will need if it is to have a prosperous future, we are setting records in research which will contribute to our economy, and we are engaged with the people of Nebraska in so many areas to improve their prosperity and quality of life.
Harvey Perlman
UNL Chancellor
Despite the unnecessary wordiness, Chancellor Perlman manages to make a few clear points: 1) A diversity of views is more important than an embrace of truth. Indeed, absolute truth doesn't exist. Each student must cast the net abroad for competing ideas and then "forge their own version of the truth." 2) Ayers' "conduct during the Vietnam war was reprehensible" but his views now (remember Ayers has never repudiated the ideas that moved him to bomb government buildings) are still, in Perlman's opinion, "valuable for the future."
3) The question of who should be paid to speak at important University events shouldn't be influenced by rubes like us. No, we're simply to give our hard earned money to UNL through property taxes, buy NU football tickets, and be quiet about other University doings. These things should be decided by professional liberals like other university bureaucrats, folks at the Gates Foundation and the Nebraska Department of Education. And 4) Please forget this flap. After all, we're doing some things you probably think are okay so don't bother us anymore, okay? And to help you swallow the pill, I'm even going to make a reference to Ronald Reagan, a fellow who we educators despised but who is probably admired by the Neanderthals who had the temerity to protest our invitation of Bill Ayers. Satisfied?
Thanks, Chancellor. Nice to hear from you too.
