College tries to slide terrorist speaker under the radar

By Katie O'Malley

The College of DuPage (COD) in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, has announced the February speaker for their Living Leadership Program.  Based on the desired goals of the series, COD students, parents and the taxpayers of DuPage County should have much to be excited about.  The program, according to their website, is based on the following philosophies: “Leadership is a skill, therefore anyone can learn it, practice it, and become better at it.  Leadership is not tied to position, title or authority.  Leaders use 1) Conscious Decision-Making 2) Active Participation, and 3) Understanding of Multiple Perspectives to impact their communities in positive ways.”  Specifically, COD hopes to aid in “connecting students with people who are showing leadership through their action in today’s world.” 

And yet, when the office for Student Activities sent an email message campus wide announcing William “Weather Underground” Ayers as the featured speaker, it landed with a thud.  Despite an influx of emails, calls and concern, COD seems curiously oblivious to the controversy.  But not so oblivious that the initial email somehow managed to mysteriously leave off all members of the COD Board of Trustees.

After reading the stated goals of the series, one cannot help but ponder how a dried up old hippie, whose claim to fame is almost 40 years old, can possibly be relevant as someone who shows action in today’s world.  The only “action” he seems to have consistently participated in recently is the pimping of his memoir chronicling his reign of terror and the whiplash inducing ducking and weaving of the spotlight during the Obama Presidential Campaign.  Embarrassing, yes.  Leadership?  Not so much.

Kory Atkinson, a Trustee for COD, will be asking the Board of Trustees to discuss the concerns that are being raised, not only with the invitation of Ayers, but with the leftist slant of speakers invited to COD in recent years, during a January 12th Board meeting.

“The students, residents and taxpayers of COD have a right to expect that the College will use public funds responsibly.  Paying an admitted and unrepentant domestic terrorist to speak to our students about ‘leadership’ is simply appalling and demonstrates poor judgment in the use of public dollars.”

Ayers is a public figure.  However reprehensible he may be personally or his actions may have been, that simple truth is not in dispute.  He rose to national prominence in the late 1960’s as a leader in the Students for a Democratic Society.  Later, he achieved infamy with his association with the Weather Underground and his influence in that movement’s drive toward more militant and violent behavior.  Ayers, as noted as recently as 2004 in an interview, remains unrepentant about his violent proclivities though he attempts to distance himself from the moniker “domestic terrorist”.

Perhaps Ayers hopes to hide behind an oversimplification of the definition of  a terrorist .  That it can only be defined by body count and MSM coverage.  Achieving the loss of life through violent acts is not the only goal of terrorists.  It is the infusion of terror into the lives of ordinary citizens, as well as government officials, in order to manipulate civic policy and sway citizens either toward a desired political philosophy or, at the very least, keep them from speaking out in opposition.  Whether it means that they are afraid to board airplanes, invest in an economy or stand up for beliefs that might make them the focal point of violence, terror is the ultimate goal, not just death and destruction…terror that inspires inaction, passiveness and docile behavior in the face of opposition.

Timothy McVeigh understood the opportunity and methods to instill terror.  How is William Ayers any different than McVeigh?  Merely because McVeigh was more savvy in his explosives capabilities?  Would McVeigh, were he alive, not meet the College of DuPage’s criteria?  Indeed, were his actions not more relevant than Ayers if only because they came closer to what COD seems to think is important “action in today’s world” by occurring more recently than 40 years ago?

Trustee Atkinson hopes to remind the College of DuPage of their chartered goals.  “Part of COD’s mission is to offer programs that educate students for responsible citizenship, civility, and mutual respect in a multicultural and global society.  Mr. Ayers’s resort to violence and his lack of repentance is the antithesis of responsible citizenship, civility, and mutual respect.”

It seems that COD is more focused on pushing a political agenda than providing the students and taxpayers of DuPage with relevant and admirable leadership and inspiration.  I find it hard to believe that DuPage County has failed to produce a member of the military who has inspired others with great leadership and accomplishments.  Atkinson notes, “It is inexcusable that in a community as large and prosperous as DuPage County and the Chicago metropolitan area that COD cannot identify a speaker with more leadership skills than a domestic terrorist.”


Katie O'Malley is the National Director of AnyStreet.org and a writer for Human Events.