Gee, I wonder if anyone will protest the appearance of an avowed communist with a criminal past?

Joseph Asch of Dartblog reports.

Show Tolerance for Angela Davis

Greg Lukianoff, president of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, describes springtime as “disinvitation season” for speakers at American universities. The New York Times reports:

A week before she was to speak at the Smith College commencement, Christine Lagarde, chief of the International Monetary Fund, has withdrawn from the event, citing protests against her and the fund, the college said Monday.

Her withdrawal comes after Condoleezza Rice, the former secretary of state, withdrew from speaking at the Rutgers University commencement in the face of protests against her role in Bush administration foreign policy, and weeks after Brandeis University rescinded its invitation to the rights advocate Ayaan Hirsi Ali to receive an honorary degree at its commencement, after protests over her anti-Islam statements.

Perhaps coincidentally, the three disinvited speakers cited by the Times were all women who can fairly be considered pioneers in their area of endeavor.

While it unclear whether a visit to the College by such figures would provoke an outcry, we can be certain that respectful tolerance (and even enthusiasm) will be shown this week for celebrated 1960’s radical and Communist Party member Angela Davis, who famously provided the guns used by Jonathan Jackson in a hostage taking that led to four deaths in 1970.