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The Charles Murray Event at Middlebury College
Charles Murray, a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, was scheduled to speak at the College on March 2, 2017, by invitation of the student American Enterprise Institute Club. A crowd of more than 400, most of them students, filled Wilson Hall in McCullough Student Center. Many carried signs.
When protestors disrupted the talk with 20 minutes of loud chanting, Murray and Middlebury College Professor Allison Stanger, who was to moderate the Q & A, moved to a video studio that had been set up for the occasion so that Murray could give his talk with questions to follow by Stanger.
Following the conclusion of the talk, as Murray and Stanger walked to a waiting car, they were surrounded by protesters, who tried to block their path. Professor Stanger was injured during the encounter and required medical treatment for a concussion.
Following are links to information and some of the many responses to the Charles Murray event.
College Statements and Information
Other Statements
Community Resources
Reflections from Charles Murray and Allison Stanger
Opinions from The Campus
Selected Media Coverage
Contact
College Statements and Information
June 10, 2017: The Right Way to Protect Free Speech on Campus, opinion piece by President Laurie Patton in The Wall Street Journal
May 23, 2017: Middlebury College Completes Sanctioning Process for March 2 Disruptions
May 8, 2017: President, Provost Announce Formation of Committee
May 5, 2017: Update on Middlebury College Disciplinary Measures
May 2017: President's column in Middlebury Magazine, Old Chapel: A Robust Public Sphere
April 17, 2017: Statement on Disciplinary Measures
April 7, 2017: Free Speech and the Public Sphere, President Laurie Patton's Address to Faculty
March 6, 2017: President's letter to the Middlebury community
March 3, 2017: President's letter to the campus community regarding Charles Murray event
March 6, 2017: Video recording of Charles Murray and Allison Stanger talk at Middlebury
Other Statements
June 20, 2017: Free Speech 101: The Assault on the First Amendment on College Campuses, meeting of the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary
April 4, 2017: APSA Statement on Violence at Middlebury College on March 2
March 14, 2017: Truth Seeking, Democracy, and Freedom of Thought and Expression - A Statement by Robert P. George and Cornel West
March 12, 2017: Broken Inquiry on Campus, Student Response to Faculty Statement
March 6, 2017: Free Inquiry on Campus, Statement of Principles by Middlebury Faculty
Reflections from Charles Murray and Allison Stanger
April 3, 2017: My Divided Campus, New York Times, Allison Stanger
March 13, 2017: Understanding the Angry Mob that Gave Me a Concussion, New York Times, by Allison Stanger
March 5, 2017: Reflections on the revolution in Middlebury, by Charles Murray
March 4, 2017: Message from Professor Allison Stanger
Opinions from The Campus
Open Letter to President Patton, Multiple Authors, 5/2/17
Do Better Middlebury, Ben Arquit ’20, 3/9/17
We Can Do Better, Annie Grayer, 3/8/17
Charles Murray, Middlebury, the Working Class and the Rise of Trump’s America, Charles Smith ’20, 3/8/17
A Disappointing Response, Adin Insoft ’20, 3/8/17
Unwittingly Promoting Murray, R. Curtis Brand, 3/8/17
We Got Played Last Week, Day Robins ’17, 3/8/17
This Is Not My Protest, James Scott ’19, 3/8/17
Illiberalism on Display, Richard W. Porter ’81, 3/8/17
I realized that I had done exactly what we never want anyone in our classroom to do..., Bettina Matthias, professor of German, director of the German School, 3/8/17
The Need for More Protests, Divesh "Parli" Rizal, 3/8/17
A Sad Day on Campus, Ata Anzali, assistant professor of religion, 3/8/17
Murray Should Not Have Been Invited, Peter Knobler ’68, 3/8/17
Vilification from the Protesters, Wentao Zhai ’17, 3/8/17
Rethinking the Consequences of Neutrality, Tyler McDowell ’19, 3/8/17
Deeply Disturbed by Silencing, Jacob M. Appel MD JD, 3/8/17
Toward Community Healing, Jeremy Stratton-Smith ’17, 3/8/17
Why We Should Listen to the Protesters, Juan Andrade-Vera ’19, 3/8/17
Shine a Light on Abhorrent Ideas, Peter Mandel ’79, 3/8/17
Questions for Those Who Shut Down Murray, David Stoll, professor of anthropology, 3/8/17
Nuance, Free Speech, and Responsibility, Erik Bleich, professor of political science, 3/8/17
Letter from Abroad, 3/8/17
Free Speech vs. Elevated Speech, Elizabeth Lee ’17, 3/8/17
Why We Protest, Anna Jacobsen ’16.5, Joshua Claxton ’18 and Austin Kahn ’17.5, 3/18/17
Coming Together, Thomas Leaycraft ’20, opinions editor, 3/8/17
Selected Media Coverage
June 1, 2017: Universities Should Be Safe Spaces for Intellectual Diversity, Real Clear Politics
May 28, 2017: How the Middlebury Riot Really Went Down, Politico
May 12, 2017: "Whose Campus Is It Anyway?: Safe Spaces at College," NPR-Latino USA, Arianna Reyes '18
May 8, 2017: The Daily: The Campus Conservative's Lament, New York Times
May 2, 2017: When Flamethrowers Like Ann Coulter Come to Campus–Six students weigh in, New York Times
April 29, 2017: Middlebury College Punishes Students Who Disrupted Charles Murray Talk, Boston Globe, Travis Andersen
April 25, 2017: Addressing the Real Crisis of Free Expression on Campus, white paper from The Newseum, Jeffrey Herbst
April 24, 2017: Middlebury Struggle Session, Wall Street Journal (requires subscription), editorial
April 21, 2017: Why Pick on Middlebury?, The American Interest, William M. Chase
April 15, 2017: Charles Murray's ‘Provocative’ Talk, New York Times, Wendy Williams and Stephen Ceci
March 29, 2017: Campuses Grapple With Balancing Free Speech and Security After Protests, New York Times, Christine Hauser
March 28, 2017: “Scientific racism” is on the rise on the right. But it’s been lurking there for years., Vox
March 18, 2017: Right-Wing Billionaires Are Funding a Cynical Plot to Destroy Dissent and Protest in Colleges Across the U.S., Alternet
March 17, 2017: Divisiveness Is Not Diversity, Inside Higher Ed, Associate Professor Linus Owens, Rebecca Flores Harper '11, and Maya Goldberg-Safir '12
March 10, 2017: Is Intersectionality a Religion?, New York Magazine, Andrew Sullivan
March 10, 2017: Erica Robinson: A Middlebury Fail, vtdigger.com
March 11, 2017: The Dangerous Safety of College, New York Times, Frank Bruni
March 8, 2017: McCarthyism at Middlebury, Wall Street Journal (requires subscription), Daniel Henninger
March 7, 2017: Why Middlebury's Violent Response to Charles Murray Reminded Me of the Little Rock Nine, Washington Post, Danielle Allen
March 7, 2017: Protest Prompts Professors To Defend Free Speech, Fox News/Tucker Carlson Tonight
March 7, 2017: Discord at Middlebury: Students on the Anti-Murray Protests, New York Times
March 7, 2017: After a protest turns violent, Middlebury finds a teaching moment for free speech, Boston Globe
March 6, 2017: The Aftermath at Middlebury, by Scott Jaschik, Inside Higher Ed
March 5, 2017: The Mob at Middlebury, Wall Street Journal (requires subscription), editorial
March 5, 2017: Bell Curve Author Attacked by Protesters at Middlebury College, Boston Globe
March 4, 2017: Murray and Middlebury: What Happened and What Should Be Done, by Professor Matthew Dickinson
March 3, 2017: A Sad Day on the Middlebury College Campus, by Professor Ata Anzali, Addison Independent