Matt Hale at Northwestern

Protest against my extra credit assignment:

I am not a student in your class, but I am writing to express my dismay at hearing that you will be offering extra credit to students in Contemporary Problems and Freedom of Speech for attending Matt Hales address this friday. I overheard this from a student in your class and was immediately struck by the problem I feel this creates. Today in my e-mail box I recieved a copy of the letter from Pres. Beinen (included below) numerous times. In it he urges students to boycott Hale, thereby not giving him the attention he so desperately seeks. The idea that students, regardless of their personal beliefs, can be encouraged to attend this event by something so appealing as extra credit towards the final really disturbs me. There is potential for some +/- 50 students to attend this event now, the majority of whom if not all, I suspect would have no interest in doing so otherwise. Whether or not students support Hale, or whether he should be free to speak here is not the issue in this case. What is the issue is the free publicity, and through that access to people, that Hale can ONLY get by obtaining an audience. If nobody comes to hear him speak, it really doesn't matter what he says. I can see how this issue would be of great interest to the topic of your class, however I feel that there would be better ways of dealing with it that do not benefit such a disturbing cause. I urge you to, if nothing else, discuss this matter with your class. I would hope that the extra credit opportunity, which I know can motivate many Northwestern students beyond other causes, will be reconsidered. However, I realize I am not a member of your class, I just wanted to express my feelings.

Thank you for your time,
[name withheld]

Back to
case page.