[Peace-discuss] How we've instructed the young

[Ricky Baldwin]

Fascinating.  What do we know about this guy or his
book?

Ricky

--- "C. G. Estabrook" <galliher at alexia.lis.uiuc.edu>
wrote:
> Story printed on: May 20,2003
> 
> LOCAL NEWS: Rockford
> 
> Speaker disrupts RC graduation [sic!]
> 
> A New York Times reporter delivers an antiwar speech
> that offended many.
> 
> By CARRIE WATTERS, Rockford Register Star
> 
> ROCKFORD - New York Times reporter Chris Hedges was
> booed off the stage
> Saturday at Rockford College's graduation because he
> gave an antiwar
> speech.
> 
> Two days later, graduates and family members,
> envisioning a "go out and
> make your mark" send-off, are still reeling.
> 
> Guests wanting to hear the author and Pulitzer
> Prize-winning reporter are
> equally appalled.
> 
> And College President Paul Pribbenow is rethinking
> the wisdom of such
> controversial topics at future commencements. This
> is Pribbenow's first
> graduation.
> 
> Hedges began his abbreviated 18-minute speech
> comparing United States'
> policy in Iraq to piranhas and a tyranny over the
> weak. His microphone was
> unplugged within three minutes.
> 
> Voices of protest and the sound of foghorns grew.
> 
> Some graduates and audience members turned their
> backs to the speaker in
> silent protest. Others rushed up the aisle to
> vocally protest the remarks,
> and one student tossed his cap and gown to the stage
> before leaving.
> 
> Mary O'Neill of Capron, who earned a degree in
> elementary education, sat
> in her black cap and gown listening. She was
> stunned.
> 
> She turned to Pribbenow and asked him why he was
> letting the speech
> continue. He said it was freedom of speech.
> Pribbenow later said when
> people stop listening to ideas, even controversial
> ones, it is the death
> of institutions like 157-year-old Rockford College.
> 
> In tears, O'Neill left the ceremony.
> 
> Her husband, Kevin, sat in the audience with their
> daughter and was as
> indignant as his wife.
> 
> "This is a ceremony. ... The day belongs to the
> students. It doesn't
> belong to a political view," he said.
> 
> Hedges, a war correspondent, criticized military
> heroic ideals that grow
> during war. The fervor sacrifices individual thought
> for temporarily
> belonging to something larger, he said.
> 
> Hedges sympathized with U.S. soldiers. He
> characterized them as boys from
> places such as Mississippi and Arkansas who joined
> the military because
> there were no job opportunities.
> 
> "War in the end is always about betrayal. Betrayal
> of the young by the
> old, of soldiers by politicians and idealists by
> cynics," Hedges said in
> lecture fashion as jeers and "God Bless Americas"
> could be heard in the
> background.
> 
> After his microphone was again unplugged, Pribbenow
> told Hedges to wrap it
> up.
> 
> Elinor Radlund of Rockford read Hedges' book on war
> and was horrified at
> what she said was the audience's rude behavior. She
> was indignant she
> couldn't hear the speaker.
> 
> "They were not behaving as people in an academic
> setting, where you're
> supposed to be open to a great many ideas," Radlund
> said.
> 
> Pribbenow said Rockford College takes no political
> stance, but the job is
> to challenge students. He reminded audience members
> of the liberal arts
> college's commitment to listening to other
> viewpoints.
> 
> It didn't happen.
> 
> Spontaneous reaction led 66-year-old Gerald Kehoe of
> rural Boone County
> down the aisle in his first time to protest
> anything. He was hurt to hear
> a verbal attack on the country. He attended
> Saturday's commencement to
> watch his daughter graduate, the fourth from
> Rockford College.
> 
> Rockford College political science professor Bob
> Evans said it's a
> reminder of the "raw edges of emotion" on the issue.
> 
> A student who rushed the stage could face reprimand
> although he still
> received his diploma.
> 
> "It's important to go on the record that it's
> inappropriate behavior,"
> Pribbenow said.
> 
> Contact: cwatters at registerstartower.com;
> 815-987-1242
> 
> FORUM: Was a New York Times reporter wrong to
> deliver an antiwar speech at
> Rockford College's graduation? Click Here to discuss
> it. [sic]
> 
>  
>
==============================================================
>   Carl Estabrook
>   University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
> [MC-190]
>   109 Observatory, 901 South Mathews Avenue, Urbana
> IL 61801 USA
>   office: 217.244.4105 mobile: 217.369.5471 home:
> 217.359.9466
>   <www.carlforcongress.org>
>  
>
===============================================================
> 
> 
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