Three UA members attend speech forum

Three Undergraduate Assembly members attended a one-day conference discussing free speech on college campuses Monday at Harvard University. College junior Dan Schorr, College sophomore Eden Jacobowitz and College freshman Laurie Moldawer attended the conference, which was sponsored by the First Amendment Coalition, a national organization which promotes First Amendment freedoms. The Coalition has chapters throughout the country, Schorr said, including the First Amendment Task Force, a University organization initiated by Schorr in September. Schorr serves as Undergraduate Council chairperson of the Coalition. The day-long activities included speeches and panel discussions about campus reactions to codes and policies which deal with the politically correct movement and "infringements on freedom of speech," Schorr said. "We discussed our plans for the next year," he said. "We want to bring about open debate on campus policies and we want the public at large to know what is happening behind closed doors at American universities." The conference was attended by approximately 120 people from campuses across the country, Moldawer said. "We listened to stories from other schools and what is going on there," she said. "Even in the most conservative of universities, there are problems with PC." Schorr said censorship comes from both "the right and the left" and the Coalition only hopes to "promote open expression and remain non-ideological." Moldawer said the University contingency stressed that "things have changed and the students don't support the administration." The keynote speaker was David Horowitz, a publisher and "1960's radical leftist," Schorr said. Both Schorr and Jacobowitz spoke at the conference, which was attended by students, publishers, lawyers and the media. "I told my story and I pointed out the hypocrisy of the administration," said Jacobowitz, who received a round of applause upon introduction. "You can learn valuable information on how to deal with the ridiculous garbage we deal with here every day," he added. "I thought [the conference] was very good but I don't know how effective it will be." Schorr said it was important for University representatives to attend the conference so they could "publicize what has been happening at the University and discuss with other members of other universities what is going on there." "Communication and open expression are the keys to defeating censorship," he said, adding that the schools in attendance now plan to work together to share information and take action when necessary.