Courtesy of the SF State chapter of Students for Academic Freedom, conservative author and political commentator David Horowitz visited SF State last Thursday for a discussion with students about the need for more diversity of opinion at American universities.

“This is the first time a conservative speaker has ever appeared at SF State,” said Jane Shahi, president of the SF Chapter of Students for Academic Freedom. “He is very provocative in his beliefs, so we expect his presence on campus to spark a great deal of highly spirited debate.”

For a university that prides itself on diversity, most faculty and students at SF State go out of their way to suppress an intellectual dialogue of ideas that do not fit the liberal agenda, said Horowitz.

"It is irresponsible that the president of this university does not enforce academic freedom on this campus," said Horowitz, who is also the founder of SAF. "San Francisco State (University) is not ‘Hannity and Colmes.’ It is uncivilized that there is no respect when there is a difference of opinions and ideas on this campus."

Horowitz was referring to a heated verbal altercation that took place at SF State last November when four women, opposed to the Bush administration, approached a rallying group of College Republicans at Malcolm X Plaza. Both sides later accused the other of physical attacks, and the case is currently under police and FBI investigation.

"There are eight armed guards with me today because the university cannot guarantee my safety," said Horowitz. "We live in a democracy. A speaker should not need protection just to talk to students."
Although he anticipated disgruntled dissent from most SF State students, Horowitz accepted the invitation to speak at SF State because he said he wanted to bring the campus's lack of diversity to the forefront. He argued that conservative professors are blacklisted on the campus, further making it difficult for students to get an open-minded and balanced education.

"SF State is 95 percent on the left," said Horowitz. "The atmosphere on this campus says you're somehow a racist if you don't go along with the majority."

Horowitz said that affirmative action is an excuse to promote minorities and does society more harm than good to advance students who are not academically competitive with their peers.

"I am all for outreach," said Horowitz. "But when you start with racial preferences, affirmative action is a big lie.

“Since 1957, the Master Plan, which dictates that every resident of California is guaranteed by law a place in the university system, has been successful. But that doesn’t mean that every resident has a right to go to Berkeley. A student should go wherever they are going to succeed. There is nothing wrong with going to a school like San Francisco State if you can’t get into UC Berkeley.”

According to Horowitz, a former liberal activist who in the 1970s founded the Oakland Community Learning Center, an inner-city school for disadvantaged children run by the Black Panther Party, Hispanics and blacks that enter college on the basis of affirmative action have a dropout rate of 50 percent. And rather than focus on the real problem - the education of K-12 students - the liberal state elected officials prefer to continue the atrocity of social promotion, he added.

“Everyone doesn’t start off equally in life,” said Horowitz. “And everyone doesn’t develop at the same pace. Grandma Moses didn’t start painting until she was in her 60s. And (President) Lyndon Johnson went to West Texas State College. Students need to be in a place where they don’t feel inferior and can’t compete.”

Cole Church, a junior art major with an emphasis in conceptual information arts, decided to attend Horowitz’s speech after seeing the anti-Horowitz signs carried by members of the Spartacus Youth Club.

“I thought I’d check it out,” said Church. “It’s not often you get to hear conservatives on this campus.
“I didn’t care much for what he had to say, but he had a right to say it. But people with power shouldn’t scream discrimination or claim to be victims. I mean come on. He’s a white male. Who is he to talk about the black plight?”

SF State student Tatiana Menaker said that Horowitz is one of the most intellectual and serious conservatives she has ever met.

“He’s right,” said Menaker. “Professors are supposed to enlighten students, not brainwash them with their liberal agenda. Because of people like Mr. Horowitz, we get to hear the other side.”

Aside from Horowitz’s complaint of the lack of diversity at SF State, he said that he is also preparing a lawsuit against the Golden Gate [X]press for refusing to run one of his paid advertisements.

“The chairman of the journalism department is ignorant of the First Amendment,” said Horowitz. “And I am unmoved by his reason and decision to not print my ad.

“This is a state institution. I went to school when McCarthyism was outside the schools. But now it’s crept its way inside the schools. The university has become an intellectually un-free place in American society.”

After a one-on-one interview with [X]press, Horowitz was introduced to journalism department chair John Burks. Horowitz confronted Burks and journalism professor Austin Long-Scott, criticizing them over the ad’s rejection and promising victory in his suit.

“Your First Amendment policy is wrong,” Horowitz told Burks. “Talk to your lawyers because I’m about to take a lot of money away from you.”

Later, Burks told [X]press that his interpretation of the First Amendment is backed up by decades of legal precedent.

“No matter how much money or power someone has, they cannot control what you put into print," said Burks. "[X]press is led by very capable editors who have that power (to accept or decline paid advertisements."

“If external groups determine what we publish, we don’t have freedom of speech," Burks said. "(Horowitz) said he wanted to debate me anytime on the First Amendment or free speech, so I hung around in the hall waiting for his interview to finish so that he didn’t think we were trying to duck him. He had his opportunity to do so or I was open the possibility to do so 15 minutes or 15 days from then. He likes to say he’s going to sue you or challenge you to a debate, but these are just efforts to intimidate. Well, we aren’t intimidated."

Burks also said that the journalism department has the full support of the university.

While the majority of the close to 150 attendees of his speech were vocally opposed to Horowitz’s position, several students were excited to have such a high-profile conservative open the doors to a diverse dialogue of ideas.

“I found out he was going to be here through gatorgop.com,” said Janel Adi, a design student at San Francisco Academy of Art University. “So many of us conservatives are in the closet. Speaking engagements like this bring us out into the open and unite us. I hope that this is the first of many more conservatives who stand up to the liberals in this city.”

Greg Sperla, a junior in political science, said he was honored that Shahi asked him to introduce Horowitz to the assembled students and faculty.

“Students for Academic Freedom worked really hard to put this on,” said Sperla. “I particularly liked when he spoke on putting pressure on the university to get conservative speakers and faculty because it’s frustrating being the only conservative in my classes.”

Andrew Posen, an undeclared freshman and a member of Students Against War, said that while he has no problem with Horowitz’s visit to SF State, he found it ironic that on several occasions during his speech calling for “academic freedom,” Horowitz called for disciplinary action against people who dissented with hisses, and for threatening expulsion for others who held up signs in the back of the auditorium.

“He constantly contradicted himself,” said Posen. “I urge liberals and conservatives to hear speakers from the opposite side and engage them in intellectual dialogue. I listen to (Sean) Hannity all the time. I get an ulcer doing it, but we need to be prepared to engage in dialogue when we’re face-to-face with people and issues we don’t agree with."

“After the election, the College Republicans held a debate last semester that was very productive and well done," said Posen. "Nader people, Republicans, Democrats and Students Against War all spoke to each other with respect. That’s what democracy is all about.”