Spring Break
Neighboring community protests Ayers' campus visit
by Shana D. Lebowitz
Associate Editor
News | 5/19/09
Posted online at 12:58 AM EST on 5/19/09
In light of Brandeis' traditional Jewish affiliations, many protesters compared Ayers' involvement with terrorist organizations to anti-Semitic movements.
"Imagine … that you had a Nazi collaborator who was speaking at Brandeis," said Joe Manzoli of Shrewsbury, Mass., who stood protesting outside the main gate. "Do you think that people should not be offended by what occurred 60 years ago? We're talking about something that occurred 40 years ago."
"I don't understand why Brandeis would host a terrorist who is probably against everything that Israel stands for," said Evelyn Reilly, a 68-year-old Waltham resident.
"[Ayers] should be in a jail cell, not a classroom on any campus," her husband Joseph Reilly, 78, added. "He is a convicted felon."
Some Brandeis students supported Ayers' visit as a representation of free speech on campus.
"If we're going to talk about free speech, we should let anyone say whatever they want to say," Mairin O'Donnell '11 said.
"Education is seeing different perspectives from people you sometimes disagree with [and] sometimes you agree with," said Matthew Kupfer '12, who also heard Ayers speak at the event.
Other students were inspired by Ayers' reflections on his activist past.
"[Ayers] showed … appropriate consciousness of what he had done and his mistakes, but also I think [the speech] was more about the future than about the past," said Lily Adams '09.
- Brian Fromm and Miranda Neubauer contributed reporting.
"Imagine … that you had a Nazi collaborator who was speaking at Brandeis," said Joe Manzoli of Shrewsbury, Mass., who stood protesting outside the main gate. "Do you think that people should not be offended by what occurred 60 years ago? We're talking about something that occurred 40 years ago."
"I don't understand why Brandeis would host a terrorist who is probably against everything that Israel stands for," said Evelyn Reilly, a 68-year-old Waltham resident.
"[Ayers] should be in a jail cell, not a classroom on any campus," her husband Joseph Reilly, 78, added. "He is a convicted felon."
Some Brandeis students supported Ayers' visit as a representation of free speech on campus.
"If we're going to talk about free speech, we should let anyone say whatever they want to say," Mairin O'Donnell '11 said.
"Education is seeing different perspectives from people you sometimes disagree with [and] sometimes you agree with," said Matthew Kupfer '12, who also heard Ayers speak at the event.
Other students were inspired by Ayers' reflections on his activist past.
"[Ayers] showed … appropriate consciousness of what he had done and his mistakes, but also I think [the speech] was more about the future than about the past," said Lily Adams '09.
- Brian Fromm and Miranda Neubauer contributed reporting.
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