Free speech on agenda for UI trustees’ retreat in July – Champaign/Urbana News-Gazette

URBANA With controversial speakers running into opposition at colleges across the country, including the University of Illinois, free speech and campus culture will be front and center at a UI retreat in July.

President Tim Killeen said Monday the agenda for the UI Board of Trustees' annual retreat will include an in-depth look at the topic and several others that "are on everybody's radar screen right now."

Just last week, the UI's Carl Woese Institute for Genomic Biology dropped plans for a talk by Nobel Laureate James Watson, who co-discovered the structure of DNA but has been castigated by fellow scientists for his discredited views on race and intelligence.

Watson had initially reached out to the UI institute to give a "narrowly focused scientific talk" about his cancer research in conjunction with a planned visit to a colleague's lab, according to institute Director Gene Robinson.

But other faculty at the institute objected because of Watson's history of racist and sexist comments, and the lecture was dropped. No date had yet been set.

Killeen, who talked with The News-Gazette before a faculty meeting Monday, said that neither he nor Chancellor Robert Jones was involved in the decision, which transpired fairly quickly. He said he appreciated the concerns about Watson's views but added, "I think we've got to be very careful, this university, to make sure that we really are open to free expression."

This situation was somewhat distinct from incidents at other campuses, where protesters have shouted down controversial political speakers or prevented them from appearing.

"This is an icon of science who is close to being 90 years old who is talking about a scientific presentation," Killeen said.

Organizers felt that "the science presentation would have been difficult to manage" because of the controversy surrounding Watson's other views, Killeen said.

"I think you have to recognize that we're a university for all. But I can respect some of the rationale that was brought to the table," he said.

He said he wasn't "in the loop" for the decision, but added that he dislikes "disinvitations."

"I'm a fervent believer in the First Amendment," he said. "There are going to be lots of different conversations about lots of issues that we ought to be exposing our students to, and of course, the best approach to speech that you disagree with is to provide speech that makes your case effectively, maybe in a different setting. But we've got to do that in a respectful way.

"I think this is another of those issues," he said.

Killeen said he has invited several national speakers to the retreat to address three topics: campus culture and freedom of expression; immigration policies and globalization; and civic engagement, not just voting and political participation but "how we perform our land-grant mission."

"We want an authentic University of Illinois voice in all of the above," he said.

Over the past several months, the university has been examining a range of issues in terms of mitigating potential risk, including student safety, free speech and assembly, and how to deal with "self-inflicted problems that might pop up out of nowhere, so we're best prepared for these kinds of things," he said.

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Free speech on agenda for UI trustees' retreat in July - Champaign/Urbana News-Gazette