Interim Policy on Campus Speakers at Middlebury College Rewards Heckler’s Veto

Interim Policy on Campus Speakers at Middlebury College Rewards Heckler’s Veto

After what happened to Charles Murray last spring, you would think Middlebury would take steps to make sure that never happens again. Sadly, that’s not the case.

The Daily Caller reports:

Middlebury College Policy Rewards Censorship And Makes Violent Threats Effective

Earlier this year, Middlebury College was besieged by left-wing protesters who objected to the speaking event of renowned political scientist and American Enterprise Institute scholar Charles Murray.

Murray, who spoke about how the plight of the white-working class explained the outcome of the 2016 election, was forced to deliver his address via livestream as hecklers hurled profanity. Activists assaulted both him and professor Allison Stanger, who hosted the event, as they were leaving campus.

In response to the violence, Middlebury is instituting a set of “interim” rules for “scheduling events and invited speakers.” However, instead of punishing students for their violence, the new policy instead incentivizes violent protests (or even the threat of violent protest) against speakers invited to campus.

Per a Monday report from The College Fix, which brought the policy to light, the interim policy contains a section on “risk assessment” that is performed on invited speakers and determines how likely they are to face “threats or violence.” It reads:

In those exceptional cases where this review indicates significant risk to the community, the president and senior administration will work with event sponsors to determine measures to maximize safety and mitigate risk. Only in cases of imminent and credible threat to the community that cannot be mitigated by revisions to the event plan would the president and senior administration consider canceling the event.

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