Campus takes stand for free speech
October 27, 2003
More than 100 students, faculty and staff -- and many more passers-by -- gathered in front of the HUB Friday afternoon to listen and make speeches about the Patriot Act, which was two years old that day.
They gathered under a banner reading, "Two years too long," and in front of gravestones where parts of the Bill of Rights were written.
The event was organized by Campus for Peace and Justice and was supported by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). From 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. members of the ACLU, students, faculty and others spoke out against the Patriot Act.
"It (the Patriot Act) puts us in the position of Third World countries that simply disappear citizens," said Doug Honig, public education director for the ACLU. "The Patriot Act goes too far."
Jim Gregory, an associate professor in history, approached the microphone after the arranged speakers were done. He compared the years since Sept. 11, 2001 to the "McCarthy era" which destroyed civil rights 50 years ago, he said.
It took five years for people to stand up against the McCarthy hearings, said Gregory.
"What is the Patriot Act going to look like five years into its history? ... Two years are two years too many."
Abe Osheroff, a veteran who fought with a small American force in the Spanish Civil War, gripped the microphone as he spoke to students about the importance of being a civil activist.
"Dissent is the very essence of my lifeblood," said Osheroff, who turned 88 Friday. "I have lived through a number of, quote, patriot acts."
Osheroff spoke about being imprisoned for his dissention and activism, particularly in the Joseph McCarthy era of the 1950s.
"Whenever there was a question between the morality of what I was doing and the legality of what I was doing, I broke the law," he said. "If you want to know the secret to getting to be 80 years old and getting up here and harassing the masses, the answer is activism."
Mark Smith, acting director of the office of public policy and communications for the American Association of University Professors (AAUP), spoke about an upcoming report the group is working on about academic freedom.
"We (the AAUP) conclude that, in these critical times, the need is for more freedom, not less," said Smith.
The report will be released this fall on the group's Web site at aaup.org.
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