Talking politics in the Ballroom
ill Ayers, an educator in Illinois, was on campus last Thursday.
Ryan Johnson
Issue date: 4/8/08 Section: News
Controversy preceded former Weather Underground member Bill Ayer's visit to campus last Thursday, but the evening went by smoothly as it attempted to foster open discussion on a variety of topics.
Ayers, who was invited by the UND chapter of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), discussed the current campaigns for president in America, his own past as a member of a fringe political group in the 1970s and the role of teaching in his life.
He is currently a Distinguished Professor of Education at the University of Illinois in Chicago.
Crowd conversation
Before Ayers was even introduced, one audience member questioned the intentions of event organizers by having a police presence in and around the Memorial Union.
Several uniformed officers stood by in the back of the Union Ballroom, while another car waited outside in the front parking loop of the building.
The woman, who didn't introduce herself, said it was disappointing to see this at the event. She stated that other controversial presentations at the same venue hadn't required police officers.
"Angela Davis filled this very room years ago," she said.
An organizer helped end the suspicions, explaining that they had worked with the police force to make sure that everyone was safe.
Myth of history
Ayers began by saying "I think everything I do is kind of wrapped up in teaching and learning" before taking on the artificial history of the 1960s in American popular culture.
"The 1960s have been mythologized and turned into a product to sell back to us today," he said. "It's unrecognizable to me. I think it's part of the way we dumb down our own history."
A good portion of the remainder of his presentation dealt with this notion, especially in regards to the belief that war protestors opposing the Vietnam War were the majority and not the minority during the time.
He said his first encounter with legal troubles began after he was inspired by an SDS-led event on his campus in 1965. Ayers quoted the president of the group as saying to the crowd "You must figure out a way to live your life that doesn't make a mockery of your values," something he said stuck with him.
Ayers, who was invited by the UND chapter of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), discussed the current campaigns for president in America, his own past as a member of a fringe political group in the 1970s and the role of teaching in his life.
He is currently a Distinguished Professor of Education at the University of Illinois in Chicago.
Crowd conversation
Before Ayers was even introduced, one audience member questioned the intentions of event organizers by having a police presence in and around the Memorial Union.
Several uniformed officers stood by in the back of the Union Ballroom, while another car waited outside in the front parking loop of the building.
The woman, who didn't introduce herself, said it was disappointing to see this at the event. She stated that other controversial presentations at the same venue hadn't required police officers.
"Angela Davis filled this very room years ago," she said.
An organizer helped end the suspicions, explaining that they had worked with the police force to make sure that everyone was safe.
Myth of history
Ayers began by saying "I think everything I do is kind of wrapped up in teaching and learning" before taking on the artificial history of the 1960s in American popular culture.
"The 1960s have been mythologized and turned into a product to sell back to us today," he said. "It's unrecognizable to me. I think it's part of the way we dumb down our own history."
A good portion of the remainder of his presentation dealt with this notion, especially in regards to the belief that war protestors opposing the Vietnam War were the majority and not the minority during the time.
He said his first encounter with legal troubles began after he was inspired by an SDS-led event on his campus in 1965. Ayers quoted the president of the group as saying to the crowd "You must figure out a way to live your life that doesn't make a mockery of your values," something he said stuck with him.
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