Scholars for Peace in the Middle East (SPME) commends Middlebury faculty

March 20, 2017 – Scholars for Peace in the Middle East (SPME) applauds and appreciates the more than one hundred Middlebury faculty for their stance and statement following the disruption of Dr. Charles Murray’s talk on March 2nd. During his visit to Middlebury, Murray was prevented from addressing his audience and protesters shouted him down and injured a professor who was escorting him from the venue. Unfortunately, such occurrences have become common on campuses around the country.

Murray is best known as the author of “The Bell Curve: Intelligence and Class Structure in American Life” and “Coming Apart: The State of White America, 1960-2010.”

Individuals have the right to agree or disagree with different viewpoints however; academic freedom is the freedom to explore any subject wherever it leads and to exchange ideas with colleagues of one’s choosing and lies at the heart of the academic enterprise. Without this freedom, universities will become servants of special interests and political ideologies.

AUTHOR

SPME

Scholars for Peace in the Middle East (SPME) is not-for-profit [501 (C) (3)], grass-roots community of scholars who have united to promote honest, fact-based, and civil discourse, especially in regard to Middle East issues. We believe that ethnic, national, and religious hatreds, including anti-Semitism and anti-Israelism, have no place in our institutions, disciplines, and communities. We employ academic means to address these issues.