Hundreds to Protest George Will's MSU Commencement Appearance

Hundreds of people angry about George Will’s controversial remarks discounting the severity of college rape are expected to protest the conservative Washington Post columnist’s appearance as a Michigan State University commencement speaker Saturday.

Nearly 800 people have signed up so far to take part in a Saturday morning demonstration that caps several days of events organized to protest the selection of Will, who taught briefly at MSU in the 1970s, as a commencement speaker, Media Matters and the Detroit Free Press are reporting.

Will has a long history of skepticism about rape, but organizers of the protest said a column last summer was particularly inflammatory. In it, Will wrote that reports of sexual assaults on college campuses across America have made “victimhood a coveted status that confers privileges.”

Related:

• MSU Defends George Will as Commencement Speaker

Senior Emily Kollaritsch, one of the organizers of a Wednesday rally in which protesters planned to deliver petitions demanding Will’s removal from the list of speakers, said the university is “affiliating with a rape apologist.”

“This is a huge step backwards, a huge slap in the face to every advocate survivor and ally who have worked alongside survivors to create a better campus because the administration is not doing that so it is falling on the hands of the students to create change,” said Kollaritsch, who told Media Matters she had been assaulted twice during her time at MSU.

The university’s Council of Graduate students also opposes the choice of Will and sent a letter to Simon calling it ”a direct contradiction to the very firm stance the university has recently proclaimed to actively address the problem of sexual assault ...”

As recently as Dec. 1, University President Lou Anna Simon posted a note about the school’s efforts to combat sexual assault on campus, including “frank conversations and open dialogue to build a ‘culture of respect.’ “

“For us, it’s not just a difference of opinion,” third-year law student and protest organizer Emily Gillingham told the Free Press. “For us, it is just an insensitive choice. I feel bad for survivors who will be there, their graduation marred by a speaker who is a symbol of how we treat campus rape survivors.”

Faculty members have also joined the fray.

Assistant Sociology Professor Stephanie Nawyn said Will’s appearance is especially troubling given the fact that the U.S. Department of Education has two open Title IX compliance cases against MSU for its handling of sexual assault reports in July 2011 and February 2014.

“I am concerned, as are other faculty, that bringing an individual to our campus that has publicly invalidated and dismissed the traumatic experiences that some of our graduates have had sends an inaccurate message to our students,” Nawyn said in an email to the Free Press.

“Will is not just giving a speech; he is part of one of the biggest days of our graduates’ lives, and I want that day to include messages that the Spartan community respects and treasures all of our students,” Nawyn wrote.

MSU President: “Creating Space for Discourse”

In a statement issued Tuesday as the controversy grew, Simon defended Will’s selection, which she said occurred before he wrote the controversial column in June. The university announced his selection on Dec. 2.

“Having George Will speak at commencement does not mean I or Michigan State University agree with or endorse the statements he made in his June 6 column or any particular column he has written,” Simon wrote.

“It does not mean the university wishes to cause survivors of sexual assault distress. And it does not mean we are backing away from our commitment to continuously improving our response to sexual assault.

“What it does mean is this: Great universities are committed to serving the public good by creating space for discourse and exchange of ideas, though that exchange may be uncomfortable and will sometimes challenge values and beliefs.”

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• Should the Michigan State University cancel George Will’s appearance?

MSU graduate student Jessica Kane, who works in the campus Sexual Assault Center, told Media Matters she believes university officials waited until this month to announce Will as a commencement speaker because “they knew it would be disappointing.”

“George Will’s manner of approaching sexual assault is dismissive to all sexual assault survivors,” Kane said. “Basically he calls them all potential liars. The fact that he approached sexual assault with such a callous attitude is really alarming.”

University of Virginia President, Michael Moore Also Speaking

Will is scheduled to speak at 10 a.m. at the ceremony for the colleges of Arts and Humanities, James Madison, Arts and Letters, Business, Education, Music, and Social Science, and will also receive an honorary doctorate of humanities.

Several faculty members, including Nawyn, are organizing an alternative graduation ceremony for interested students.

Also scheduled to speak Saturday are University of Virginia President Teresa Sullivan, who has temporarily suspended fraternity and sorority activities and created a task force of students and faculty to examine university policies on sexual assault reports after a Rolling Stone article detailed a gang rape. Rolling Stone has distanced itself from the story, but the probe at the university continues.

Also scheduled to speak is Michigan-born filmmaker Michael Moore, whose breakout documentary “Roger & Me” started a successful film career.

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Handout photo of George Will