Minutemen

This Monday, Spectator Opinion looks at the different roles of student activism from 1968 to 2008.

In commemorating the 40th anniversary of the 1968 Columbia student revolt, there are three dangers. One is to use the occasion as simply an opportunity for empty nostalgia, self-reflection, or in the case of many ex-radicals, self-criticism. The second danger is to forget that the students won their demands. The third danger is to approach it as an event that belongs exclusively to the University, as if the chemicals that caused the combustion were organic to this campus alone.

The Columbia Political Union’s decision not to sponsor an appearance by Jim Gilchrist, founder of the Minuteman Project, came about after several miscommunications regarding the inclusion of Karina Garcia, CC ‘07, according to the president of CPU.

Jim Gilchrist, the controversial founder of the Minuteman Project whose visit to Columbia in fall 2006 ended in a brawl, confirmed yesterday that he was invited to return to campus for a second speaking engagement, but a withdrawal of support for the event by the Columbia Political Union made it unclear whether such an appearance would occur.

Jim Gilchrist, the controversial former head of the Minuteman Project whose visit to Columbia in fall 2006 ended in a violent and hotly disputed brawl, confirmed that he was invited on Monday to return to campus for a second speaking appearance.