By the entire editorial board

The Babbling Bear is proud of its fellow Cornellians for shouting down Cornell alum Ann Coulter (Cornell ’84) in Myron Taylor Hall last night. This brave action prevented her from spewing hate speech at our beloved safe space [f]ar above Cayuga’s Waters. This marks the first victory in the war against ACTA’s racist and hateful push to colonize Cornell under the Gold Standard for Free Expression Initiative. As one hero in the battle decried to Coulter, Your words are violence. We don’t want you to speak here.

The entire editorial board of the Babbling Bear applauds the Gender Justice Advocacy Coalition (GJAC) for sending out emails encouraging Cornellians to disrupt Ann Coulter. The heroic actions of our disrupters can be seen in these videos: video 1, video 2. By deplatforming Coulter, a WOMAN, who does not see the world through an intersectional and global lens with a focus on gender-marginalized folks, the Gender Justice Advocacy Group made it possible to encourage meaningful and critical conversations related to the gendered lived experiences of all people; and clearly, Ann Coulter, a white, cis-heteronormative female, cannot be considered part of “all people”.

This was not just a one-day battle. The actions of the Gender Justice Advocacy Coalition exposed Cornell’s  weak underbelly by showing the the core of Cornell beliefs is rotten. The GJAC made a mockery of the Director of Media Relations Rebecca Valli’s claim that [o]ur campus community understands the importance of vigorously debating and reflecting on differing political and social views, including – and often especially – those that challenge personal ideas and beliefs. From our founding, Cornell has stood for free and open inquiry and expression, and robust debate and a discussion of all views are hallmarks of the Cornell experience both in and out of the classroom.

Cornell works best when we personally attack individuals rather than debate ideas.