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William Ayers, University of Wyoming

August 2010
University of Wyoming (Public college or university)
Laramie, Wyoming, USA

Identity of Speakers

  • William Ayers
    Faculty/Staff
    Invited for academic lecture

    William Ayers is a former leader of the Weather Underground and an American elementary education theorist.

Resources

Additional Information

  • Incident Nature:
    Other
  • Incident Political Orientation:
    Left-of-spectrum
  • Incident Responses:
    Rally or Protests
  • Incident Status:
    No litigation
  • No protest Occured
  • Did not involve Speech Codes

Summary

The University of Wyoming cancelled a planned visit by William Ayers, a professor of education with a history of radical politics. The cancellation came after an outpouring of criticism from students and alumni.

Ayers was the one-time founder of the radical 1960s organization, the Weather Underground, which believed in using violence as a tool to fight the establishment and was responsible for several high-profile bombings.

The University maintained that it did not cave to the complaints. Rather, a spokesperson for the University claimed that the University was simply being sensitive to diverse viewpoints and was willing to reconsider Ayers’ invitation in light of these new viewpoints.