Identity of Speakers
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William Ayers
Faculty/Staff
Invited for academic lectureWilliam Ayers is a former leader of the Weather Underground and an American elementary education theorist.
Resources
Additional Information
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Incident Nature:
Other
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Incident Political Orientation:
Left-of-spectrum -
Incident Responses:
Rally or Protests
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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.
