The Spectator The independent student newspaper of Valdosta State University
Written By: Cole Edwards
Controversy is brewing over a scheduled Sept. 11 appearance by a Fox News commentator for which VSU is paying $43,000.
Titled “An Evening with Dr. Ben Carson,” the event is billed as a non-partisan fundraiser.
A pediatric neurosurgeon and New York Times bestselling author, Carson plans to deliver a keynote speech titled “America the Beautiful: Rediscovering What Made this Nation Great.”
Tables at the dinner are going for $2,500, according to the Atlanta Journal Constitution. Tickets were priced at $20, but according to the VSU website, overflow seating has been arranged to watch live via television in Jennett Hall for $10.
Gov. Nathan Deal has reserved two seats for the event, with the head of minority recruitment for the Georgia GOP having 20 seats, according to the AJC.
Previous planned appearances by Carson at universities have led to negative reactions. Carson withdrew from a planned at Johns Hopkins University in 2013 after a backlash arose due to comments about the Affordable Care Act.
Carson was hired as a news columnist by Fox News in 2013 after serving as the director of pediatric surgery at John Hopkins. He recently began raising funds for a potential presidential candidacy in 2016.
Keep a close watch on our website and check out the next issue of The Spectator for further reading on this issue.
Regarding Ron’s comments, most universities today are not interested in “free thinking ” or “open minds”, they are interested only in their own agendas. There is a strong trend developing in this country towards throwing out our Constitution. Can any progressive here even imagine what it would be like to NOT be able to say what you want? If you want a dictatorship, move somewhere that has one and you will see how fun that is. Does anyone on the left have a brain left???
Benjamin Carson is a very courageous breath of fresh air, and Valdosta should be proud to welcome him. You will be glad you did.
$43,000..? Sheesh lol. Great preview Cole!!
Most Americans do not understand what “free speech” means. Free speech does not mean you get to say whatever you want, whenever you want, without repercussions. The VSU Mission Statement maintains that VSU will create a “nurturing and respectful” atmosphere for our diverse student body – including our LGBTQ students. If VSU permits Dr. Carson, a documented heterosexist and homophobe, to speak at the university, it must change its mission statement. If VSU puts its “stamp of approval” on Dr. Carson’s bigotry, it sends the message that bigotry is celebrated at VSU. Watch VSU’s enrollment numbers plummet…
FREE SPEECH…wow what a concept! Especially at a University that prides itself on freedom of thought, the free flow of ideas, and the freedom to protest. But to protest does not mean to destroy or shut down the other freedoms, only to give voice to opposing opinion. As long as we travel down this path of censorship and political correctness we are doomed…and unlike the ancient Hebrews who thought it was just around the corner millennia ago,..it won’t be long now. OPEN MINDS PRODUCE CRITICAL THINKING.