The craziness that was Ann Coulter's non-speech at the University of Ottawa had pretty much died down by about 9 p.m. or so on Tuesday night. Within minutes, Coulter was calling the U of O a “bush league” institution. No doubt then, you'll be amazed, at the lightning speed at which the University of Ottawa finally got around to officially reacting to the issue – more than 15 hours after the whole cacophony. Here it is:
On Tuesday, March 23, an appearance by Ann Coulter was scheduled on our campus, organized by the International Free Press Society Canada and the Clare Boothe Luce Policy Institute.
The University of Ottawa has always promoted and defended freedom of expression. For that reason, we did not at any time oppose Ann Coulter’s appearance. Whether it is Ann Coulter or any other speaker, diverse views have always been and continue to be welcome on our campus.
Last night, the organizers themselves decided at 7:50 p.m. to cancel the event and so informed the University’s Protection Services staff on site. At that time, a crowd of about one thousand people had peacefully gathered at Marion Hall.
“Freedom of expression is a core value that the University of Ottawa has always promoted,” said Allan Rock, President of the University. “We have a long history of hosting contentious and controversial speakers on our campus. Last night was no exception, as people gathered here to listen to and debate Ann Coulter’s opinions.
I encourage our students, faculty and other members of our community to maintain our University as an open forum for diverse opinions. Ours is a safe and democratic environment for the expression of views, and we will keep it that way.”
Please note that this is the University of Ottawa’s official statement and no further comments will be issued.
So there.
What a crock! The crowd could hardly be described as peaceful.
they were very much peaceful.. only about 200 of them were protesters actually.. the rest were students and public alike crammed into a tiny hall waiting to get into the auditorium. I think that statement very much described the events as they took place, especially considering I was there myself [not as a protester, but I wanted to see her fail in the debate portion]. On another note, screw Ann Coulter – she can't expect to tell Muslim students to 'take a camel' and not expect a backlash. What does she honestly contribute to politics or academia? She just says controversial things to get people talking in order to sell her books and generate free press.