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Don’t Be an Ayerhead

posted by lepstei3 at 5:09 am.

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Bill Ayers was in residence at Allen Hall this week. I’m not sure how you could have missed all the buzz about him if you had tried. Various media outlets have been doing their best to send warnings to the public and campus community about this “terrorist.” Foundingbloggers.com explained that “If your kid attends the University of Illinois, Urbana, and is a resident in Allen Hall, then they are going to have the once in a lifetime opportunity to shack up with unrepentant terrorist Bill Ayers.” I can’t believe I missed the first day of his presentation. I mean, they don’t always bring such interesting speakers to campus.

In case you missed it, here’s the DI’s editorial Cartoon from Wednesday

Ayers began his discussion Tuesday night about one of his many books, Fugitive Days. According to Ayers, the book is a story about a boy making decisions and choices in a “fraught world.” A lot of the presentation revolved around his own experiences protesting the Vietnam War. The cause was important to him because, “Every week that we failed to end the war, 6,000 people died,” said Ayers.

A lot of the publicity was torn down before he arrived and throughout the week. Apparently, crumpling up fliers was considered a wise idea by protesters. However, they didn’t stop there. At the end of the presentation, Mark Thompson, a member of the CU community, dashed for the mic to make a statement–a long one at that. In his prepared statement–or rather speech–Thompson claimed that Ayers is brainwashing students. He ended his statement with the phrase, “Don’t be an Ayerhead.” It was his goal to make the students in attendance think critically. By the mass of individuals who stayed afterwards to continue the discussion with Thompson, it seems that he accomplished this goal. Those students argued, rather than agreed, with Thompson’s position. It seems that Ayers had several Ayerhead’s working for him already.

Credit: Foundingbloggers.com Maybe Allen Hall should have used this image for publicity; it may have attracted more students to the programs.

Ayer’s insight into his own experiences during a past controversial era was very relevant to the current war we’re in. In the ’60s and ’70s, Ayers was involved with the Weather Underground, and engaged in various acts of anti-war activism. The purpose of Ayers’ residency was to be accessible to students as well as offer them a glimpse into his own life experiences. As it stands, a majority of the nation opposes the war that we’re in now, but he wasn’t imposing his beliefs on us.

As a professor of education at UIC, Ayers has spent a lot of time “indoctrinating students” with his agenda. In case you missed it, that agenda is focused on social justice and education reform among other things.

Lihy Epstein: "Kvetch"-- In yiddish: to complain, bitch, and moan. My goal is to give you a taste of the world from my kvetchy perspective. Enjoy!