Ayers controversy

Dear Editor,

There has been a good deal of comment, concern, anger, and frustration over the invitation of Bill Ayers to speak at the UNL College of Education. Many of you have communicated directly with me and hopefully I have responded to each of you although the volume of contacts has been immense and I may have missed some. I just wanted my constituents to have the benefit of some of my thinking on the matter and, therefore, this communication.

Events of this nature are planned and approved at the campus level; they do not come to the Regents for approval, although they often come as information items. I learned about it as an information item a few days before it became public.

My initial reaction was that there was more harm than any good that could possibly come from inviting someone like Bill Ayers. I cannot condone his past actions, and neither do those people who have contacted me.

While the university has always been about the free exchange of ideas, sometimes even controversial ones, there are also boundaries in the selection of people to express those ideas and this invitation, in my judgment, exceeded those boundaries. At best, it showed poor judgment.

I spent most of two days last week doing nothing except dealing with this issue, responding to your concerns, forwarding your opinions, answering questions, discussing the issue with my colleagues and the administration, and exploring options.

I am pleased that Mr. Ayers is not coming to our state and our campus. There are other issues remaining which will need to be addressed and I will be a part of those discussions and evaluations.

Thank you for your concern for and support of the University system, feel free to contact me at any time.

Bob Phares

Regent, District 7

North Platte