EDITORIAL: Campus Conservatives delivered with Ron Paul
Ron Paul left Mount Pleasant soon after his speech Saturday night, but the conversations his speech started will continue for weeks.
This Editorial Board wants to acknowledge the effort demonstrated by Campus Conservatives and applaud them for their work in successfully bringing presidential candidate Paul to campus to speak this past weekend.
The registered student organization did not offer an endorsement of Paul, and neither will we, but the importance of his stop here should not be underestimated.
In recent years, Central Michigan University has managed to bring in only a handful of marquee events offering intellectual stimulation, and none come to mind that generated national headlines, as Paul's appearance did.
The more than 1,400 who attended, some out of support for his campaign, others in opposition or motivated by sheer curiosity, demonstrated Central Michigan University's role as a forum for thought and debate deserves greater attention.
Also held this past weekend was an electronic music concert Dayglow, held Friday in Finch Fieldhouse and promoted as “America’s Largest Paint Party.” The event, which drenched dancing attendees in neon paint, attracted 3,300 people, many of whom were CMU students.
Paint parties have a place here, as do lectures and campaign speeches by politicians. Dayglow served as a fun way to release the stress many students feel in college, especially during midterm season. But that doesn’t mean paint parties and concerts should be the extent of what we offer as far as entertainment goes.
This March, the Speaker Series is bringing world-renowned primatologist Jane Goodall to campus, best known for studying chimpanzees in Gombe National Park in Tanzania. The cost of $60,000, a one-time gift from the college deans and provost, will be paid to the Jane Goodall Institute. Her visit has already generated considerable buzz across campus, but why should such an event come once a year and without permanent funding?
Also in 2009, co-creator of South Park Trey Parker visited campus free of charge after being invited by a distant relative, journalism professor emeritus Elliot Parker. Parker's visit, like Paul's, shows that important people can be lured without a substantial fee.
Sometimes all it takes is reaching out, as Taylor Jackson, Campus Conservatives president, did with Paul's campaign.
Both the university and other RSOs need to extend invitations to more people capable of generating important conversations about policy, morality and leadership in the same way.
It’s important to acknowledge the cost of bringing Paul to campus was extremely affordable, $933 paid for by Campus Conservatives, because of his current campaign promotion across Michigan.
It is even more important to understand these are the types of significant figures that should be sought after by CMU to visit our campus. Permanent funding and an expanded schedule for the Speaker Series go a long way toward meeting that goal, but other RSOs would do well to follow the example set by Campus Conservatives.
Pick up the phone and keep students talking.
