WWW.GUILFORDIAN.COM
TANTAROS
NEWS
Vlsidng snakM Tamaros' talk pravakas raspaasa
Continued from Page I
"First, first and foremost. I'm
actually from an Islamic family and
I'm damn proud of the t)^e of person
I am," said Benarbane. "First, I'm not
a religious person, even if I was—" he
was again cut off.
"I can tell," said Tantaros regarding
Benarbane's lack of religion.
Benarbane said to The Guilfordian
that he felt violated by the apparent
hate speech. He cannot believe that
the College has not spoken up about
the talk.
"The College is supposed to be a
safe zone," said Ben^ane. "This is
not a gray area issue, this is not a free
speech issue. This is a hate speech
issue. It's not only f****ed up, it's
personally insulting and hurtful."
In a series of political talking
points, Tantaros brought up the
Democrats' "war on women" and
likened government sponsored birtiti
control to helping women buy shoes.
The Guilford College Republicans
and Young Americans Foundation,
a conservative group, sponsored
Tantaros' visit Two thousand dollars
in college funds were used to bring
her to the college.
Both Campus Activities Board and
the College Republicans are issuing
statements in The Guilfordian today.
V^Jliam Moore, a senior and
president of the Guilford College
Republicans, said that Tantaros was
selected after watching videos of her
Fox show.
"We originally invited a Republican
who was an atheist but that fell
through, and Andrea was our second
choice," said Moore, who hoped to
hear about fiscal responsibility and
jobs coming from toe Republican
pimdit.
Jeremy Rinker, visiting professor
of peace and conflict studies, told
The Guilfordian that he didn't see the
speech; however, Tantaros' comments
bordered on hate speech.
"Is it hate speech?" said Rinker. "It's
certainly an example of categorizing
and dehumanizing an entire culture. I
am less concerned whether or not it is
"hate speech" as I am concerned about
the potential violent ramifications of
such intolerant language."
Kent Chabotar, president and
professor of political science, said that
asking a speaker for an explanation
and an appropriate response is usually
the best way to clarify an issue.
"Although once a speaker has
started, I am unsure how you
unstart them," said Chabotar in an
email interview. "While I deplore
gratuitously offensive speech, as
I understand many believed this
speech to be, I also value free speech
and a diversity of views especially on
this campus."
Chabotar told The Guilfordian that
the best way to undermine offensive
or untrue speech is to respond to toe
speaker and organizers directly.
For toe video referenced in toe
article, see
WWW.GUILFORDIAN.COM
Dear Guilford Community,
The Campus Activities Board as a whole would like to offer our sincerest apologies for the inappropriate, hurtful
comments Andrea Tantaros stated during her talk on Thursday, September 13,2012. We as a board are committed
to creating an understanding, supportive atmosphere for the entire community and did not intend to cause harm
or division. We believe it is important to honor the diversity of this community and do not condone racist, sexist,
religiously intolerant, or otherwise hurtful language or action in any of our events. We were unaware that the speech
would contain such language when we booked her. In the future, we will exercise continued careful and diligent
research when booking performers so as to prevent such incidents from recurring.Additionally CAB and Senate will
be hosting a community forum next Wednesday at 2:30 p.m. in Founders Hall to discuss this event and reconcile any
residual feelings and emotions regarding this event Please contact me with any concerns or questions.
Deepest Apologies,
^ Hallle Dowling-Huppert, Campus Activities Board president, dowlinghupperthr@guilford.edu ^
^ There has been some buzz about campus relating to our event with Andrea Tantaros. For the most part it ha^
been positive. However, there is a perception that her comments were anti-Muslim. We would like to address these
feelings in a honest manner.
As she stated in the beginning, she does not speak for the Republican party. The Republican party in itself is a
coalition of individuals that all stand for common goals such as: small government strong national defense, and a
strong economy.
We, as the branch of the Republican Party for Guilford College, never have and never will support hate towards a
certain group. When the War on Terrorism started, the leader of our party made the following comments:
"We see in Islam a religion that traces its origins back to God's call on Abraham. We share your belief in God's
justice, and your insistence on man's moral responsibility. We thank the many Muslim nations who stand with us
against terror. Nations that are often victims of terror, themselves."
"Islam is a vibrant faith. Millions of our fellow citizens are Muslim.We respect the faith.We honor its traditions. Our
enemy does not. Our enemy doesn't follow the great traditions of Islam.They've hijacked a great religion."
-George W. Bush, 2002
There is a concern as to where the Guilford College Republicans stand regarding Tantaros’ position on Muslims
and the religion of Islam. After emailing her to get her true intentions, we believe that her comments were about the
interpretation of how some extremist groups, such as the Muslim Brotherhood,and not everyone in the Islam religion
interpret the Quran.The way the speech was structured, it would lead anyone to the conception that she thought
that all Muslims were told by their religion to behave in such a manner.This is not true.The Quran is supposed to
be an extension of the Old Testament in the Bible. We stand with George W Bush when he says “they’ve hijacked a
great religion.”
We believe that the freedom of speech, otherwise known as the Diversity value, should allow anyone the freedom
to speak freely. It is this censorship that sows division among us and leads people to do be alienated from our general
sense of “community.” If we are to censor, where do we stop? We seek to heal the division amongst us and wish to
help further the level understanding and consideration on this campus in order to achieve true community.
If there are any other concerns, feel free to contact us.
collegerepublicans@guilford.edu
Will Moore
Guilford College Republicans president
Senate Update
This Week's ♦
Developments*
We had an open fomm on Student Life with Aaron Fetrow, dean
of students. Students expressed desire for an open forum on the
smoking policy and an intentional judicial review process to foster
tt^nsparency in judicial affairs. Expect more developments soon.
Students are reminded to keep campus clean!
Next Week's ♦
Plans *
We will be joined by the Director of Public Safety and others to
discuss Public Safety procedure and policy.
We will have a discussion about keeping campus clean and how
students can support the Facilities staff.
We need to hear your voice!
Got an idea? Concern? Great recipe? It's important to us!
Join Student Senate Wednesday night at 7:00 in upstairs Founders.
For items on the agenda email: senate@guilford.edu
Moseley and Dell recognized by local non-profit
BY BRYAN DOOLEY
Senior Writer
Local non-profit Greensboro
Beautiful recognized Kyle Dell,
associate professor of political science,
and Lynn Moseley, Dana professor
of biology — along with Brooks
Mullane of Greensboro Parks and
Recreation and Ken Bridle of Piedmont
Land Conservancy — for their work
removing harmful invasive species
from the Guilford College Woods.
According to Greensboro's City
Beautiful Coordinator Lynne Leonard,
Greensboro Beautiful's mission is to
conserve and enhance the beauty and
ecology of our community through
public and private cooperation.
"We decided to cooperate because the
Guilford College Woods are bordered
by Price Park, a dty-owned park,"
Moseley said. "Animals and plants do
not recognize the boundaries. It is aU
one ecosystem."
That ecosystem is currently infected
with a variety of invasive species.
"Invasive species replace native
plants because toey are more aggressive
and produce more seeds," said Moseley.
"Insects and other species depend on
native plants for food. If the insects
have no food, then the birds have no
insects, and the hawks have no birds to
eat It has a cascade effect on the whole
eo>system."
She went on to say that both areas
have the same problem with invasive
species — such as akebia, multiflora
rose, Chinese privet and autumn olive
— so it was pointless to not work
together. Price Park and toe Guilford
College Woods total over KX) acres of
mostly forested land.
Dell pointed out the importance of
stewardship in an email interview.
"We have a responsibility to act
as good stewards of a predous and
extremely rare gift," Dell said. "They
were given to us by those who went
before us at the college, to be given by
us to those who will come after us. The
woods also provide a valuable resource
for humans as a key green space for this
part of the county."
When humans are not good
caretakers, they can have a tremendously
detrimental effect on the woods.
'The invasive spedes were most
likely introduced to the Guilford
College Woods through humans,"
said senior biology and education
major Emily Egan. "In the areas of the
woods where there is a lot of human
impad, like around toe lake or toe main
entrance of the woods, the invasive
spedes are more prevalent. However,
in deeper and undisturbed areas, toe
wood's ecosystem tends to be intact"
Dell and Moseley could not have
begun toe difficult process of deaning
up the woods alone.
"Student partidpation is critical,"
Egan said. 'These plants have no
natural predators, and that is why
they are flourishing. So if we do not
take action, toe problem will never be
solved."
Students who are interested in
volunteering can get information on the
Guilford Buzz or by contacting Moseley
or Dell.
They have had four deanups since
January 2012, and plan to begin again
this October.
"It is important for everyone to play
a part in protecting the environment,
from how we live and the choices we
make on a daily basis to volunteering
for community projects which protect
and enhance our environment," said
Leonard. "It does good, and it feels
good." —