American Public Square ICE discussion was supposed to be at UMKC, but they backed out
“There was no good reason, except cowardice,” said American Public Square CEO Claire Bishop.
By Melinda Henneberger
On Wednesday evening, I attended a highly informative, sane and civil American Public Square discussion — but I repeat myself — this time on ICE and immigration enforcement. There was a packed house, despite the rain, though the whole thing was supposed to be held in a different house, at UMKC’s Student Union instead of the Medallion Theater. The most unruly the crowd ever got? At one point, a couple of people started to applaud. The ‘civility bell’ put a stop to that out-of-order behavior, and the ringer of the bell did not have to intervene again.
I can’t say for sure that less threatening crowds than those at American Public Square events, which are dedicated to respectful debate about hard topics, do not exist anywhere: Before we moved to Kansas City, we lived across from a venue in Glen Echo, Maryland that hosted square dances, swing dances, and even Irish step dancing, and you never knew what those two-stepping hoodlums would do next.
But to cancel any event hosted by APS as too much of a security risk requires both a vivid imagination and a delicate disposition. Which is why it’s absurd that UMKC got the shivers a few weeks ago, and told the American Public Square that it would have to find a new spot for the event that APS had booked late last year. So what was the problem, exactly?
“There was no good reason, except cowardice,” said American Public Square CEO Claire Bishop.
Note: Civility does not preclude speaking up. So when I wondered why the location had been switched and asked her, she told me. And said “the reasons in my view were bogus.”
On March 24 — three weeks before the event that is the culmination of a year’s work by students at the nine area high schools that participate in the group’s Civics Education Initiative, “I got a note from the head of the student union, Jody Jeffries. He said they were unable to provide adequate security ‘at this late date.’ But we’d had an agreement in place, had secured the venue, last year and had a walk-through in March. They said we had broken the terms of the agreement by advertising the event, but we were publicly communicating the topic in November on our website. They left us scrambling.”
What all of this said to APS, Bishop said, was that “it’s all about this topic” — a political decision, in other words, and “such a missed opportunity. It was shocking to us, but not surprising,” based on previous experiences with UMKC, she said.
Teachers involved with the civics program for high school students “were scratching their heads,” and to Bishop, the message to those students, who had themselves chosen and developed this topic — potential UMKC students, remember — was surely that “this is the antithesis of an institution that values principled debate.”
UMKC: ‘We do not share that viewpoint’
When asked about the cancellation, UMKC’s Jeffries disputed Bishop’s conclusions, of course, in two emails to me.
First, he said this:
“American Public Square didn’t fulfill the requirements of its facility use agreement with UMKC. They were required to give UMKC advance notice of their event plans so UMKC would have enough time to obtain the necessary staffing and conduct the logistics planning that would be required to ensure the safety and security of the general public and our campus community at a large on-campus discussion.”
I answered that given that the agreement had been in place for months, American Public Square’s view was that UMKC backed out over fear of the topic, and I asked who had made the decision.
“We do not share that viewpoint,” Jeffries said in a second email. “It’s my office’s job to ensure the safety and security of our campus community and the general public when outside events seek to rent space on our campus and to hold outside parties accountable if they don’t meet the requirements of our facilities use agreement.”
Since it was someone above Jeffries at UMKC who informed APS’s founder, Allan Katz, of the decision the Friday before the Monday that Bishop received written notice, she said, that sounds to me even more like an excuse.
I see what happened here as an example of a university too afraid to get in trouble with you-know-who to fulfill its most basic mission, which is to encourage exactly the kind of exchange that American Public Square is known for. The university is in theory a place where knowledge, research and learning is the goal — where ideas, good and bad, can be tested and aired without fear. That’s gotten a lot more challenging in recent years, of course, but this seems like a failure to even try.
Historically, the mission of the university is what has made it a favorite target of authoritarians. But failing to allow an event that would give the Glen Echo contra dancers who do-si-do in my old neighborhood competition as ‘least likely to ever cause the slightest trouble’ really is weak.
Unfortunately, it’s also part of the larger picture of the institutions that our democracy counts on — Congress is now totally MIA — being too afraid to do what they exist to do in this moment when we so desperately need them to step up.
The decision that UMKC made in this instance might seem like a small thing. But the message it sends is as Claire Bishop said one of cowardice. And that’s no less disappointing because it’s become so commonplace.
Ha! I’m not surprised that it’s Theresa Levings beating me to the punch here with her sage comment!!
Coincidentally, just earlier this morning, my husband and I were talking about this same character/poor behavior trait having been on full display by the “leadership” at UMKC with regard their treatment of KCUR and their termination of occupancy on Troost. The inability of the current team to look past their noses and envision a more robust community rather than the one they appease today, does not speak well of their ability to deliver for their mission — or their students!
Wow!! Never viewed UMKC as brave but also never viewed it as cowardly. Perhaps UMKC subscribes to the surging camp that majors should be eliminated unless they are lucrative, turning universities into glorified trade schools. Good first step — UMKC — discourage critical thinking, informed speakers and civilized discussion. Also set students up for the modern world by modeling how not to operate with others in good faith.