The visit of Bill Ayers, co-founder of the Weather Underground and professor in the College of Education at the University of Illinois at Chicago, to campus this Thursday has raised the ire of members of the surrounding community such as prominent Boston conservative radio host Michael Graham, who has led a campaign to get Brandeis to bar Ayers from speaking. On his blog, Graham further criticized the upcoming visit, writing, "The Unibomber, Timothy McVeigh, Osama bin Laden-hey, they've all got something to say and we should give them a forum at Brandeis to say it."

Ayers was a radical anti-war activist in the 1960s and a co-founder of the Weather Underground, a radical protest group blamed for several bombings at the Capitol and Pentagon. The Weather Underground was suspected to have been involved in the shooting of Walter A. Schroeder, a Boston police officer, during a bank robbery in Brighton.

Dennis Nealon, the executive director of media and public affairs for Brandeis, said, "We told the [Boston] Globe and the [Boston] Herald that allowing the talk to proceed does not mean that Brandeis condones the views of the speaker."

"The University does not unilaterally bar someone because some will oppose their views. . This is about freedom of [educational opportunity]," he said.

When asked about his response to Boston College's decision to cancel a planned visit by Ayers, Nealon said that Boston College faced similar criticism to Brandeis but "there just didn't seem to be a solution in saying, 'You just can't hear this speaker.'"

Liza Behrendt '11, an event coordinator for the visit and a member of Democracy For America, a group co-sponsoring the visit, spoke about the importance of the Ayers visit's appearance on Graham's show, The Natural Truth, on Boston radio station WTKK. On April 23, Behrendt and Graham engaged in a debate for about 10 minutes during which Graham referred to Ayers' ideas about education as "bizarro and lunatic."

During the show, Graham asked if, when Behrendt had referred to Brandeis' tradition of activism, she had been referring to Angela Davis, Susan Saxe and Katherine Howard.

These three Brandeis alumnae appeared simultaneously on the FBI's most wanted list, representing the only time in American history that three women have been listed.

Behrendt replied that she was proud of those women and said that she didn't believe "sharing a tradition of radical behavior is the same as endorsing a death."

In the closing moments of the show, Graham asked if Behrendt would invite Adolf Hitler to speak at Brandeis. In a later interview with the Justice, Behrendt said "I didn't know what to say; it was such an absurd question."

Graham could not be reached for comment by press time.

When asked if she felt that she was experiencing a personal backlash from the event, Behrendt responded "No, I didn't, because I was just a person from Brandeis who ended up on that show. . I don't think that it's anything personal. I just feel that many people made comments from another ideological place."

"It's interesting to see some of the passion that comes with the backlash," Behrendt added.

Behrendt said that going on the show "seemed like an interesting opportunity because part of the reason why we brought Ayers was to try and spark dialogue, and this seemed like a good way to do that."

Behrendt also said that she thought it was good that Brandeis hadn't backed out, because universities should be the place in society that stands for ideas.

On March 29, the Boston Globe reported a statement released by BC regarding why the institution had canceled Ayers' visit to its campus.

The statement said, "In light of additional information that was shared with the students on the actions of the Weather Underground, including their alleged involvement in the killing of a Boston police officer in nearby Allston, and out of concern for the safety and well-being of our students, we believe that the appropriate decision was reached."

Brandeis student reaction to the upcoming visit is mixed.

Doug Moore '11 said, "I've been kind of against [Bill Ayers'] presence on campus," citing "the message we're sending by bringing him here. . It kind of damages that image [of an activist institution that Brandeis has]."

Shanna Rifkin '11, however, said "Within an activist community, you have a whole spectrum of activism. It's important to .. get a well-rounded and broad education. You don't have to agree with [Ayers], . but [we should] at least appreciate the fact that he's bringing a different perspective and view than we have [now]."



-Daniel D. Snyder, Joel Herzfeld, Shana D. Lebowitz and Nashrah Rahman contributed

reporting.