By Sara Russo

The staff of The Counterweight, a newspaper produced by the Bucknell University Conservatives Club, was threatened at a "secret meeting" called by the University's administration to discuss two controversial articles in the publication's most recent issue. Despite the presence of five administrators at the meeting, no one protested when fellow students threatened to inflict bodily harm on the Counterweight staff. Faced with a threat from University officials to call security, the Conservatives Club members were forcibly evicted from the forum, while those who had issued the threats against them were allowed to remain.

Labeled as a gathering to discuss diversity issues on campus, the forum centered on two articles published in the October 4 issue of the Counterweight, both dealing with race and free speech at Bucknell. One of the articles, entitled "First Amendment Protects Even Blackface," argued that Bucknell had overreacted in its response to two male fraternity members who had darkened their faces to impersonate tennis players Venus and Serena Williams on Halloween. The University had forced the students and their fraternity to write letters of apology to the African-American population on campus, and had required that they attend Black History Month events.

The second article, written by former Conservatives Club president Michael Boland, investigated a case where a student was heavily penalized for making a prank phone call during which he uttered the phrase, "What's up, my Negro?" to a student who he did not know, but who turned out to be African-American.

The student who made the call argued that the phrase was uttered in a moment of haste, under the influence of alcohol, and was acceptable slang in his home state of California. He was charged with bias-related harassment, and was placed on stayed suspension and probation for one year, forced to pay a fine, ordered to attend meetings with an African-American faculty member, and required to read a book and write a report on racial sensitivity. The Counterweight article questioned the wisdom of the University's punishment, and argued that "speech is the most effective weapon against other speech; censorship is one of the least effective."

Though it was known in advance that the forum would serve as a discussion of these two articles, which had angered minority students on campus, not a single member of the Conservatives Club was invited to attend the meeting, which was convened by members of the Bucknell administration.

"We know that the Dean of Students, as soon as he saw the Counterweight, he grabbed a bunch of copies, and called all the multicultural types into his office and had them read it. And they discussed strategy. So, he may have called the meeting, as a result of that, or [Interim Director of the office of Multicultural Affairs] Danielle Smith may have called the meeting," Counterweight editor-in-chief Charles Mitchell told Campus Report.

An e-mail publicizing the meeting was sent to various multicultural groups on campus, and specifically warned members not to "spread the word around to the whole campus because it is a sensitive topic."

The Conservatives Club caught wind of the meeting, and three members, Counterweight editor-in-chief, Charles Mitchell, Conservatives Club President Denise Chaykun, and former president Michael Boland decided to attend. "We just wanted to see why people were so upset," Mitchell told Campus Report.

Reception to the Conservatives Club members at the forum quickly became hostile. Though Dean Richard Ferraro began the meeting by cautioning students to be "honest" but "civil," the assembly soon degenerated into a series of angry threats and profanity issued against the Counterweight staff.

"There was allegedly a moderator, Danielle Smith, the Director of Multicultural Affairs, but she didn't really keep order," Mitchell said, noting that approximately 40-50 students were present at the forum.

One student stated that he wanted to punch editor-in-chief Mitchell, but knew he would face disciplinary consequences for doing so, and another student claimed that one would be lynched for printing such articles in the inner city. Several students referred to the publication as "hate speech," while one student yelled curses and called the paper "a menace to this campus."

"I don't think they were expecting us, but they didn't seem terribly surprised," Mitchell said of the students' reaction to the Counterweight staff attending the meeting. "But then when the guy who wrote the blackface article wasn't there, they were pissed off that he didn't show up. And, it's like, no he wasn't invited and neither were we. Did you want us to bring our whole club?"

The five administrators present at the meeting, which included Dean of Students Ferraro, Interim Director of the Office of Multicultural Affairs Danielle Smith, Assistant Dean for Fraternity and Sorority Affairs Shauna Irwin, Women's Resource Center Director Mary Snyder, and English professor Glyne Griffith, did not chastise students for making threats but instead joined in with hostile remarks of their own.

Assistant Dean Irwin told members of the Conservatives Club that they were lucky not to have been attacked for printing what they did. Ferraro asked Mitchell whether he had considered the feelings of others before printing the articles, and asked whether he would print the blackface article again, after witnessing how upset it had made his fellow students. When Mitchell responded affirmatively to both questions, Ferraro said he wasn't surprised by the response, and claimed that the Conservatives Club members "take joy in hurting others," and that the Counterweight was written with "malice" and the intention of hurting other students. None of the four other administrators present stepped in to try and restore more professional conduct.

Shortly after issuing these remarks, Dean Ferraro demanded that the Counterweight staff leave the building. When questioned by Boland whether the meeting room was "University-owned housing," Ferraro responded by threatening to call University Public Safety if the conservative students did not leave immediately. As none of the other administrators or students present spoke up for the Counterweight staff, they obligingly left the meeting.

Ironically, the cover story for the Counterweight's current issue is titled: "Free Speech: What the Bucknell Administration Could Learn from Eminem."

Ferraro has defended his decision to evict the Counterweight staff from the forum, telling a local paper, the Sunbury Daily Item, that the gathering had been called for other students and that the Conservatives Club members "don't have the right to attend everybody else's meeting."

In a statement released by the university's administrators, Ferraro expanded his response. "A recent issue of the Counterweight, the publication of a conservative student group on campus, included stories that many felt supported the use of action and speech intended to intimidate and threaten minority students at Bucknell," the statement read. "Many of our students were understandably upset, and in response, the administration facilitated and students convened a meeting to allow those students to express their feelings and concerns."

An e-mail sent by Ferraro to the entire Bucknell community, gives a similar account of the meeting's origin."First, the last issue of the Counterweight ran two stories which many persons felt supported 'Blackface' on campus and the use of racially charged language in crank phone calls. This caused a number of students, including multicultural students, to feel abused," stated Ferraro's e-mail. "A meeting was called last Friday to talk to the students who felt demeaned and degraded by these articles. The intention was to give these students emotional support and to talk about their needs."

But Mitchell contests Ferraro's characterization of the articles as supporting blackface or racist speech. "Regardless of what anyone may have felt, the stories did not 'support 'blackface' on campus [or] the use of racially charged language in crank phone calls.' In fact, in the article on 'blackface,' the author, Tom Elliott, specifically stated that, 'Painting your face black probably isn't the smartest thing to do-I am not defending it.' He merely reported a federal court ruling on the subject and argued that the students involved in last year's incident at Bucknell did not need to be censored or punished," he wrote on the Conservatives Club's website.

With regards to the eviction of the Conservatives Club members from the meeting, the administration's statement claims, "When Counterweight staff members arrived at the meeting, they were allowed to stay for more than an hour and engage in a dialogue with other students. The discussion was frank, and at times there was heated language on both sides. When it appeared that no more positive outcomes could be had from the dialogue, the dean of students [Ferraro] asked the Counterweight staff members to leave so the students could return to the original purpose of the meeting."

"There was no dialogue," contends Mitchell. "They basically subjected us to an inquisition and we responded when they specifically directed us to…the heated language was on their side. We were very nice." He also notes that Dean Ferraro did not "ask" but rather "ordered us to leave."

The administration also questions the account that Counterweight staff have given of the incident, but fails to note any specific errors. "Without engaging in point-by-point debate with the conservative group, we will say emphatically that there were numerous and substantive factual errors in the group's account of the meeting," the administration's statement claims. "Finally, we would like to emphasize that Bucknell's commitment to free speech is unswerving; but we also believe unswervingly in civility, a sense of justice, and respect for other individuals and cultures."

"That's outrageous," Mitchell says of the alleged "substantive factual errors" in the Counterweight's description of the meeting. "We took notes, they didn't. That's just not true. We all went over it together. If they can get the 50 people in that room to all get a story together, then maybe we can talk."

Mitchell notes that while he expected the meeting with fellow students to be contentious, he did not anticipate the behavior of the administrators present. "I personally expected an inquisition. I expected people to be mad when the Counterweight came out," he told Campus Report. "I did not anticipate the severity, and certainly I did not anticipate the blatantly unprofessional conduct of the administrators or us to be personally threatened. That was what shocked me."

"There were a lot of people in that room who said they wanted to hurt us," Mitchell added. "When the dean asked me if I would run these articles again, and I said yes, a couple people said, 'I want to punch you.' And [the administrators] did nothing."

"We've demanded an apology from the Dean of Students who basically called us 'evil people' and he has refused in writing," Mitchell reported to Campus Report. "He actually shot right back that we should apologize because we meant to hurt people, which is obviously totally false. I can't believe he actually would say that in public."

"I am sorry that you and the other staff members from the Counterweight crashed that meeting. And I am sorry that you and the other staff members were not conciliatory with these students when you saw them hurting and when they spoke to you kindly," stated Ferraro's e-mailed response. "I don't know how to explain to you how hurtful the last issue of the Counterweight was to many persons on this campus. If you can't see it, then you just can't see it."

Ferraro concluded the e-mail by again asking the Counterweight staff to apologize to "the students you hurt."

Mitchell believes that Dean Ferraro's hostile behavior may be linked to a separate dispute about Mitchell's use of the instant messenger (IM) name, "iamdeanferraro" while at work in the history department. Instant messenger is a popular program used by students to send text messages back and forth over the internet, allowing for instant communication.

"This guy Ferraro, the dean of students, is pressing charges against me right now. My work IM name used to contain his name, just because I don't like him, and I'm facing trial [a student hearing] next week for that," Mitchell told Campus Report, noting that the name was merely a joke and that he never once impersonated the dean. "So he obviously knows who I am, he obviously has an ax to grind….Before [the meeting about the Counterweight], I don't think this guy even knew who I was, but he clearly does."

Despite the administration's animosity toward the Counterweight, Mitchell isn't worried about the paper's future. "There was a call to defund us, and that is, I'm told, not happening," he said. "I spoke with the person in charge of that with Student Government yesterday, and she said, 'no way'."

While the Counterweight staff remains upset at their treatment during the meeting, Mitchell did note one bright spot during the encounter. "Somebody was there, a guy who moved here from Cuba, and he was just talking about how great it was that we can discuss these things in this country," he commented. "Which was lost on them."