Libertarian author divides University on class
Libertarian author and political scientist Charles Murray spoke to a full Rockwell Pavilion Friday evening on the vanishing morals of the white, American working class and an upper class that is becoming increasingly solitary. | Justin Tijerina/The Daily Cougar
Despite the controversy that has followed him in Houston this past week, libertarian political scientist and author Charles Murray spoke at UH on Thursday evening to a full room and little fanfare. Murray, a W.H. Brady Scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, spoke about marriage, ethics and the growing cultural gap between the upper and lower classes in the latest event with the Hobby Center for Public Policy and the Phronesis minor in The Honors College.
Assistant political science professor Jeffrey Church, who introduced Murray and said he was a fan of his work, spearheaded the move to bring Murray to UH.The talk was funded in part by a grant from John A. Allison IV and the BB&T Bank, with which Allison formerly worked.
Its (a) great grant it allows us to have the Phronesis Fellows, who are 15 to 20 of our best Phronesis minor students with The Honors College, and bring in the speakers, said philosophy associate professor and co-director of the Phronesis minor Tamler Sommers.Not all of them do public lectures like this, but they also have private seminars with the Fellows, who have read in advance something the speaker has done.
The people who are in charge of the money would like to see a balance in ideas. They have not told us we have to invite anybody or anything like that, but there are people in the Phronesis program with ideological commitments more conservative than most academics.
Sommers called the grant controversial, due to Allisons strong libertarian beliefs and vocal support of libertarian writer Ayn Rand.
I think its worth it, Sommers said. I think its doing so much good, allowing us to bring in amazing people from all sides. It really offers great opportunities for our students.
The lecture was originally planned to be held in the Honors Commons but was moved across the hall to the Rockwell Pavilion in anticipation of a largeand iratecrowd. Political science seniorCrystal Sowemimo planned on bringing students from theUH NAACP and UH Mexican American Studies Student Organization to protest the talk, but the plans fell through. Still, the Rockwell Pavilion was full, and Sowemimo and other students carried signs with messages such as Coogs do not welcome racism in informal protest.
Murray visited Rice University on April 7, and the protests by Rice students made headlines. Jim Granato, director for the Hobby Center for Public Policy,said he was very proud of UH students for their behavior.
Ive been in academia for over 30 years, and Ive seen talks that some disagreed with. People were totally disrespectful, nobody got to hear what the person had to say so they could decide for themselves. The fact that the people protesting let him talk thats such a credit to the University, to you guys, Granato said.
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