This is part of a new feature installment, showcasing the history of both the Bi-College News and the Bi-College community through old publications.
By: Tracy Sullivan, Editor-in-Chief
Published: Tuesday, April 29, 1997 in The Bryn Mawr and Haverford Bi-College News (Vol. 29, No. 24)
The visit of former Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North last Thursday sparked a week-long controversy on the Haverford campus. Forums sponsored by both the Haverford College Republican Club and the Coalition, as well as a documentary sponsored by the Haverford Democrats, attempted to educate and inform the community, while Black Thursday and PLP protests gathered support from both Bryn Mawr and Haverford students.
North, a 22-year veteran of the United States Marines best known for his involvement in the Iran-Contra Affair of the 1980s, was invited to speak about “Restoring Conservative Values.” His visit was sponsored by the Haverford College Republican Club, Young America’s Foundation, Haverford Speakers Committee, the Dean’s Office, the President’s Office, and Collection Committee.
North’s Comments
In the beginning of his address, North explained that the purpose of his visit was not to ask his audience to “endorse what I’ve done or what I’ve not done.” Rather, his goal was to present “thought-provoking ideas.”
While holding a copy of the Constitution, North proceeded to discuss the “Judeo-Christian code of ethics” governing the nation and the ways in which the Constitution has been violated by the government in recent years.
“We have created a government that cannot possibly fulfill all of the expectations” that we have placed on it, according to North. “The greatest cause of anger [in this country] is unfulfillable expectations,” he added. He noted that the Oklahoma City bombing and the advent groups like the Freedmen’s Organization were “the consequences of those unfulfilled expectations.”
North further emphasized the importance of “engag[ing] yourself in the political process” because the government cannot solve all of the nation’s problems alone. “Politicians today have fairly well concluded they’ve got the answer,” North claimed, noting that they do not.
Responding to several questions from the audience about his role in the civil wars of Central America, North said “Quakers have long been pacifists… I understand that.”
Stressing that war isn’t “a pretty thing,” North described his experience on the battle-field. “I can tell you from my heart, I’ve had young Marines die in my arms, face down in the mud.”
He continued, “sometimes you have to make choices between bad and worse… and those are the only choices you’ve got… [those are] the toughest calls you’ll ever have to make in your life… and somebody will always second-guess you.”
Why Ollie?
According to Republican Club head Murat Zincir ‘99, Oliver North was chosen primarily because they felt he could draw a large audience. Other choices included Haley Barber and John Sununu, but Zincir did not believe they would attract as many students. Discouraged by poor turnouts for Star Parker and Bob Novak in previous years, the Republican Club decided to choose the most controversial speaker of the three available, Oliver North.
Though he noted North’s “shady past,” Zincir added that “we knew a person like Ollie, of Ollie’s caliber” would draw a large group.
“Our goal as a club,” Zincir explained, “is to get as many people as possible to hear what conservatives think.”
In addition, North agreed to accept $2,000 less than his usual speaking fee, placing the total cost for Haverford at $8,000.
According to Zincir, $5,000 was supplied by Speakers Committee, $1,500 came from Collection Committee, $1,000 from the President’s Office, and $500 from the Deans’ Office.
However, Zincir did admit that he would have preferred to bring a different speaker to campus. “Our goal as a club is to educate, not infuriate,” Zincir noted.
“Perhaps he was the wrong messenger,” Zincir said, “but it was still a positive thing to have a lot of people come to hear what he had to say.”
“I hope people went in there with an open mind,” Zincir added.
Though his speech attracted a large crowd in Marshall Auditorium, it was in many ways a hostile audience. Laughter erupted from the floor several times during North’s speech, whether his comments were meant to be funny or not.
As Ben Cutler ‘98 noted, “I thought North had very little substance to say, and that a lot of points were not connected… I didn’t feel like he had a convincing message, but he was a smooth speaker.”
Maria Roeper ‘00 agreed: “I was very frustrated.”
Michael Shipler ‘99 found North’s discussion of the Constitution particularly disturbing. “I was just sitting there pretty angry… because he didn’t abide by anything he said.”
Daniel Bernard ‘98, a member of the Haverford Republican Club, claimed to understand why people had such a negative reaction to North’s presentation. “I think his character made his message very hard to listen to.”
Defending North’s previous actions, Bernard Said that North “did the military man’s job… he did the right thing for the country.” Like Zincir, however, he felt that “it may be a case of good message, bad messenger.”
asked if North mourns for those killed in Central Americam Civil Wars.
Photo by David Morris
The Bryn Mawr and Haverford Bi-College News
The Protests
Several forums were scheduled last week to address the history of Oliver North and U.S. policies in Latin America. Last Wednesday, the Haverford Democrats sponsored the documentary “A Perfect Candidate,” which discussed the 1994 Oliver North-Chuck Robb contest for Virginia senator.
According to Matt Storeyguard ‘99, Haverford Democrats co-head, “we wanted to give people more of an idea who Ollie was.”
There were similar motivations for the Coalition-sponsored teach-in, held just before the North speech last Thursday. Four bi-college professors, Anita Isaacs of the Haverford political science department, Jim Krippner-Martinez of the Haverford history department, Robert Castillo-Sandoval from the Haverford Spanish department, and Enrique Sacerio-Gari of the Bryn Mawr Spanish department, were invited to speak about the United States’ foreign policy in Latin America.
According to Coalition member Jessica Kemper ‘00, who organized the teach-in, “we were concerned” that people would go to hear Oliver North and not know anything about him. “This was a way of educating the community,” she added.
Zincir noted that he felt it was a good idea to try to inform people before they went to hear North, but was disappointed that there was “no attempt at objectivity.”
“I think it’s sad they did not bring anyone to defend the U.S. policy,” he stated further.
Kemper explained that the Coalition had assumed the conservative position would be discussed at the Republican Club-sponsored forum last Tuesday, and so decided to focus on the opposite view. Unfortunately, according to Zincir, only two students not affiliated with the Haverford Republicans attended the forum.
Regardless, students seemed to find the teach-in helpful. Maria Lemos ‘99, a Coalition member, felt that “it went very well. I think it’s too hard to explain Central American politics in an hour. In that respect, I think the professors did very well.”
Carlos Rodriguez ‘97 agreed, calling the presentations “very accurate.” “I think this is the one time the professors took a stand,” he added.”
In addition to these forums, two protests took place both before and during North’s speech. Sid Brown ‘97 helped to organize what was known as “Black Thursday.” Students, staff, and professors were encouraged to dress all in black when they attended North’s talk as a sign of their opposition.
“We just felt like we wanted to do something… to protest but still allow [Norh] to enjoy his First Amendment rights,” Brown noted.
The People’s Liberation Party (PLP) showed their discontent by holding signs bearing messages such as “This Man Lies” and “So Much For Quakerism” and talking to the students waiting to enter Marshall auditorium.
As Cesar Rosado ‘97, an organizer of the PLP protest, explained, “we wanted to bring forth the public message that Oliver North is a murderer, a liar, and a fascist.”
Rosado mentioned that not everyone outside of Marshall was open to their message, noting some “racist” comments directed towards the PLP protesters.
But “people were picking up our leaflets,” he added.
The Final Judgement
Though the Comment Board was filled with debates as to whether Oliver North should come to Haverford, many of the protesters agreed that he had a right to speak wherever he wished.
As Kemper noted, “The Republican Club had a right to choose whoever they wanted.” The issue seemed to be that North was chosen.
As Cutler stated, “I do support the right of the Republican Club to bring him here. I know how difficult it is to have politically conservative views taken seriously at Haverford. If Oliver North is someone they want to represent those views, that is their decision. Nonetheless, if I wanted to promote conservative values, I would not bring in a man who lied to the American people and whose actions led to the deaths of thousands of Central Americans.”
But the debate also led to questions about Haverford in general. “Where do we draw the line on people who are brought in just to be controversial?” Brown asked.
Rosado agreed: “I think a Quaker school paying money to someone who orchestrated such mass murder in Central America is hypocritical.”
Some students did note that one of the positive results of North’s visit was that it got students involved in the debate. As Zincir stated, “I think I would’ve done it again.” He added: “It got people to really think about things.”
Brown agreed, expressing his wish that teach-ins and protests “would take place when Oliver North doesn’t show up.”
Michael Shipler ‘99, a member of the Coalition, whole-heartedly felt that the overall experience was a positive one. “It’s nice to see Haverford get riled up about something,” he said.
