25 protest outside as Ayers speaks
WALTHAM - Expressing disillusionment with Brandeis University's decision to host Weather Underground cofounder William Ayers, about 25 students from other schools protested last night outside Shapiro Campus Center where Ayers spoke about social justice and the 1960s antiwar movement.
Ayers, a professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago, spoke for about an hour to 150 Brandeis community members before taking questions, said Dennis Nealon, a Brandeis spokesman who attended the meeting. The media were not allowed inside.
Two Brandeis student groups, Democracy for America and Students for a Democratic Society, had invited Ayers to speak.
In his talk, Ayers urged students to be their own activists. "I encourage you to be door-knockers," he said, according to Nealon. Speaking about the 1960s antiwar movement, Ayers said, "However big and gaudy the demonstrations were, we didn't end the war," according to Nealon. "I've never defended the Weather Underground," Ayers added.
Students from Brandeis, Bentley, and Babson colleges and the College of the Holy Cross protested.
"We believe it's disgusting that Brandeis is hosting a noted domestic terrorist," said Bentley sophomore Christina Harstad, who held a sign outside the campus center. "He's not remorseful in the least and his actions were instrumental in the bombing and killing of an untold number of people."
Jeff Wong, 22, a Brandeis staffer who heard Ayers speak said, "The criticism of Ayers as a terrorist is so misguided of who he is today."
Ayers was blocked from speaking at Boston College by school administrators, who cited pressure from Brighton residents and Boston officers.
