This week, Georgetown welcomed two of the most influential Republican leaders of the past two decades. On April 19, the College Republicans and the Catholic Student Association hosted Newt Gingrich, former Speaker of the House and influential GOP policymaker. Two days later, the Lecture Fund sponsored Karl Rove, the “architect” of George W. Bush’s presidential campaigns and former deputy chief of staff to the president.Leading up to this week, we could not help but wonder if the events would be civil. Would we see another unwelcomed appearance from that fringe coalition that found campus relevance earlier this year by heckling a four-star general? Thankfully, the few ill-mannered among us remained silent, and we saw a return to the respectful dialogue for which Georgetown is known.

As a university located in Washington, D.C., we are privileged to have access to a wide variety of speakers from across the entire political spectrum. The College Republicans welcome this free market exchange of ideas. We are grateful that our campus wholly recognized the importance of such a concept this week. Regardless of political affiliation, anyone welcomed to this campus by a student group or the university deserves to be able to fully present their ideas and engage in a constructive dialogue with the student body.

We feel that most students on this campus are intellectually capable of participating in such an exchange. We are thankful that those disinclined toward such civility refrained themselves this week.

Both events this week demonstrated just how open-minded the student body can be.

Gingrich and his wife Callista came to campus to screen his new documentary, “Nine Days that Changed the World” – a film that chronicles Pope John Paul II’s return to his homeland of communist-controlled Poland and the subsequent revolution of conscience that followed. While he took some time to interact with the audience, the message of the evening was decidedly non-political.

The crowd filling ICC Auditorium presumably included some students who fundamentally disagreed with the event – be it the political history of the speaker or the Catholic content of the film. Nonetheless, the audience was respectful and courteous throughout.

As a result, the Gingrichs were thoroughly impressed with the campus atmosphere and the knowledgeable student body. They even expressed interest in working with our campus in the near future.

The Karl Rove event presented an entirely different message – one centered around politics. Regardless, the audience met Rove with courtesy and undivided attention. Despite the speaker’s close ties with the Bush administration and his controversial nature, the audience followed the rules for respectful dialogue set forth by the Lecture Fund, granted Rove the forum and allowed him to present his ideas without interruption.

Rove seemed to be quite comfortable with the audience members, casually engaging a few students during the question-and-answer session and taking the time to meet with several more afterward.

Whether you agree with Gingrich or Rove, they belong to a highly respected and influential circle of Washington leaders and policymakers. After their visit this week, we can be assured that they will only spread the good word about our university and its commitment to an open exchange of ideas.
But this does not mean that we are out of the woods completely.

We are noticing an unfortunate trend that whenever a politically conservative speaker visits our campus, security necessarily has to be heightened due to threats from a few leftist organizers who confuse a derisive demonstration of booing and hissing as some lofty civic duty. These folks like to cite Georgetown’s Jesuit identity as their vague justification, but Catholic dogma never seems to cross their minds when President Obama, Hillary Clinton or other pro-choice Democratic leaders speak on campus; in fact, they are welcomed – as they should be – with open arms and without fear of disruption.

It is time that we part with the double standard of honoring our liberal guests and vilifying our conservative speakers. The “we have to respond forcefully” mentality is unconstructive, unattractive and a prima facie affront to freedom of speech.

The First Amendment applies to everyone and we commend everyone who lived by this standard this week. A diversity of viewpoints is essential on a college campus. We hope that future guests of our fine university will continue to receive the respect that they deserve.

Geoffrey Bible is a sophomore in the School of Foreign Service and chairman of the College Republicans. Kevin Preskenis is a sophomore in the College and the chief of staff of the College Republicans.

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