UW Whitewater may cancel Churchill speech (or not)

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports this morning that the University of Wisconsin Whitewater may yet cancel the Ward Churchill speech scheduled for March 1:

Churchill is scheduled to speak at 7 p.m. March 1 at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater's Hamilton Hall. In the past few days, UW-Whitewater Chancellor Jack Miller has received e-mails asking him to cancel the talk as administrators at Hamilton College in upstate New York did last week, said Brian Mattmiller, university spokesman. Churchill was invited to Whitewater by the Native American Cultural Awareness Association as part of the group's Native Pride Week and by the college of Letters and Sciences. Mattmiller said the chancellor is weighing whether Churchill's speech would pose a threat to the safety of the campus. Miller has ordered that no state funds be used to sponsor Churchill's talk.

This does not mean that a cancellation is a sure thing, and even if the University cancels, Churchill may still find himself in Whitewater:

Howard Ross, dean of UW-Whitewater's college of letters and sciences, said Monday that he and members of the Native American Student Association have had three meetings with Jack Miller, the UW-Whitewater chancellor, in hopes of being able to bring Churchill to campus.

Ross said he has read a number of Churchill's writings, and he supports Churchill's visit. If the university cancels the talk, Ross said, he will be working with others to bring Churchill to an off-campus spot.

Doug Kiel, president of the university's Native American Support Service, said several other professors, including professors at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, have contacted them to say they are in support of Churchill's visit.

The standard line for cancellations of Churchill speeches thus far has been on safety concerns. The vice president of the student group bringing Churchill to campus has no such concerns:

Angela Miller, the Native American student group vice president, said she did not think Churchill's talk would pose any threat to security.

"Our campus is pretty tame," she said. "What he had to say about the World Trade Center victims is much more upsetting in New York than it would be in Wisconsin. Just because someone doesn't like what is being said doesn't mean that that person doesn't have the right to be heard."

I wonder if Ms. Miller's opinion is echoed by the Whitewater Police Department. This is a campus, after all, that rioted in 1996 after a Packer game. While the Whitewater Police Department does not have jurisdiction over campus, it will certainly need to increase staff and possibly contribute to security that day. If Ross were to succeed and get this moved off campus, the the city will need to shoulder the full cost of security.

UW Whitewater is typically a pretty conservative campus, so it would not surprise me if this talk does get cancelled. If it does not, though, the University should have to reimburse the city for any and all additional security costs, even if the costs are for an event fully off campus.

UPDATE:
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