Conservative pundit William F. Buckley, Jr. told a crowd of more than 500 in Rollins Chapel last night that Dartmouth should not be afraid of the ideal on which he says the College was founded -- to Christianize its Christian students.
Buckley -- echoing statements he made in his Nov. 18 New York Times Op-Ed piece, "God and Man at Dartmouth" -- said fear of anti-Semitism has caused the College to unnecessarily move away from its Christian roots.
"If you are motivated by a fear that by asserting those Christian ideals you are threatening other religions, you are wrong," Buckley said.
In his speech, titled "Anti-Semitism, Jesus and Dartmouth," Buckley told the audience of students, professors and townspeople that the majority culture in America -- which he described as "Christian, white and middle-class" -- is being deprived of its rights.
"Why should majorities forfeit their rights simply because they are the majority," Buckley asked. "Why should we deprive ourselves the satisfaction to which a majority of the College community is entitled?"
After the speech, Buckley answered questions from a panel comprised by Philosophy and Ethics Professor Bernard Gert and students Noah Phillips '00, Alex Vogel '98 and Mary Brown '98, who represented Jewish, agnostic and Christian positions respectively.
The speech was sponsored by The Navigators Christian Fellowship, an evangelical non-denominational group, Voces Clamantium, a group that explores the relation between faith and reason, and Dartmouth Hillel, the College's Jewish organization.
When Buckley's visit was first announced, Hillel President David Levi '00 said Hillel "decided we are not going to be sponsors of the event," but voted to co-sponsor his visit this past week.
Following the panel discussion, Buckley answered questions from the audience, after which Dartmouth Hillel hosted a public reception at the Roth Center.
During the question and answer period, one student -- who identified himself as Jewish -- questioned Buckley's statement that he is "not frightened by the thought of the establishment of a national religion."
"Of course you are not afraid of a national religion," the student said. "You are in the majority."
Buckley's New York Times Op-Ed piece last November sparked a heated controversy about anti-Semitism and Dartmouth's past. In the column, Buckley similarly questioned whether it was necessary for the College to move away from its Christian tradition.
The Op-Ed article was written in response to statements made by College President James Freedman during the Nov. 7 dedication of the Roth Center for Jewish Life at which Freedman discussed anti-Semitic bias in Dartmouth admissions policies during the 1940s and 50s.
In his dedication speech, Freedman quoted a remark made by former College President Ernest Hopkins in 1945. Hopkins said the College used a quota system to limit the number of Jews admitted and added that "Dartmouth is a Christian college founded for the Christianization of its students."
Buckley wrote in his column that the Roth Center "surely is intended to Judaize campus Jews." He wrote that although he supports the elimination of the quota system, he does not believe it should have led to what he sees as a secularization of the College.
