Guest speakers deserve student audience

An early morning pop quiz: What speaker will be speaking on Thursday at Loeb Playhouse?

The answer: Kweisi Mfume, the president and CEO of the NAACP.

The NAACP is one of this nation's most esteemed civil rights groups, which has broadened its mission to include aid to all Americans. To have their president speaking at Purdue is quite an achievement, although there are probably very many of you who were fairly unaware of this engagement despite heavy news coverage.

So here's a chance to redeem yourself if you missed the first question: What former Purdue All-American football player spoke Tuesday night?

The answer: Leroy Keyes.

Keyes spoke at the beginning of the Kitchen Table series of lectures and presentations.

It's possible that you were busy with a job or schoolwork or you felt that Keyes' talk had no relevance to you. You'd be wrong, but perhaps that’s how you felt. But then, just last Thursday Dr. Theodore Postol, an MIT professor with a list of awards and accolades, spoke on the proposed Anti-Ballistic Missile system.

Purdue brings in highly acclaimed speakers every semester to speak on a variety of topics, many of which go unheard. And the only way to continue bringing in high quality speakers, or to encourage even higher profile speakers, is to prove that we, as a student body, will show up.

Not only are these speakers usually free, but they provide learning with no pressure for a paper or an exam. They also provide a broader perspective to the outside world. Even if one topic doesn't appeal to you, the Kitchen Table series alone offers speakers on topics ranging from drug addiction to environmental policy and disability issues.

And if none of those topics interest you, perhaps you should consider attending anyway, if only to give your input on what speakers you would like to see for next semester.

Think of it this way, if you're a high profile writer/Nobel Laureate/celebrity/civil rights leader on a speaking tour, are you going to arrange to speak at Purdue where your audience might be slim to mediocre, or one of those other big state universities?

Though many groups bring speakers to Purdue, they need encouragement and an audience.

n Editorial Board: Keith Thomas, Tom McHenry, Erica Sagon, Matt Poston, John Wakefield, Shawn McGann.

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Opinions editor:
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