Word: aalarmed
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...response to the AALARM campaign, Joshua D. Oppenheimer '96-'97, political chair of the Bisexual, Gay and Lesbian Students Association (BGLSA), launched a counter-campaign. The BGLSA put up vaguely threatening posters that read "AALARM: Hatred=Death." Oppenheimer, in an act of generosity, also xeroxed 200 copies of the original AALARM poster to put up next to the BGLSA posters...
...commend BGLSA members for recognizing that the best way to fight free speech is with more free speech. While I am uncomfortable with Oppenheimer putting up 200 posters from another organization, I have to admit that his approach is far more constructive (and mature) than the usual response to AALARM posters--ripping them down...
Such an approach is infinitely better than the course of action advocated by more liberal members of this campus. There have been several calls for subjecting AALARM members to disciplinary action for violating the codes that govern postering on kiosks...
...arguments about freedom of expression and selective enforcement of the laws are familiar to us all and do not bear repeating here. But there are other reasons for not prosecuting the members of AALARM if they did indeed violate postering guidelines...
Disciplining members of AALARM for violating poster guidelines would send a dangerous message to other groups with unpopular messages: if your ideas are controversial, you must be careful about sharing them with others. Harvard views itself as an institution in pursuit of truth. In moving towards the truth, we will have to deal with all kinds of arguments, be they good, bad or indifferent. The last thing we need here is a "chilling effect" that discourages people with unpopular views from speaking out. We should not stifle campus discourse just when it appears that Harvard is becoming politically energized again...