Tempe, Arizona -- In what has been called “a classic instance of political correctness,” a speech by a Mexican-American woman who served in the Reagan Administration has been canceled at Arizona State University because of student opposition.
Linda Chavez was initially asked to speak at Arizona State by a member of the student-government association, as part of a lecture series on the campus. She was to have lectured in December about her new book, Out of the Barrio: Toward a New Politics of Hispanic Assimilation, to be published in October by BasicBooks.
Ms. Chavez said she was then notified in a letter from Deborah Kaye, a junior who is director of the lecture series, that her engagement was being canceled.
In the letter, Ms. Kaye said she had not realized that Ms. Chavez’s “stand on the issue of bilingualism and the state is so controversial” among minority students. “The Minority Coalition has requested that we cancel this engagement and bring other speakers whose views are more in line with their politics,” the letter said.
Ms. Chavez is known for her criticism of affirmative action and bilingual education. She ran into similar trouble in 1990 when the University of Northern Colorado canceled her scheduled appearance as commencement speaker after some minority students objected. Ms. Chavez served as director of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights under President Reagan.
In an interview, Ms. Chavez, who is now a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, called the incident at Arizona State “an example, not just of political correctness, but of a double standard being applied to blacks and Hispanics who hold conservative opinions.”
“We are not allowed to deviate from the orthodoxy of the civil-rights establishment.”
An editorial in The Arizona Republic characterized the incident as a “classic instance of political correctness.”
Campus officials called the matter a misunderstanding. They plan to issue a new invitation to Ms. Chavez to speak on the campus.
“She was not disinvited,” said George L. Cathcart, a spokesman for the university. “She was never invited in the first place. No contract was ever issued.” He called the wording in Ms. Kaye’s letter “unfortunate.”
In an interview, Ms. Kaye defended her decision, noting that student fees are used to pay the speakers.
“She has a right to speak on this campus,” Ms. Kaye said. “but she doesn’t have the right to get paid to speak. My question is, Did she take my letter and use it to promote herself at the expense of me and the university?”
Initially Ms. Kaye asked Ms. Chavez to speak to Hispanic students. But after a Hispanic student group objected, Ms. Kaye asked Ms. Chavez to speak as part of the lecture series.
In an effort to resolve the controversy, Lattie F. Coor, president of Arizona State, said he had asked student groups to join him in sponsoring an appearance by Ms. Chavez later this academic year.
In a letter to Ms. Chavez, he wrote: “I do believe that it is important that you have a forum to express your views to the campus community.”