Second chance: Protest productively at speech tonight

Last Tuesday a few protesters embarrassed the entire student body.

But hopefully tonight will be different.

The campus chapter of Youth for Western Civilization will host another controversial speaker former U.S. Rep. Virgil Goode.

The talk comes a week after protesters drove former U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo away from the University with violence and chaos.

 The protesters' acts marred the reputation of the University as a bastion of free speech and open dialogue.

But now we have a chance to redeem ourselves.

Goode plans on talking mainly about his opposition to affirmative action.

At least one organization Students for a Democratic Society has said members will protest today but opposition to Goode's ideology should take a different tone than last week.

Despite a handful of students who made an embarrassing scene most dissenters protested the right way.

By holding banners and attempting to allow dialogue they made their presence felt.

But that doesn't mean we can't learn from the destructive few.

Now that dissenters have seen last week's debacle and negative press caused by last week's radical protests they can understand exactly how destructive voicing an opinion in the wrong way can be.

Clearly silencing a speaker is not the answer to voicing opposition.

The behavior of those few protesters was out of line and runs contrary to the principles of the University.

But now they have the opportunity to absolve themselves when Goode speaks today at 6:30 p.m. in Gardner Hall.

This time around dissenters should display a more tolerant and respectful outlook of the perspectives of others.

So protesters: Make your point at this speech — but do so in a manner that does not stifle free speech.