<p>I have a question directed towards current Brown students or anyone else that actually attended this event. I applied ED to Brown just last week before any of this news appeared. Without digressing to whether or not Ray Kelly’s policies are justifiable, I do agree with the Brown president that the principle of free speech should have been maintained, and Ray Kelly should have been allowed the opportunity to express his views/perform the lecture. I am in full support of the right to protest, but in my opinion that should have been when the lecture guest was announced, outside the building, or after Ray Kelly spoke in the Q&A. My question is: How many Brown undergraduate students participated in the protests, and what proportion of the entire student body seems to support this radical manner of denying an intellectual discussion/debate in favor of shouting down people with a different opinion? I love the philosophy of education that Brown stands for, which is why I applied ED, but I am a little worried about this behavior. I think its great that the students are active and voice their opinions, but this discussion should have allowed views from both sides despite how “racist” or “wrong” one may believe Ray Kelly is. That is the same principle behind the right of every person to a fair trial, despite how sure people are that they are guilty.
Based on this video, however, I am glad that several people in the audience were in favor of continuing the lecture. It appears that there are more or less than 200 people protesting of a student body of roughly 8500. (<2.5%)
[Ray</a> Kelly Lecture at Brown Shut Down By Protest - YouTube](<a href=“http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jMlFOZvnVY]Ray”>Ray Kelly Lecture at Brown Shut Down By Protest - YouTube)</p>