When Hillary Clinton was a student at Wellesley College, activism consisted of protesting the Vietnam War and marching for civil rights. Today, Wellesley students are up in arms over a hyperrealistic sculpture of a man sleepwalking outdoors in his underwear. They have taken to the internet, signing a petition on the website change.org, often under the cover of anonymity, to demand that the “inappropriate and potentially harmful” sculpture be moved indoors to the University Museum, where a concurrent exhibition of sculptor Tony Matelli’s work is taking place. Verbally lynching a vulnerable, voiceless effigy, they equate emotional appeals with deliberate, democratic discourse. In advocating censorship, these students are betraying the legacy of rational debate and political involvement forged by generations of women and promoting a fearful, isolationist, attitude toward symbolic speech.
Wellesley College should not and cannot give into these demands if it wants to maintain its’ commitment to progressive values and critical thinking. ...