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Stanley Nel (left), dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, speaks with Chomsky.
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Student Invitation Landed Chomsky Visit to USF
Two years ago, senior theology major Gilberto Villaseñor decided he wanted to bring a public figure to campus to speak about social justice issues. He sent invitations to a host of high-profile people, including all living U.S. presidents and Noam Chomsky. His efforts were not part of a class or club, but inspired by his own interest in social justice and a belief that “history isn’t only made on other campuses like Berkeley and Stanford…I really wanted to think big.”
While most invitees declined with a form letter, Chomsky, an MIT linguistics professor who has built a dedicated following with his critiques of the U.S. government, wrote back to say he planned to be in the Bay Area in spring 2002 and would like visit USF. For the next two years, Villaseñor stayed in contact with Chomsky by email, reminding him of the invitation.
By the beginning of the spring 2002 semester, Chomsky still had not confirmed and Villaseñor had given up hope. Then Chomsky emailed to say that he would be in town in March and would like to speak at USF “if it was still possible.” Villaseñor quickly responded with an enthusiastic “yes.”
On March 18, a crowd of approximately 800 people filled the chairs, lined the walls, and covered the floor of McLaren Center to hear Noam Chomsky speak on “Human Rights: Global Change and Continuity.”
“The whole day was really exciting,” said Villaseñor, whose parents flew in from Chicago to attend the event he had been planning since he was a sophomore. He had hoped the lecture would be a well-attended success, but was overwhelmed by the response. “I wanted as many people as possible to be able to attend. It’s the only talk Noam gave in the Bay Area that was free and open to the public. That was important to me.”
During his lecture, Chomsky characterized U.S. foreign policy as hypocritical and terroristic.
“The United States is officially committed to terrorism,” he said. “When they do it to us, it is terrorism, but when we do it to them, it’s counter-terrorism.”
Chomsky went on to offer examples of what he called U.S.-sponsored terrorism over the last 30 years in the Middle East and Latin America, including a 1985 bombing in Beirut that killed 80 people and injured 150 more. Chomsky said the event was planned by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency to target a Muslim cleric.
“All of this far surpasses the violence of September 11, but none of this enters the annals of international terrorism because it’s carried out by the United States,” he said, before receiving one of many rounds of applause from the audience.
While on campus, Chomsky also did an interview with Professor Elliot Neaman, which was broadcast on KUSF March 24.
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