More conservative voices welcomed

Last night, NYU College Republicans and the Clare Boothe Luce Policy Institute brought Michelle Malkin, the conservative blogger and author, to Kimmel for a book signing. Her appearance is one in a series of conservative figures NYU has hosted on its campus, including Glenn Beck and Ann Coulter.

The WSN Editorial Board strongly endorses bringing such voices to our ostensibly liberal campus. When Coulter opened up a Q-and-A with a predominantly liberal NYU audience, the discourse was, at the very least, respectful. There were no pies thrown or offensive comments made, but rather pointed questions and challenges to other points of view. In a time when partisanship is the news of the day, we are proud of our liberal university's ability to accept these voices and appreciate a diversity of opinions. Our liberal label should not keep us from being exposed to voices — loud and controversial though they may be — that have the potential to add to the complex intellectual fabric of our university.

The editorial board hopes our community can demonstrate the same propensity for active discourse when it comes to issues here at NYU. Perhaps the town hall meetings that NYU President John Sexton hosts should be filled with the same number of students and tough questions as the Malkin or Coulter events were.

There are many students on campus who are indeed already very active in a variety of pursuits and interests, but we would like to see their spirit permeate every level of our university. The NYU community has proven that we can handle a diverse array of backgrounds, opinions and points of view. We should embrace the opportunity to hear an even wider variety of voices when they are brought to our campus.

NYU and New York City provide so many ways to travel beyond one's intellectual comfort zone. Our time at this university should be shaped by the questions we ask and the things we learn from listening to people whose opinions differ from ours.

The editorial board believes that regardless of our stated political ideologies, we should all develop our own point of view through the experiences we have. We are proud of our school and its ability to draw such a diverse group of students, professors and speakers. We also hope that over time, this open-mindedness and curiosity will spark activism that is reminiscent of the liberal college campuses of yesteryear.

E-mail the editorial board at editorial@nyunews.com.