Since it was postponed last October, Dr. Jack Kevorkian's highly anticipated visit to the UF campus tonight is naturally expected to be controversial.
Whether you agree or disagree with Accent's choice to bring someone commonly referred to as "Dr. Death" to the university for ,50,000, it's something every UF student has a vested interest in - and not for the reasons you might think.
The purpose behind watching how this event unfolds will not be to simply see how the right-to-die movement and the pro-life alliance clash over Kevorkian's appearance, but rather to witness how the university will handle something guaranteed to be divisive in the wake of previous blunders.
The two most notorious events put on by Accent, UF's speaker's bureau, in recent months - Sen. John Kerry's and former U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales' visits in the fall - were prime examples of the two extreme ways the university has handled contentious speakers in the past.
At the Kerry forum, the pressure of protecting an acting senator proved to be intense. The Tasering of Andrew Meyer brought to light the importance of maintaining order while still preserving an environment where different views are protected.
In an open letter following the controversy, UF President Bernie Machen said the responsibility "to provide a safe environment where everyone feels free to express their views, no matter what they are" was a part of UF's educational mission.
A lesson learned. Or so we thought.
Despite all the talk about a safe environment, when Gonzales arrived on Nov. 19, it was quite a different scenario. All eyes were on UF, and the fear of negative backlash from even a hint of overeager security personnel became remarkably clear.
Protesters climbed onto the stage, and were later arrested after a few seconds of being close enough to Gonzales for something bad to have happened. The fact that they were able to get so close to Gonzales in the first place was an obvious result of a dangerously inadequate security plan.
And so, here we are, two months later, waiting to see how Kevorkian's speech will shake up university policy.
The O'Connell Center has remained expectedly tight-lipped about preparations for the event, but no signs or bags will be allowed inside.
While we understand the above measures are to protect members of the audience and the speaker himself, there is one Accent request that bothers us.
Rather than attend the speech and think of questions related to what Kevorkian is actually saying, attendees have been asked to submit their questions for the speaker ahead of time on the Accent Web site. Gonzales requested that for his apperance, and we're hoping this does not become the status quo, though it appears to be becoming a pattern.
Who's to say that a controversial question wouldn't be weeded out by an Accent staffer?
The delicate balance between free speech and a completely secure event will be difficult to achieve, but we don't think taking away the spontaneity of audience questions can actively preserve a lively exchange of ideas - one of the essential benefits of a college education and one of the reasons we shell out thousands of dollars to bring speakers from different ends of the political and socials spectra.
We're just hoping Accent gets it right this time.
