Charity event goes smoothly despite controversial speaker

A charity event involving a controversial speaker went smoothly despite the withdrawal of two participants and threats from administrators to pull funding.

Two administrators who agreed to judge Hopkins Got Talent withdrew after alleged pressure from students and faculty upset by the event's speaker, Allison Weir.

"It's a little strange to defame someone without speaking to them some more," Weir told the News-Letter after the event.

Weir is a freelance journalist and founder of the group If America Knew, which claims that the deaths of Palestinians in the Middle East conflict have been severely underreported in the American media.

Dean of Undergraduate Education and Vice Provost Paula Burger decided not to judge the competition because the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a politically divisive issue, and she did not want to appear to be endorsing a particular side.

Proceeds from Hopkins Got Talent go to UNICEF, where they will benefit Palestinian children suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of area conflicts.

When he was first approached by Vision XChange, the student group responsible for organizing the event, Director of Volunteer and Community Services at the Center for Social Concern William Tiefenwerth believed funds would raised for children on both sides of the conflict.

"I expressed my concern that an event that focused on one peoples' plight and not another's in the region would be taking a political stance, which is not what we're about here," he said.

Last week Burger and Tiefenwerth notified XChange co-founder and chair Salmah Rizvi of their decision to step down.

Rizvi felt the administrators made their decisions too soon and that the event did not carry the political element they had feared it would.

"We proved tonight that the event was completely humanitarian, it was completely fact-based," she said. "If Dean Burger had come to the event, she would have seen that. Ms. Weir didn't use Vision XChange as a platform for rallying support for either side of this debate."

According to Rizvi, portions of Vision XChange's funds were pulled last week, but restored before Wednesday's event.

Vision XChange is partially funded by the Office of Undergraduate Education and the Center for Social Concern discretionary funds, which according to Rizvi were initially removed by Burger and Tiefenwerth.

But after Rizvi met with the administrators, the funds were restored.

Rizvi said she had assured Burger last week that the event would not be political.

Weir said she did not make efforts to depoliticize her speech, but rather that the topic is essentially apolitical.

"I gave the talk I felt was appropriate for a children's charity. It was a journalistic talk," she said.

Weir explained that she has dealt with controversy in the past.

"There is an effort throughout the country to silence information about Palestine."

The Coalition of Hopkins Activists for Israel (CHAI) took no action against the event, though the student group disagreed with Weir's position.

"We were not necessarily happy with their choice of speaker. We think she has a very strong ant-Semitic point of view," said Ariana Tart-Zelvin, vice president of CHAI. "But I think people should look at the Web site and decide for themselves."

Tart-Zelvin said CHAI will most likely hold an event to present their own points of view on the issue.

"It's a silencing tactic," Weir said of the allegations of her anti-Semitism.

Maysoon Zayid, an Arab-American comedienne, was the evening's master of ceremonies.

"Do you know where Palestine is? Can I get a round of applause?" she asked at the start of the show. When the audience clapped, Zayid said wryly, "That's funny; it's not on a map. I can't find it."

After all 12 talent acts had performed, Allison Weir took the stage. "I think I frightened off three deans, I'm told," she said to the crowd, which had shrunk to less than half of its original size.

"Thank you to all of the people who came, despite a great deal of pressure, I understand," she said.

During her speech, Weir told an anecdote of a young Palestinian man whose dream it was to study in America.

"It's every young Palestinian's dream to go to college in America," she said.

The young man, Weir continued, had to stay home to care for his younger siblings after his mother was shot and killed during the recent fighting.

After Weir's speech, Rizvi addressed the crowd.

"We went through a rough road putting this last event together," she said, and thanked those who stayed.

The audience was asked to judge the show by a write-in ballot, and the winners were announced at the very end of the evening.

All in all, Rizvi was pleased with the evening's turnout.

"We expected 200 students, and close to 200 came out," she said.

"Vision XChange is a wonderful group, but I was seeing a different type of program than the ones they've done," Burger said. "The speaker should be welcome to our campus, but maybe in another form where it wouldn't seem divisive."

Tiefenwerth agreed with Burger.

"Vision XChange is all about uniting the campus to do good and have fun," he said. "This year, may be veering a bit. I suggested it might be best to bring Ms. Weir in an event outside of Vision XChange."

But Rizvi disagreed with the administrators, saying Hopkins got talent was entirely consistent with Vision XChange's goals and past events.

"A few students sent them false information," Rizvi said. "Some students were saying Weir is an anti-Semite, and the rumor started flying around campus."

Both Burger and Tiefenwerth learned of the controversial aspects of Weir's appearance through emails circulated last week.

But overall, Rizvi felt communication of the controversy had been poor.

"The only communication of opposition has been through Burger and Tiefenwerth."

"I have no problem with the speaker coming to campus or people attending the event," Burger said. "A university, of all places, needs to foster free exchange."