TAYLOR SOMERS STATEMENT: KENYON COLLEGE INVITE TO NICK GRIFFIN WITHDRAWN

If Nick Griffin is still able to keep his date with Michigan State University on Thursday, he can now go straight from there to Washington DC. He was supposed to speak at Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio that evening, but after much controversy, that school is not going to host him anymore. Taylor Somers, whom we have written about a bit in the past few days, sent us a statement explaining about why he recinded the offer to Griffin today (Feb. 15). Obviously there’s more than a few people we have been wrestling around with over the past few weeks that are not going to be pleased about all of this but hey, that’s just the way it is. We must say, this week has only just begun, and by the end of it there are going to be a lot of people who might start rethinking the political paths they choose to take. We want to extend a shout-out to the Kenyon College community who are signing up to our Facebook, Twitter and MySpace page, and say to them to stay on board and continue the dialouge. It’s the only way to keep idiots like Griffin from running things.

Taylor Somers

We have been in communication with Campus Safety, and we have come to a consensus regarding the upcoming Griffin event. While we had wanted to shake things up, the reaction against the event has been compelling. The possibility of violence, or at least unintentional injury, to Kenyon students at such an event outweighs, we feel, any contribution that could be gained from having Griffin speak. Never have we intended to incite violence or to otherwise provide an atmosphere in which it becomes at all likely. With Campus Safety’s advice in mind, and as members of the Kenyon community, we must take it upon ourselves to do the right thing and ensure no one is injured. It isn’t worth the possibility of violence or the further pain that will almost certainly be caused, so with those concerns in mind we have cancelled.

The hurt that this controversy has already caused is palpable. There is a rift, an upset in the Kenyon community, and I will accept personal responsibility for that as I think a sense of honor compels me. It was never my intention to cause such a hurt, and so I think the only decent option is to minimize it at this point. It saddens me that many of those with whom I’ve been on friendly terms are now at odds with me. I would like to apologize to those offended or who feel or felt threatened by the immanent presence of Nick Griffin, who I have never claimed did not say many things that were wrong in the past and present. Your passioned appeals, along with the concerns for the safety and integrity of this school and those who attend it, have persuaded me that we were on the wrong course. I am attempting to right that course now.

As for my own views which were dragged into all of this, I intend to embark on a path of radical self-examination. Those who know me personally will recognize I’m not a bigot, fascist, or totalitarian, but rather, perhaps, more of a contrarian (yet one who believes in a free society, even though we may find difficulty agreeing on what that is). Some of that which I have written over the past day and night could be described as knee-jerk reaction to being attacked personally, and I can recognize failures in my own judgment due to that fact. I think I have been beholden to a more abstract and theoretical point of view than is merited by real life, as has been made clear over the course of this trouble. I only ask that it not be assumed I am insincere in this appeal. I am being sincere, and I humbly submit my apologies to those of you voicing your legitimate concerns who I have attacked for recognizing my failures in judgment before I saw them myself.

I realize this has been difficult, and has created a rift. I’m willing to try to correct that, to learn a lesson, and go on with life, if you’re all willing to go on with life as well. I’ll not go out in search of controversy or extreme methods to incite discussion, however curious I may be. The Taft Society will exercise better and more sensitive judgment with regard to who we bring to campus. I should really thank you all for persuading us toward the right course of action, and indeed I do thank you for that.

With Best Wishes,
Taylor Somers
Robert A. Taft Society