EXCLUSIVE VIDEO: Students eager to hear from Angela Davis, then learn of her Communist Party background
Campus Reform asked students for their thoughts on hearing from the controversial speaker.
The College of New Jersey hosted former Communist Party leader Angela Davis earlier in February.
The College of New Jersey hosted Angela Davis and, in light of the event, Campus Reform’s Jesse Stiller asked students around campus if they know who the controversial figure is and specifically if they’re familiar with the fact that she is a former Communist Party leader who once appeared on the FBI’s Most Wanted list.
Most students Campus Reform spoke with seemed pleased with Davis coming to campus, but were unaware of her radical background.
WATCH:
“It is controversial, to say the least,” one student said. “But her voice is an important one to be heard.”
“I think as a liberal college, TCNJ has the right to bring whoever they would like here,” another student added.
“I think TCNJ should still have people come and discuss race and gender...but I think it’s kinda cool,” another student added. “I would want to go see what she had to say.”
When Stiller asked students about Davis’ background, not many students were familiar with her activism or her political activity.
[RELATED: EXCLUSIVE VIDEO: Students say keep politics out of Super Bowl]
“No clue who she is,” one student responded. “No idea.”
“I am not familiar with her.” another student responded.
Some students, however, did know about her political activity and had read some of her works.
“I know of Angela Davis as a civil rights activist,” one student said.
“I heard that she was a pretty active civil rights figure in the 1960s and 70s,” another student recalled. “And I think that is a very interesting perspective.”
Perhaps one reason students were unaware of Davis’ background is that TCNJ did not disclose that information in its promotion of the event.
On its website, TCNJ promoted the February 4 event as “An Evening with Angela Davis,” who is described as “a writer, activist, feminist, and scholar” The official Facebook page for The College of New Jersey’s Office of Alumni Engagement similarly promoted the event, also omitting Davis’ controversial background.
[RELATED: EXCLUSIVE VIDEO: Students call out college’s ‘creepy’ new tracking technology]
Follow the author of this article on Twitter: @JesseStiller3
