From October 22nd-26th David Horowitz is bringing his “Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week” to campuses around the country. This is a major push by the neo-cons to transform the last remaining bastions of critical thought, the universities. It is a dangerous movement that is out to destroy progressive faculty, Muslim student associations, women’s studies departments and other outposts of critical thought in the universities.
How and where can we get more background on what this is all about?
An excellent resource, which you should check daily, is defendcriticalthinking.org. It has lots of background materials, links, etc. which are added to regularly. There is a veritable plethora of usable
How can I find out if IFAW is coming to my school and, if so, who will be the main speaker?
Good question. You can get this information at defendcriticalthinking.org. Check if this tour is coming to your school and/or to a campus or campus near you. And, yes, gyou can find out on this website who, specifically, will be coming (it may be, for example, Ann Coulter, Michael Medved or even Horowitz himself). Then read up on that person, what he or she has written, what has been written about him or her, etc. Each presenter for IFAW has a slightly different perspective. Find out the arguments this person will use so you can take him or her on in a substantive way. Strategize with people you are organizing with to have certain people ready to address the arguments of the speaker – both inside and outside the venue. BE PREPARED!
Once I know IFAW is on its way, what else do we need to do to start preparing?
This right-wing tour has the potential to affect many different individuals and organizations at your school for a long time to come. So, you”ve got to get moving right away to bring in a broad range of people to work around this with your World Can’t Wait chapter. And, you need to get started today!
Make a list of the student organizations on your campus. You”re going to want to speak with a great many of them: the Muslim student association, the Black student association, the Latino student association, the women’s history study group, ethnic studies groups and departments, gender studies groups and departments, the group which researches the role of the college in the community, the ISO chapter, the SDS chapter, the college Democrats, etc., etc. Divide these up among a couple of chapter members and get in touch with the leadership of these groups right away. Have an initial conversation and invite them to a united planning meeting one day or evening later this week. Use the World Can’t Wait leaflet to initiate your discussion with these people.
OK, but shouldn’t we be connecting with more than just other organizations?
Yes, you should. You need to reach out to professors. Among the members of your chapter, you probably know several of the progressive faculty at your school already. Decide who will visit each one of these staff members. Take along copies of the World Can’t Wait leaflet. Ask each professor how the students can back the faculty up and how the professors themselves can be involved in resisting this assault on the campus.
The truth is we don’t know very many of the faculty or where they stand. What should we do?
Call the National Office right away or email Sharon@worldcantwait.org. We have lists of professors who have been in contact with World Can’t Wait and we”ll give you the names of any faculty members at your school. Get in touch with them immediately.
Also, go to defendcriticalthinking.org and look at the signers of several of the open letters on that site. See if any of those professors are at your school. If so, contact them right away. And, of course, look at Horowitz” list of the 101 most dangerous professors. If any of them are at your school, you need to talk to them ASAP.
Decide with these faculty members if they will attend the planning meeting of all the organizations? If not, start planning with them how best to work together.
What about the student body?
You need to get the students very involved. For starters, get out the World Can’t Wait leaflet as widely as possible. You can also print it up poster size and put it up all over your campus. After the united planning meeting, you”ll have more specific ways of involving the general student body.
What about this united meeting? How do we do this? What should come out of it?
Since the World Can’t Wait chapter called it, you will welcome everybody. Go around and let each person introduce him or herself and give a very brief description of the organization he or she is representing. Then, in a brief summary statement (since each of these people has taken part in a 1-1 discussion already), present the urgent need to politically confront what is about to take place with the arrival of the IFAW tour.
Now, you”ll need to come up with a range of actions, activities and events to do during the week that will mobilize and involve the student body and other faculty and, perhaps, the surrounding community.
First, you”ll need to get information out broadly. You already have the WCW leaflet and poster. You may want to do another one under the aegis of the broader coalition you have created. Also, consider doing PSA’s for your college radio station and for MySpace, FaceBook, etc.
Second, you will be organizing events such as counter speak-outs. Involve the faculty members you have been talking with as resources for these events. Take a look at the “FAQ on Chapter Building” and see the section on Teach-Ins. But, be aware that you have to do all this very quickly as there is only a very short window of time in which to organize this.
Third, you may have to consider specific support for specific individuals or groups who may come under attack at your school.
Well, actually another group at my school already has called for a meeting to plan for this week. How do we handle that?
Go to that meeting and be an active participant. Make sure the urgency to politically confront the IFAW is understood. Make sure all student groups who have any connection to this are being informed and invited to join on (if they aren’t there at the first meeting) and, if that hasn’t been done, volunteer to take care of that. Also make sure that the progressive faculty is being contacted and worked with and that someone is assigned to do that. Lastly, make sure information is getting out broadly through leaflets, posters and suggest the use of PSA’s on the college station, MySpace, FaceBook, etc. Offer to recruit people to help do this. Also, make sure there are some events, such as counter speak-outs and make strong suggestions about involving progressive faculty member. Lastly, discuss how this group can support specific individuals or groups who may come under attack.
All right. I”ve got a good idea now of what to do. Is there anything else?
Yes, there is. Be sure to stay in contact with the National Office to keep us apprised of what your chapter is doing and what’s happening at your campus. Check in regularly.