while giving him nothing concrete to respond
to. I attempted to obtain specifics from Mr. Coignet, who seems to have
been coordinating the attempt of the Kelly administration to fabricate,
using swiss cheese documentation, a pretext for my exclusion from campus.
Again he would not be specific. He has some reports in a file, but I may
not see them. Very suspicious. Is there fair play here? You
decide.
I am including a copy of the Kelly
administration letter signed by Assistant Dean Goodwin which served as
notice of my exclusion from campus, as well as a copy of my letter, "To My
Friends....", both items self-explanatory. Dr. Kelly's letter supports the
actions of his associates. Either his investigation was inadequate, which
would amount to negligence, or else he knowingly supports the censorship
being practiced by his associates.
It is interesting to observe what has been
done about this situation as well as what has not been done. For the past
year or so I have been attending to personal business and have not had
time to deal with this issue. This will soon change. My time will be free
and I would like to spend it either on campus or by bringing public
attention to the reasons for my exclusion therefrom. So far I have
provided Dr. Kelly with evidence that at least as many students supported
my presence as those who opposed it. He has ignored students'
demonstrations and their petitions. I have not given this to a reporter
with a city-wide audience, and I hope that measure never becomes
necessary. I have never allowed my supporters to explain to fellow alumni
that the "...standards of conduct...." Mr. Goodwin (and others in the
Kelly administration) patently expect of them include the quiet
continuation of their financial support coupled with a rarity of their
appearances on campus. Some have wanted to take this step on a grand
scale. I have, so far, discouraged such an enterprise. I have not yet
informed key officials within the U.S. government that Tulane's obligation
to maintain its campus open to the public while accepting public funding
is being circumvented by the devious sham I have exposed to you here. It
should be clear that I do not wish to see Tulane harmed financially. I
want, simply, to see the Kelly administration call a halt to its
censorship so that I may return to campus.
One way or the other, in a few months, I
plan to return either quietly to the heart of campus as before, or very
visibly to the outskirts of campus calling attention to the censorship
much more loudly than before. Mr. Boh, is that the alternative a sensible
administration would prefer?
I solicit your assistance in correcting the
foolish and harmful practices of the administration of Dr. Eamon Kelly
in
whatever manner you deem least damaging to
Tulane.
Sincerely,
Louis K. Rothbard
LKR/ld
Encls.(14)
The Hullabaloo ran a couple of additional articles,
essentially repeating what had already been published, and bearing
directly upon my messages to Dr. Kelly and Mr. Boh. It became
evident that the Kelly administration would respond to the situation by
continuing to ignore it, perhaps hoping it would eventually go
away.
It did not go away. Instead, it came back
to visit, in effect, at their doorstep. You see, their strategy
contained a minor flaw. They had been proceeding based upon private
property rights. And yet a seventy-five foot wide public right of
way intersects the private property of Tulane's uptown campus.
Freret Street at McAlister is one of the major crossroads of pedestrian as
well as vehicular traffic of this campus. We got out there with a
tape measure one afternoon. Just wanted to be certain the sidewalks
were included. We researched loitering law and I even spoke with the
ranking officer at N.O. P.D., 2nd District. Did my planned presence
upon that sidewalk violate any law? According to the officer I would
be well within my rights. As that individual put it, "This is still
America".
So, after a hiatus of two and one half years, I
had some T-shirts printed. They proclaimed, "Tulane Alumnus Banned from
campus by Kelly Administration. XXX Rated. 'Endangers Tulane
Students'". I then began to return on a daily basis to the sidewalks
of the intersection at Freret and McAlister sporting my latest fashion
creation. I spoke with some of the students, now Seniors, who
remembered me from the time they were Freshmen. And, one by one, I
made some new friends.
Then, after a few months, the story of my
presence began to reemerge in the media. Some students, led by Hal
Singer, then in his Senior year, formed a publication entitled, "The
BrouHaHa", which survived for about six years after Hal's departure upon
graduation. I granted their representative, Christian Whiton, an
interview and was surprised and honored to appear upon the cover of the
very first issue of the Brou, the January 21, 1994 edition, which carried
that interview. Follow the Next Page links below for that cover and
Mr. Whiton's article.