Lecture guidelines introduced

Campus organizations sponsoring public lectures now have a guide to help them plan and carry out their events.

The “Framework for Planning a Public Lecture” covers topics such as how to line up a speaker, reserve adequate space, make technical arrangements, schedule news conferences and post-lecture events, establish ticket policies and conduct question-and-answer sessions.

The document was developed by an ad hoc committee of faculty, staff and students appointed last fall by Chancellor David Ward. The committee was created after concerns were expressed about the ticket distribution, seating arrangements and Q&A session for the appearance of University of California regent Ward Connerly, a critic of affirmative action, and the subsequent disruption that occurred during that appearance.

“These are suggested guidelines, not official policies or rules,” emphasizes Associate Dean of Students Roger Howard, who served as co-facilitator of the committee along with Wisconsin Union Theater Director Michael Goldberg. “The committee was committed to protecting the right of free speech on this campus.”

In accepting the report, Ward says, “The committee deserves credit for operationalizing the cherished tradition of the University of Wisconsin–Madison that students, staff and faculty must be free to seek the truth through that process of ‘continual and fearless sifting and winnowing from which alone the truth can be found.'”

For a copy of the document, contact Central Reservations, 262-2511, or the Office of Student Organizations, 263-0365; soo@redgym.wisc.edu.