`Bell Curve' debate coming to campus
The symposium will provide a forum for Bell Curve co-author Charles Murray to speak to and be cross-examined by nationally recognized scientists, including Rice sociology professors Stephen Klineberg and Chandler Davidson and psychology professor Mickey Quinones.
The event was organized by the American Jewish Committee (AJC) working with the NAACP, the National Urban League and Texas Southern University (TSU) to combat what they termed a "new resurgence of scientific racism." The Bell Curve , which was published last fall, suggests in part that the intelligence of blacks may be inherently inferior to that of whites.
After a meeting of black community leaders Sunday, the predominantly black organizations -- TSU, the NAACP and the Urban League -- abruptly withdrew their sponsorship.
The event's main forum on Wed., Oct. 11, will be now be held in Stude Concert Hall between 7 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. Formerly, the event was to be held at the TSU campus, and Rice was participating primarily in an advisory role. A follow-up session will be held the following day at the University of Houston.
Admission will be by invitation only; information on student tickets -- expected to be very limited -- was not available at press time, but local media are expected to broadcast portions of the symposium.
Klineberg said that black leaders withdrew their support because of negative feelings about the event from community members.
"The black community [had] apparently this very deep and pervasive concern that by bringing this man to this city you're honoring his ideas," Klineberg said.
He said that because the event was organized in part to improve relations with the black community, the national office of the AJC in Washington withdrew their sponsorship but not their financial support for the event.
"They are not sponsors but they are honoring their financial commitments. Rice is not paying for any of this -- Rice is providing the venue for it," Klineberg said.
Director of Multicultural Affairs Catherine Clack supports picking up sponsorship of the event but expressed concern about the effect of holding the event at Rice after Houston's black community withdrew their support.
"All the black support backed out because there was a lot of community disappointment that we were giving a forum to someone ... [they regarded] as a pariah," she said.
"And in some ways I agree with that -- there are people I would be adamantly opposed to bringing to campus, but the idea here is not just to ask this person to speak but to have this person come and have his views and book challenged," Clack said.
Davidson agreed, "Rice is backing it because it believes the best way to find the truth is to allow people to engage in honest debate in an open forum.
"That's the purpose of this symposium -- to try to get at the truth of The Bell Curve, and to that end we think it's important that one of the authors be there and that some of his critics be there and that points of view be expressed and challenged and criticized and debated," he said.
Klineberg said that it was to the university's credit that it decided to host the event.
He said that the "absolute belief that the way you combat wrong and evil ideas is to bring them into the open and examine them and not to try to pretend that they do not exist. And to its credit the university across the board said, `we will hold this conference.'
"It is one of those moments of truth that universities have once every 20 years or so. It is one of those decisions in which there was no good outcome. You would be alienating people who you consider to be close friends, who you honor and respect," Klineberg said.
"If not Rice, where? If not now, when?" he said.
Klineberg said that The Bell Curve was flawed.
"It's an evil book. It's a distorted book. It uses data very selectively. It draws conclusions ... [that Murray] even acknowledges don't necessarily follow the data," he said.
"It also points to one of the central problems in America -- and points to it correctly -- the growing gap between rich and poor based on access to quality education," Klineberg said.
Clack hopes that the symposium will provide an opportunity to demonstrate the problems with Murray's work.
"I think there are a lot of very strong social scientists who can actually challenge this person to a point where most people would realize that his work is more pseudo-scientific than scientific," she said.
"My gut feeling is that regardless [of whether it was held at Rice] I would have gone only because I wanted to see this man's work get crucified," Clack said.
Klineberg, who will now serve as the moderator the discussion, didn't comment on specifics about the book, but said he found it "clearly controversial."
Both Clack and Klineberg predicted that protesters would be on campus because of the event.
Klineberg said, "It's absolutely clear that there will be major problems. There will be people who will demand to be allowed in without tickets. There are going to be some serious security issues."
"This will further the perception in the wider community of Rice as an elitist, white institution that has no sensitivity for the concerns of the black community. We'll take some hits on this," he said.
"Knowing the people involved, my feeling is that the long-term consequences are not going to be negative but the short-term consequences are," Klineberg said.
Davidson was less sure about the event's impact.
"It's really hard to assess repercussions. I think there may be some people will be angry at Rice's having held a symposium.
"I think other people will understand that what we're doing here is fulfilling a university's primary function -- that is to provide for open expression of ideas," he said.
Baker College junior and Black Student Association (BSA) external vice president Tara Long also supports the symposium.
"We [the BSA] support the forum; we're behind any decision that Dr. Gillis makes," she said.
"With the black students at Rice who are here and athletes who perform academically, [these examples] discredit what Dr. Murray says in his book," Long said.
She said that she encourages anyone who received an invitation to attend to listen to the different dialogues to be presented at the event.
Klineberg agreed. "The test of freedom of speech is: Are you prepared to give a forum to someone whose ideas you absolutely oppose? That's the test."
He quoted Voltaire: "I disagree with what you say but I will fight to the death for your right to say it."
This item appeared in the News section of the October 6, 1995 issue.
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