Liz Baltaro’s Senior-itis cartoon last week was in poor taste and extremely unfair to a man who has given much time and effort to our school. Rarely does anything in the Guilfordian inspire me to more than a passing glance but the cartoon and the other articles regarding Rep. Coble’s speaking at graduation angered me because they are in direct contradiction to the free speech that Guilford prides itself on.Having met and spoken with Rep. Coble multiple times in my year and a half at Guilford, I have found him to be a warm, welcoming presence, a good listener and completely dedicated to Guilford, which he left over 50 years ago. His pride in this school is inspiring and contageous and it would be our loss not to hear him speek at Graduation. Condemning him as a horrible person for ONE comment, taken out of context is unfair and an unbecoming representation of what Guilford is supposed to be about.

We pride ourselves on supporting free speech, and claim to be open to new ideas. However, in this circumstance, all the presented opinons seem to be of one mind; that because Howard Coble made a statement which, when taken out of context, sounded like he was promoting internment of American citizens, he is to be denied the honor of speaking at the college he has dedicated so much of his life to helping.

Is this how we wish to be treated by the future students of Guilford when we are gone?