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After The Eastern Echo broke the news about former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick’s pending visit to Eastern Michigan University, tremendous controversy spread within the EMU community.
His lecture, scheduled to take place at 7 p.m. on Nov. 29 in the Student Center ballroom, has sparked a variety of emotions ranging from anger to full-fledged support. The event is being hosted by B.L.A.C.K.: Black Leaders Aspiring for Critical Knowledge as part of its new series on redemption.
Amberle Heath, a senior studying criminology at EMU, is outraged Kilpatrick has been invited to speak on campus.
“It blows my mind,” she said. “I’m very embarrassed, disappointed, and disgusted with the whole thing. The fact there’s a group of students that feel like he’s a good option to come to my campus and speak is just beyond me. I don’t get it. I’m completely appalled.”
Eric Sippert, a sophomore studying international affairs, also believed Kilpatrick’s invitation to be inappropriate.
“I’m against Kwame Kilpatrick coming to EMU,” he said. “Even though it wasn’t the university that invited him, even though it was a student group, I don’t think it’s right to invite him. I feel like they’re glorifying what he did. He’s a criminal.”
Junior Nicholas Patterson serves as the president of B.L.A.C.K. and he said the student organization is using its own funds to sponsor
Kilpatrick’s visit. The group paid for his plane ticket but is not paying him to speak.
Kilpatrick was previously the mayor of Detroit and resigned in 2008 in response to a substantial list of felony charges and a request from the Detroit City Council for then-Governor Granholm to remove him from office. Resultant of his charges, Kilpatrick spent 99 days in prison and was ordered to pay $1,000,000 in restitutions to the city of Detroit.
Speaking on behalf of the school, Walter Kraft, vice president for communications at EMU, said the university supports student organizations and their right to invite guest speakers who are in accordance with the university’s policy.
“Our bottom line is that we’re here to support our students,” he said. “This is a student organization that made a legitimate request to bring in somebody. Our role is not to determine whether this person is appropriate.”
The university’s Free Speech and Speaker Policy encourages student organizations to invite speakers to campus, but mandates three provisions. A guest speaker must not urge the audience to take action prohibited by the rules of the university or illegal under federal, state or local law. The events must not be disruptive to the normal operations of the university and must not infringe upon the rights of others. Sponsorship must be by a recognized student organization.
“Once you look at the university’s policy it becomes clear that it’s not a sticky situation because we’re not here to vet, approve, qualify what a student organization decides is important or relevant to them,” Kraft said. “That is not our role. Our role is to encourage student organizations to bring in people of different viewpoints. That’s something we feel very strongly about. That’s why there is a university policy that actually says that.
“We’re not going to decide what a student organization can bring in or whom a student organization can bring in. That’s not the university’s role.”
Michael Bean, a sophomore studying music education, said he was disappointed Kilpatrick has been invited to speak at EMU, but argued B.L.A.C.K. has every right invite him.
“I’m not exactly pleased about it because he’s still under scrutiny of the federal government, still being accused of different crimes,” he said.
“But at the same time he was invited here by a student organization and they have every right to have him here on campus if they choose to. They have every right just like any other student organization to have anybody here on campus that they feel might enlighten them or give them some sort of knowledge.”
Patterson explained that Kilpatrick’s lecture is planned to be the first installment in B.L.A.C.K.‘s new series about second chances and redemption.
“Mr. Kilpatrick’s reason for coming to EMU is solely to speak on second chances and redemption,” he said. “Kwame Kilpatrick is the perfect person to speak about [that]. We’ve all seen Mr. Kilpatrick’s story on television. Maybe the citizens of Michigan haven’t forgiven him. Somebody has to give him a second chance at life. We feel that this is the perfect message for students that need a second chance or even for future students that want to start over and come to college at a later age.”
Several students questioned the legitimacy of Kilpatrick’s redemption. Kilpatrick has publicly claimed indigence and argued he consequently is unable to make the minimum payments in the installments of his restitution.
Based on his indigence claim, he has also stated he is unable to afford adequate legal representation and is thus relying on court appointed attorneys. These attorneys are paid with tax dollars, deepening Kilpatrick’s financial burden on Michigan. Despite his public claim of indigence, Kilpatrick recently moved into a larger and more expensive home. His new residence is appraised at $372,000.
Heath voiced total rejection of any credibility of Kilpatrick’s alleged desire for redemption.
“He hasn’t paid for what he’s done yet,” she said. “There is no availability for a second chance at this point. He’s not even been punished. He’s still running. He’s so contradictory. He’s obviously working the system to get as much out of it as he possibly can. What credibility is there in that kind of a person?”
As a criminologist, Heath was especially outraged by Kilpatrick’s invitation. She argued there are thousands of inmates with stories of redemption and Kilpatrick’s invitation to EMU was due exclusively to his celebrity status.
“He now has celebrity status,” she said. “He’s in the news. People are taking pictures of him. He’s big news. He’s also a likely candidate to be federal inmate at some point. He’s been given the chance to speak his mind in newspapers and TV interviews and now the people at my university are asking him to come speak as a credible person. How many thousands of other federal inmates are not getting that same chance? This guy is clearly getting this chance because he is a celebrity.
“I’m sure there have been other inmates that have done things similar to what he’s done and they’re locked up. They’re not being allowed to raise their voice in any kind of a setting, much less an academic setting. So why should he get the chance? They’re giving it to him because he’s a celebrity. There’s no other explanation.”
Kilpatrick recently published a book, “Surrendered: the Rise, Fall, and Revelation of Kwame Kilpatrick.” A Wayne County judge ordered all profits from the book go toward the more than $800,000 Kilpatrick has left to pay to the city of Detroit as restitution. Kilpatrick has sought legal recourse against this ruling.
Sippert said he felt Kilpatrick would have elected to forward the profits to Detroit if he were truly seeking redemption. Sippert argued his noncompliance severely discredits Kilpatrick’s apologies to the people of Detroit and Michigan.
“I do not believe that Kwame Kilpatrick is sorry for what he’s done,” Sippert said. “I believe he’s sorry he got caught. I don’t believe he has any right to talk about redemption. I personally believe that this book of his is just a chance for him to make a quick buck. I don’t think he cares at all about the city of Detroit, as he’s shown through his actions. By his choice not to forward any of the proceeds [from his book] to the city of Detroit or Michigan, he’s proving that he’s in it just for the money.”
Jovan Kennard, a senior studying psychology, is the vice president of B.L.A.C.K. and argued people like Heath are approaching Kilpatrick with a narrow mind.
“Understanding what’s going on right now, he hasn’t really had the chance to even try to be on a road to this redemption,” Kennard said. “Some people are stuck in such a small square rather than trying to see the big picture. People are just trying to find something to belittle this guy. They’re not giving him a chance. He probably is asking for forgiveness in his own way. People are just not noticing or giving him a chance to.”
Kennard went further to argue the vitriolic response to Kilpatrick has sinister roots.
“Racism plays a big role in most political stages in the world,” Kennard said. “ If you look at it, you had a man [former President Bush] who ran the world for eight years. He managed to mess up the U.S. and the world. Taxpayer money is still being sent overseas to rebuild buildings that Bush had torn down during the war. So it’s like there are other things that people could be mad at but seeing as how this man is a black man, they feel like they go full throttle.
“I’m not saying what he did was right. The things he did were wrong. But people aren’t giving him that chance to redeem himself. They just look at him on the outside.”
Opposing Kennard’s assertion that outcries against Kilpatrick’s invitation are due to narrow judgment, Heath questioned the judgment in inviting Kilpatrick. She argued it was imprudent and reflected poorly on B.L.A.C.K. as a student organization.
“The fact there’s a group of students that feel like he’s a good option to come to my campus and speak is just beyond me,” Heath said. “If that’s how they want to represent themselves to the community and to Eastern, then so be it. It’s your organization. It’s your prerogative. If you want to look like idiots, that’s completely fine.”
Patterson urged people to show Kilpatrick compassion. He stated he had already forgiven Kilpatrick.
“Mr. Kilpatrick was always a role model for me,” Patterson said. “He had my redemption the moment he prayed. If he asked the Lord for forgiveness, the Lord would have to say ‘yes.’ So I would have to say ‘yes.’ Who am I to not forgive him for something that he has done?”
Speaking on behalf B.L.A.C.K., Kennard urged students to attend Kilpatrick’s lecture regardless of their feelings about him.
“Hopefully there will be questions asked and lessons learned,” Kennard said. “People might have their own opinion of what’s going on. They’re still asking questions. Come out and you will hear that. He’s answering questions. This event is not to honor what he’s done but to just give you answers of what has been done. Come with an open mind and be realistic.”
The doors open at 6 p.m. and no late entry will be permitted. Admission to the lecture is free, though B.L.A.C.K. will be accepting donations of canned goods and school supplies.
