Journalist Lisa Daftari has rejected an attempt from Rutgers to reschedule her Oct. 16 speech, stating that she felt the university’s offer lacked “integrity and respect.”
Daftari was invited by Rutgers Undergraduate Academic Affairs to talk about free speech on college campuses; after some students accused her of Islamophobia, the event was canceled.
John Cramer, the director of public and media relations at Rutgers, sent the Journal an email from Rutgers Vice Chancellor for Undergraduate Academic Affairs Ben Sifuentes-Jáuregui to Daftari in which he offered a chance to reschedule her event.
“I want to write to clear up any confusion regarding your invitation to speak at the University,” Sifuentes-Jáuregui said. “To the degree that I may have contributed to the confusion, I hope you will accept my apology.
Sifuentes-Jáuregui then proposed four possible dates in November for her to reschedule her talk.
“I am certain that in the course of your comments and follow-up questions from our students, your views will be fully articulated and will generate respectful and vigorous discussion both by those who agree and those who disagree with those views,” Sifuentes-Jáuregui said. “Our position on the free exchange of ideas is clear; the ability to respectfully present, discuss and debate matters in the public interest is at the heart of what every great university does. Such free and respectful discussion is fundamental to Rutgers’ core values and is practiced every day at Rutgers.”
In a text message to the Journal, Daftari called the timing of Sifuentes-Jáuregui’s email “curious” and that it “only further supports the truth of what happened. She sent the Journal her response to his email “since the university felt it necessary to share our correspondence publicly without my knowledge.”
“With all due respect, in all our previous correspondence and communication, it was clear that the university unilaterally decided to cancel the event,” Daftari wrote to Sifuentes-Jáuregui. “To come back after the damage has been done to my reputation and suggest that this was some misunderstanding and to continue with the premise that the event was merely postponed, lacks the integrity and respect that I would have hoped from my alma mater.”
Daftari said, “Just as the university was sensitive to the concerns of a group of students who slandered my good name based on falsified quotes, I would hope that the university would now demonstrate the same level of consideration as we move on.”
