DCI 201: Contact Committee & Campus Speech Controversies

With the ability to bring speakers representing a multitude of beliefs, the Contact Committee's choices were subject to ample controversy and criticism, particularly in student publications. In addition to its speaker selections, the fact that the Committee is exclusively run by undergraduate students in their free time, they faced constant criticism for perceived missteps in budget and programming. This page will cover the controversies that received the most coverage in Washington and Lee's various student publications.

The first recorded controversy involving the Contact Committee can be found on the front page of the November 3, 1977, issue of the Ring-tum Phi. When the Executive Committee accused Contact members of misappropriating funds on two accounts, which could be considered honor violations. Ten to 12 Contact members were treated to a $115+ dinner with Caitlyn (formerly Bruce) Jenner and his wife using unauthorized funds. Additionally, the Committee supposedly held over $500 of its budget surplus for the next school year when that sum was supposed to be returned to the EC. In fact, another incident involving a Contact speaker occurred two years later when a random raffle to decide which fraternity would host James Buckley's reception was supposedly rigged by the Committee and the IFC.

When Contact Committee members bring a speaker to campus, they traditionally organize a dinner after the event to speak with the figure in a more private setting. In March of 1997, the speaker was Spike Lee, a director notable for his work explaining race relations and the black community. Alex Christensen, a junior student invited to the dinner, brought two uninvited guests from the Minority Students Association. When the uninvited guests were turned down at the door, the outcry from the MSA was loud. Christensen made it known that he believed it was a clear move to restrict the free speech of black students on campus. This story was covered on the front page of The Trident, which was the newspaper seen to have a more liberal slant at the time.

As Washington and Lee University entered the twenty-first century, its student body began to become more diverse than ever. With a diversity of people follows a diversity of viewpoints. Consequentially, this period in time for the Contact Committee is marked by general criticism hurled towards the organization from all sides of the political spectrum. For example, the W&L Spectator—the more conservative voice on campus—was voicing their displeasure with Contact at the same time the opinion section of the Ring-tum Phi was, albeit for drastically different reasons. In the Winter 2006 issue, the Spectator voiced displeasure for how much influence faculty was beginning to hold over the speakers Contact chooses to bring to campus. They specifically mention one anecdote where a dean told a Contact member that they "only want a woman from the left or a democrat." Simultaneously, in the Ring-tum Phi, a short staff editorial highlighted the disturbing lack of female speakers that have been sponsored, calling for at least one woman to be brought to speak during Women's History Month.