Student-led protests prevented Dr. Charles Murray, a W.H. Brady Scholar at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), from delivering a lecture scheduled to take place at 4:30 PM at Wilson Hall in the McCullough Student Center. The college’s AEI Club invited Murray to speak about his 2012 book “Coming Apart,: and to engage in a conversation with Russell J. Leng ’60 Professor of International Politics and Economics Allison Stanger.

Opening remarks were delivered by the college’s Vice President for Communications and Chief Marketing Officer Bill Burger, AEI Executive Board Member Ivan Valladares 17 and Middlebury President Laurie L. Patton. AEI Co-President Alexander Khan d17 introduced Murray. After Murray arrived at the podium, students began to protest.

Approximately twenty minutes after the protest began, the college canceled the live event in Wilson Hall and decided to live stream a private conversation between Murray and Stanger. That live event will be made available through the college news room.

UPDATE March 3, 2017

In the time that that has passed since this article went live, new developments have emerged. As reported by the Addison County Independent, protestors injured Professor Allison Stanger as she escorted Charles Murray off campus following the conclusion of their live streamed conversation.

“During this confrontation outside McCullough, one of the demonstrators pulled Prof. Stanger’s hair and twisted her neck,” the Colleges Vice President for Communications and Chief Marketing Officer Bill Burger said.

“The protestors then violently set upon the car, rocking it, pounding on it, jumping on and try to prevent it from leaving campus,” he said. “At one point a large traffic sign was thrown in front of the car. Public Safety officers were able, finally, to clear the way to allow the vehicle to leave campus.”

According to Burger, she was attended to at Porter Hospital later and is wearing a neck brace.

More information will be provided in next weeks issue of The Campus.

For videos and pictures of the event, please see below: