Villanova University public safety officers removed at least three protesters from a Thursday lecture by Charles Murray, the controversial social scientist accused of being a white nationalist over his writings about race, economic status and intelligence. A fourth protester left on his own. The ejections came amid a heavy police presence outside the law school on the Main Line campus, where Murray had been invited to deliver a lecture titled “What Does Trumpism Mean for Liberty in the Long Run?” Though planned months ago, his visit comes three weeks after a similar talk at Middlebury College in Vermont sparked violence. Demonstrators there swarmed and rocked a car in which and a professor were riding; the professor with him suffered a concussion. On Villanova’s campus, about a dozen protestors gathered inside and outside the hall, and a few dozen students mulled about outside, but it was unclear if they were observing or participating. At one point, the few outside protesters began shouting so loudly it disrupted Murray’s remarks before 120 ticketed guests. “No Murray! No KKK! No fascist USA !” they chanted. At one point, Murray grew exasperated. “Okay folks,” Murray said from a lectern, “I’m getting a little pissed at this point.” Murray, 74, is known for a 1994 book, The Bell Curve, that drew controversial lines between race, IQ and socio-economics. Critics have complained that it amounted to “scientific racism.” He forcefully defended himself against such claims at Villanova. He had been invited by the Ryan Center, which says…more detail
