To the Editors:

On the night of September 14, Bill Harwood, Bowdoin’s associate vice president of safety and security, sent an email to the entire campus community indicating that a credible threat of violence meant that an outdoor vigil planned by the Bowdoin College Conservatives would have to be canceled. More than 30 Bowdoin students reacted to Harwood’s email with celebration and laughing emojis. To the Bowdoin students who reacted this way: You “celebrated” the potential of violence toward your classmates, roommates and peers. You “laughed” at your classmates’ right to free speech being taken away by the threat of violence. I suspect that you reacted this way because you dislike Charlie Kirk and his politics. However, dislike for him and his politics does not justify “laughing” at the threat of violence against Bowdoin students. You can dislike Charlie Kirk and his politics while still respecting and honoring the right of your peers to peacefully commemorate his life.

Erik Nelson

Erik Nelson is a professor of economics at Bowdoin.