By allowing ads to appear on this site, you support the local businesses who, in turn, support great journalism.
Controversial Ayers to speak Feb. 7 at GSU
Protests, safety concerns halted 2009 appearance
Bill ayers for Web
Bill Ayers
A controversial academic will lecture on the campus of Georgia Southern University two years after the school rescinded his speaking invitation amid security concerns and heated student protests. William "Bill" Ayers, a retired education professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago and infamous member of the then radical group Weather Underground in the 1970s, will return to Statesboro for a Feb. 7 speaking engagement in the university's Performing Arts Center (PAC). Though the university has yet to announce or advertise the event, and no mention of Ayers can be found on the PAC's calendar of events, the professor is scheduled to take part in a departmental lecture at 7 p.m. Feb. 7, according to Carol Thompson, assistant director of the PAC. Ayers, who has spoken at Georgia Southern without incident before, will return on behalf of the "Campus Life Enrichment Committee with contributions from various departments on campus," said Dr. Michelle Haberland, an associate professor of history at the university.
Sign up for the Herald's free e-newsletter