As the Coordinator of the Campus Activities Board Speakers Committee, I feel obligated to reply to the recent letter to the editor regarding the CAB Speakers Committee.

It is unfortunate that Christopher White believes that the CAB Speakers Committee has not programmed effectively or has not programmed major speakers each month. I think there may be a problem of semantics regarding just what is a “major” speaker.

Rather than going for commercialized names, the CAB Speakers Committee has been issue-oriented and has contracted the best speakers available within our budget range. Committee-generated speakers for this year, aside from Jesse Jackson, include Greenpeace, Alice Walker, the Comedy Extravaganza, and the Phyllis Schlafly/Sarah Weddington debate.

CAB Speakers has currently sponsored 17 Mid-Level programs including John Stockwell (John Lennon Society), the US/USSR Debate (Forensics), Susan Taylor (Delta Sigma Theta), and the Nicaraguan Ambassador to the United States, Lenore Huper (MEChA).

On the average, CAB Speakers has sponsored three or four speakers per month.

If there are more individuals like Christopher White who have concerns about how the CAB Speakers Committee operates, I invite them to sit in on a Speakers Committee meeting and/or to join the committee. We meet every Thursday at 7:00 p.m., in the SA Conference Room.

Christina Smith

campus activities board

speakers coordinator