Wow! Busy political week for Rice! House Majority Leader Eric Cantor came to Rice today.
I met with him during a roundtable discussion 9:30 – 10:30 am. There were about 30-40 people: professors, provost, president, congressmen, etc… Interesting (and civilized) discussion about university funding and how to partner with private sector more effectively.
Then, we went down for the Open Forum. Pretty interesting…. As President Leebron finished his welcoming remarks and Rep. Cantor stepped up to speak, a group of student protestors in the back rows stood up and starting chanting and shouting – yikes! It was about 15-20 students (mostly grad students), and they started with the occupy Wall Street “mic check.” Then, they proceeded to say “Eric Cantor is not welcome here,” along with a rant about his stance on abortion, women’s rights, gay rights, finances, etc. All of us in the audience sat staring at them, dumbstruck and feeling quite awkward. Meanwhile, President Leebron was reprimanding them loudly in the microphone and ordering that they get out. So much fun.
Finally, after 3 or 4 minutes, the policewoman managed to escort them out of the room, and Eric Cantor started speaking (“You gotta say, only in America”).
Good questions from students in the crowd afterwards.
At the end, I spoke to Rep. Cantor briefly – tried to say a little bit about being grateful for his visit and emphasizing student interest in open discussions.
At the least, this will be a story to remember….