Page 6 - ARUBA TODAY

A6 U.S. NEWS
Monday 6 February 2017

At liberal Columbia U, Gorsuch raised a conservative voice

JENNIFER PELTZ sonably mature student three other students. Gor-
Associated Press dedicated to fostering de- such’s federalist views have
NEW YORK (AP) — As a bate on campus. stayed with him during a
conservative student at “He was not an ideologue,” decade on the 10th U.S.
Columbia University in the says M. Adel Aslani-Far, a Circuit Court of Appeals. In
mid-1980s, future Supreme former writer and editor many of his decisions, Gor-
Court nominee Neil Gor- for the paper. “At his core such has favored extend-
such was a political odd was that things should be ing greater power to states,
man out, and he was de- thought through and pre- counties, towns and Ameri-
termined to speak up. sented and argued, not in can Indian tribes and has
“It is not fashionable at Co- a confrontational sense, criticized what he views as
lumbia to be anything oth- but in the lawyer-judge government overreach.
er than a pro-Sandinista, sense.” As a Federalist Paper editor,
anti-Reagan” protester, the Even during bleary-eyed, he wrote relatively few ar-
then-sophomore wrote in a wee-hours sessions of ticles. It’s unclear what role
campus newspaper. “Only squeezing an issue into he played in unsigned edi-
in an atmosphere where all print, Gorsuch made sure torials, including one that
voices are heard, where all Supreme Court Justice nominee Neil Gorsuch pauses during a any cuts to “pro” and “con” called on “everyone at this
meeting on Capitol Hill in Washington. As a conservative stu-
moral standards are open- dent at Columbia University in the mid-1980s, Gorsuch was a commentaries didn’t chop university to take a deep
ly and honestly discussed political odd man out, and he was determined to speak up. either argument unequally, breath, count to 10 and re-
and debated, can the (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) said Aslani-Far, now a cor- lax” until more facts came
truth emerge.” porate lawyer. Stephen to light about a melee in-
Gorsuch often sounded 1988 yearbook photo. er military recruiters should Later, a former Federalist volving black students and
those themes — a call for In his college writings, Gor- be barred from campus Paper editor who’s now a white fraternity brothers,
intellectual diversity and such took on many of the at a time when gays were corporate attorney in Pine- some of them Gorsuch’s.
open debate, coupled most controversial issues prohibited from serving in hurst, North Carolina, re- The university ultimately
with a dismissiveness of pro- of the day. He defended uniform, he pivoted to a members Gorsuch as “bril- found “racial harassment”
testers — as he became then-President Ronald Rea- defense of free speech. At liant, reflective and funda- occurred and disciplined
one of the right’s most out- gan early in the Iran-Contra a time of rampant national mentally decent.” an unnamed white student
spoken, though nuanced, scandal — secret dealings concern and often mis- The son of a Reagan ad- for verbal abuse. But police
voices on the Manhattan to sell U.S. arms to Iran and understanding about the ministration official, Gor- said they were unable to
campus. He co-founded a funnel proceeds to Contra spread of AIDS, he said re- such arrived in 1985 at a make arrests because the
conservative newspaper, rebels fighting Nicaragua’s quiring AIDS patients at Co- campus charged with lib- black students had refused
wrote for the main campus Marxist Sandinista govern- lumbia to report their illness eral activism. The previous to be interviewed.
daily and ran for the univer- ment. Yet Gorsuch also to the university’s health spring, students pushing for Overall, Gorsuch was
sity senate. faulted Reagan’s foreign service would violate their divestment had barricad- “someone who encour-
The Denver-based federal policy as indecisive. privacy. As for whether Co- ed a campus building for aged the floating of ideas
appellate judge also dis- In an era of anti-apart- lumbia’s core curriculum three weeks. for discussion,” willing to
played a sense of humor heid student activism that should include more fe- Late in his freshman year, play devil’s advocate to
back then, not unlike the sought to pressure univer- male and minority authors, he ran for the university sen- spur conversation, said one
late Antonin Scalia, the jus- sities to sell investments in an issue that was dawning ate. He was disqualified for of the writers and editors for
tice he could replace as South Africa-related busi- as a major culture clash be- violating campaign-poster the Federalist Paper, Eric
President Donald Trump’s nesses, Gorsuch cautioned tween multiculturalists and placement rules; he said Prager, now a corporate
candidate for the high that divestment could harm traditionalists on American the breach was uninten- attorney.
court. the university’s endowment campuses, Gorsuch wrote tional. He describes the Fed as
“The illegal we do immedi- and scholarships, while call- simply: “If possible, yes.” But Gorsuch soon cement- centrist. But to former cam-
ately, the unconstitutional ing the cause “unquestion- To former colleagues on ed his place in campus pus activist-turned-civil
takes a little longer,” reads ably an honorable one.” the start-up Federalist Pa- politics and commentary rights lawyer Jordan Kush-
the Henry Kissinger joke that Asked in a student candi- per, co-founder Gorsuch with the Federalist Paper, ner of Minneapolis, Gor-
appears beside Gorsuch’s date questionnaire wheth- was a thoughtful, unsea- which he founded with such was anything but.q