— The university carefully addressed issues of funding support and security for the event. Absolutely no state general purpose revenue will be used to subsidize the lecture. All direct and indirect costs beyond $1,400 in student fees will be covered by private donations. The safety of the campus community is of the highest priority and we are working to develop and implement a security plan that is appropriate for the circumstances. A suggestion by some that the event be moved off university grounds would not only undermine security, it would pass the security costs of this lecture directly to taxpayers.

      — Finally, it is absolutely critical that universities maintain and protect the open forum that allows ideas to rise or fall on their own merit. Canceling this lecture in the aftermath of a controversy would in our opinion damage that environment. We have every faith in the students and staff of UW-Whitewater to make appropriate judgments about the value of this or any other public speech.

This decision was not made lightly, and was made only after counsel with faculty, student leaders, security staff and First Amendment experts. Chancellor Miller's statement about the decision — including six stipulations for allowing the event to continue — can be found at: http://www.uww.edu/npa/news_releases/story.php?id=691 President Reilly's statement of support can be found at: http://www.uww.edu/npa/news_releases/story.php?id=698

Thank you for your time and consideration as you deliberate AJR 15.