With very little fanfare and no dissent, Bill Ayers visited UConn yesterday. He was exactly as I had hoped he would be: genuine, warm, and inspiring. Although many of us were pacing, he arrived only a few minutes late for an open forum with the faculty. While our Director wanted him to assist in the redesign of our teacher education program, he adeptly turned the conversation back onto us. As the conversation evolved, he found many opportunities to add his own stories that often connected to the topic but more often forged connections between the speaker and the audience.
He was just the same with his students. 
My favorite moment was when we walked into the auditorium about an hour before his talk. Ultimately, there would be 200 people in this room. But at 5 o'clock, there were four future teachers, all sitting in the second row, eagerly awaiting his presentation. So he sat on the edge of the stage and started chatting with them. As more students trickled in, I pushed them his direction, he would introduce himself to each, and the talk about movies and life and teaching would continue. Clearly, this was a man in his element.
At the end of the evening, not surprisingly, many students went forward to have their books signed. I was in the hall speaking with some other students so didn't witness how it developed. But when I came back into the auditorium, Bill was sitting on the edge of the stage again and students were seated all around him. The scene was only missing a guitar and the smell of weed. This may sound like a mockery of the 1960s but it captures the beauty of that era. People were speaking their hearts and feeling as if they were being heard. One of my advisees happened to be there and asked Bill's advice about a "life problem" about bigotry within his family. As was his way, Bill began with a story of his own struggles with his father's biases in a fashion that seemed loving yet insistent. The take-away message was that we shouldn't allow our relationships with others to pivot around a singular issue, now matter how painful. I do believe he was preaching love.
At this moment, I am forced to recognize the hate and evil behind the attempts to associate Ayers with the President. Do I know who Bill Ayers is? Not from just by being with him for six hours. And yet, his regard for every person (including secretarial staff) could not have been more gracious. While he had many stories he was liberal in sharing (in a sense that's what we were paying for and why people came to hear him) these did not overshadow the voices of others. In truth, I don't know that many people who are so good at listening to preservice teachers. The domestic terrorist imagery was more than a caricature: it was harmful and hateful. Goodness seems to have prevailed this time but it reminds us of the need to be vigilant. As an aside, my introduction of Bill was that educators often use timelines as a pedagogical tool In terms of a professional timeline, at that instant, each of us was at the moment that differentiated "Before William Ayers" from "After Bill Ayers." In part, this was meant to make the undergrads sit up and pay attention. On the morning after, I realize this is more true than I knew.
My favorite moment was when we walked into the auditorium about an hour before his talk. Ultimately, there would be 200 people in this room. But at 5 o'clock, there were four future teachers, all sitting in the second row, eagerly awaiting his presentation. So he sat on the edge of the stage and started chatting with them. As more students trickled in, I pushed them his direction, he would introduce himself to each, and the talk about movies and life and teaching would continue. Clearly, this was a man in his element.At the end of the evening, not surprisingly, many students went forward to have their books signed. I was in the hall speaking with some other students so didn't witness how it developed. But when I came back into the auditorium, Bill was sitting on the edge of the stage again and students were seated all around him. The scene was only missing a guitar and the smell of weed. This may sound like a mockery of the 1960s but it captures the beauty of that era. People were speaking their hearts and feeling as if they were being heard. One of my advisees happened to be there and asked Bill's advice about a "life problem" about bigotry within his family. As was his way, Bill began with a story of his own struggles with his father's biases in a fashion that seemed loving yet insistent. The take-away message was that we shouldn't allow our relationships with others to pivot around a singular issue, now matter how painful. I do believe he was preaching love.
At this moment, I am forced to recognize the hate and evil behind the attempts to associate Ayers with the President. Do I know who Bill Ayers is? Not from just by being with him for six hours. And yet, his regard for every person (including secretarial staff) could not have been more gracious. While he had many stories he was liberal in sharing (in a sense that's what we were paying for and why people came to hear him) these did not overshadow the voices of others. In truth, I don't know that many people who are so good at listening to preservice teachers. The domestic terrorist imagery was more than a caricature: it was harmful and hateful. Goodness seems to have prevailed this time but it reminds us of the need to be vigilant. As an aside, my introduction of Bill was that educators often use timelines as a pedagogical tool In terms of a professional timeline, at that instant, each of us was at the moment that differentiated "Before William Ayers" from "After Bill Ayers." In part, this was meant to make the undergrads sit up and pay attention. On the morning after, I realize this is more true than I knew.
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