Oliver North came to Johns Hopkins Wednesday, Sept. 26. North brought with him a speech reflecting his life and opinions. He came from the center of our nation's government in Washington D.C. He did not come from the center of the political landscape.
Before North presented, the organizers of the event showed a short collection of images from American history. Kennedy, Nixon, Reagan and others paraded by in a series of terse, notable scenes. In a particularly relevant image, North stood with his hand raised before a congressional committee, convened to look into the actions he had done for his country. North stood tall and proud in that picture, just as he would stand on the stage in Shriver Hall. The focus of his talk was the security of America after the tragic events of earlier this month that touched almost everyone. However, the discourse and content of the speech were tantamount to his presentation and emotion.
North spoke with a deliberate and uncompromising view that was greatly opposed to the majority of opinions here at Hopkins and other educational institutions. He was a stranger in a strange land, a soldier amongst students. At the end of North's prepared talk, the crowd politely applauded. A tide of silent emotion was rising in the audience. The message of the night had just begun.
As is customary in the MSE Symposium, North was subjected to the questions of the audience. People lined up and presented the standard concerns and issues that could easily be brushed off by any competent speaker. However, when the inevitable contentious queries were voiced, North responded with constitution in hand and raw opinions in mouth. Like a televangelist preacher, North stood on stage rapping the lectern with the constitution and an unmitigated emotion for his principles. Question after question went by as the debate grew larger in scope. North continued his editorials and opinion summoning the newly refreshed images of the soldier in front of politicians in our minds. It became quite obvious that Oliver North was no stranger to conflict.
The battle raged on, liberals versus North in the title bout of the MSE Symposium. Verbal punches were pulled and thrown as the sides traded statistics, figures and opinions. As the debate raged on, a funny thing began to happen. The unmitigated, politically incorrect opinions of North started to win over the crowd. It suddenly didn't matter so much about whether you opposed his views or not - Oliver North's emotions were real and one could sense it.
The night continued until the proctors of the event literally pulled the plug on the respondents' microphones. The hosts congenially thanked the audience and the speaker, but before North was finished, he read a few final statements. North joked about touchy issues before thanking the crowd and exiting through the red velvet sheath of Shriver. As Colonel North, exited, almost all stood on their feet and applauded wildly with hoots and whistles reminiscent of a sporting match. The doors of the hall sprung open and students poured onto the lower quad each with an opinion and an issue. Ranging from beaming approval to condemnation, all one had to do was listen to hear the gamut of flaring emotions. North had done it. He had rallied the hearts of us students to fight like soldiers. It did not matter that North may have been the target because almost everyone was talking and commenting. The passions of the students were flaming because a soldier had come ready to fight.
