Okay, that people were let in without tickets is a good indicator. Had no one tried to get in without tickets is would not have been. At least, in my experience it’s not — maybe the culture of “I’m special” has changed things so that it’s more common to try to get into things where there are signs saying “tickets required” when you don’t have a ticket, than it has been in my experience.

Apart from that, though, your points are taken.

Boonton, under what evidentiary conditions would you conclude that the seats were empty because CDS deliberately kept them out of the hands of others?

Already listed a few:

1. Actual ‘sold out’ conditions. It would be odd for people to shell out even a small amount for tickets and then not show up.

1.1 Evidence that these events are big deals at Columbia. ‘Standing room only’ is usually the exception, not the norm for an academic talking head event.

2. Direct accusation by organizers.

3. Actual people trying to get in denied because they lacked tickets (the letter writer says a few students wandered by and were let in).

4. Some articulation of exactly how the CDS did this. If I requested 80% of the ‘free tickets’ to the First Things commentaters forum do you think the editors would just give them to me? If this was such a hot event you’d think plenty of groups other than the Democratic club would be requesting blocks of tickets. Why give the CDS half the stock?

It seems difficult to be certain one way or another, which is why I’m bewildered about why you’re so certain that the CDS action could not have been responsible for the empty seats…

Reasonable doubt = not guilty. Very weak evidence combined with a strong incentive for self-deception on the part of the accusors make a pretty good case.

It seems difficult to be certain one way or another, which is why I’m bewildered about why you’re so certain that the CDS action could not have been responsible for the empty seats, and apathy must have been.

Thanks I missed that, but this leads us to the same problem. A ‘sold out’ event where tickets are given away for free? Sorry no. If you’re giving away tickets for free of course you’re going to ‘sell out’. It’s easy to hand people free tickets. Getting them to show up is the hard part so yes being half empty for a ‘free’ academic talking head event isn’t all that shocking. As the letter indicated, it sounds like the student body was largely apathetic, not denied a chance to see something they really wanted because the CDS took all the tickets. But it’s easy to see how the ‘ticket hog’ meme could take off. It serves both the function of letting those on the side of the speakers assert victimhood while at the same time providing them a way to believe they are much more popular than they really are.

Boonton,

No, the student article strongly implies that the empty seats were the result of the actions of the Columbia Democrats:

The room was, at best, half-full, yet I had been told that the event was sold out. It was revealed, eventually, that many of the tickets had been taken by the Columbia University Democrats, of all groups. I was predictably confused as to what the Democrats would want to do with a conference like this. Yet, perhaps more pressingly, I wondered, “Where are they?”

They eventually made an appearance, albeit well into the afternoon, during Sherif Girgis’ lecture. . . .Still, despite the protest, a large number of seats had remained unfilled. Throughout the day, a few students trickled in, asking about the conference, and were invariably seated because of the sheer surplus of space. Many more at Columbia and in the community, however, were denied this chance, even if this was not the intent of the Democrats when reserving tickets in bulk.

As I said, if they did deliberately reserve a large number of tickets they had no intention of using, they violated the rules of fair play. If they reserved a reasonable number of seats for their silent protest, that’s different, but in my opinion, obnoxious. I disagree with Girgis, George, and Anderson, but they are worth hearing. If the Democrats wanted to protest, they could have protested outside the hall.

Dreher is the only one I see alleging the CDS ‘hogged’ the tickets to keep people out. The only evidence he presents is the fact that the room was half empty despite being ‘sold out’.

If people paid money for the tickets, then yes half the room being empty would be surprising. If they gave away all the tickets for free, half full would not be surprising. There’s a lot to do in NYC and listening to academics talk about family isn’t on top of many people’s list.

The student who wrote the letter in defense of the group was there and is sympathetic to them. IF the CDS had engaged in a conspiracy to keep people out by hogging tickets he probably would have said something, he didn’t. Instead he complained that the student body of Columbia had unfairly prejudged the group as simply being biased against gays (which might be why many who took a ‘free’ ticket figured it wasn’t for them and tossed it in the trash).

Boonton,

The tickets were free, so if the Columbia University Democrats did indeed somehow “hog” tickets (a) that they had no intention to use and (b) that others at Columbia would have wanted, then they violated the rules of fair play. However, this has absolutely nothing to do with an all-comers policy for student organizations. It is a stunt that could be attempted for any event that is open to the general public.

It seems what we need is a bit of investigative journalism on the part of the Columbia Spectator, when all we have is an allegation by a single student in an opinion column. Surely the organization that sponsored the event knows who obtained the tickets. Conceivable they have a way of identifying the no-shows. But in the absence of anyone actually looking in to the matter in some detail, it seems to me pure conjecture as to how many of the empty seats were due to Columbia University Democrats reserving seats they had no intention of using.

I don’t think Mark Movsesian is right to draw conclusions from this alleged incident about universities instituting all-comers policies for student organizations. But if the Columbia University Democrats violated the rules of fair play by “hogging” tickets, it ought to be demonstrated, and they ought to be disciplined.

I don’t think all-comers policies make sense at the college level, but I do think universities have a right to prohibit discrimination.

Even though the forum was sold out, the room was half empty. Why? Campus Democrats had hoarded tickets

Sounds more like the event only had enough interested people to fill half the seats so if they did indeed do that all they accomplished was effectively making a donation to the group by buying up their tickets! The letter cited by a student who was actually there and sympathetic to the group doesn’t allege sabatoge but only that the event was unfairly ‘prejudged’ (which might be why so few attended!).

They also usually claim to value diversity, critical thinking, challenging assumptions, education and learning. They are hypocrites and blind to the fact.