Bard College President Supports Demand for Book Ban in Public Library

(PRWEB) December 22, 2005 — Bard College President Leon Botstein, who stands beside banned authors Chinua Achebe and Toni Morrison, advocated in writing for the banning of a book by Bard alumna Charleen Touchette from a public library on December 19, 2005. Botstein wrote the Bard Community to support Bard Professor Kim Touchette Weiss (1977) in her written request to ban a book at the Woonsocket Harris Public Library in Rhode Island.

The banned book, “It Stops with Me”, a memoir by her sister, Charleen Touchette (1975) was removed from library shelves over three months ago in September 2005 after a challenge by their father. President Botstein, who witnessed none of the events described in the book, advocated “restricting its access.”

Leon Botstein wrote, “If members of a family wish to harm one another, those actions should be kept private and should not draw in others by invoking matters of public policy.”

Charleen Touchette wrote that “President Botstein’s statement is a justification for keeping family violence a secret.”

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What’s up with this? On the face of it, seems like a strange position for any college President to take. I’ve written the Bard PR office asking for comment.