LARAMIE, Wyo. – LARAMIE, Wyo. (AP) — Gov. Dave Freudenthal was among those who agreed with canceling a talk by 1960s radical William Ayers at the University of Wyoming earlier this month.
In response to a records request by The Associated Press, the university on Friday released e-mails from the governor's chief of staff, Chris Boswell, and others regarding Ayers' visit.
Ayers co-founded the Weather Underground, a Vietnam-era anti-war group that claimed responsibility for a series of nonfatal bombings, including nonfatal explosions at the Pentagon and U.S. Capitol.
Boswell said in one e-mail that Freudenthal would personally call for rescinding Ayers' invitation if UW President Tom Buchanan preferred. The university cited security concerns in canceling Ayers' talk.
Ayers spoke at UW on Wednesday night after a federal judge forced the school to host him.
The speech culminated a monthlong fight over whether Ayers should be allowed to speak at the state's only four-year public university.
Ayers initially was invited to the Wyoming campus by the UW Social Justice Research Center. The prospect of his visit provoked a tide of angry phone calls and e-mails from some critics in conservative-leaning Wyoming.
The privately endowed center canceled the invitation, prompting student Meg Lanker to invite Ayers to speak on campus. Buchanan refused to rent out space for the event, citing safety concerns. Lanker and Ayers sued, saying the university violated their constitutional rights to free speech and assembly.
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