Students and local Rhode Islanders held a rally on the Main Green today to protest the decision to cancel Columbus Day at Brown. The event was sponsored by the College Republicans, The Brown Spectator, and local talk radio host John DePetro. Below are excerpts by College Republican President Keith DellaGrotta. The full text of his remarks are available after the break.

When Portuguese sailors were exploring the waters of nearby Africa, Columbus set his sights high to sail west across the Atlantic. With true Italian spirit, the spirit of the Roman Empire, the spirit of the Renaissance, Columbus pursued his goals, though he was first refused funds by the king of Portugal, until he received the support of Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand of Spain to begin his voyage. By way of his superb mariner skills, Columbus landed at the New World a total of four times, opening the doors for European exploration of North America.

Brown University professors and snooty Brown students cast Columbus as a barbarian while raising the American Indians on a pedestal to be honored, but I ask them what would America be without Columbus? Would the American Dream, the ideal that inspired my great-grandfather and the ideal that draws me to Brown University now, exist if it were not for Columbus?

Columbus and the Europeans brought technology to America. They brought democracy and capitalism to a patriarchic civilization. And most importantly they brought Christianity to a land of multiple gods and human sacrifice. Brown University and the Far Left like it are ashamed of America and its white, European background, but the values and the principles that Columbus, and the Europeans that followed, brought to America are the reason for her current political and economic success. Is this no reason enough for a holiday?

Without Columbus there would be no British explorers. Without Columbus there would be no Pilgrims and Puritans. Without Columbus there would be no common law. Without Columbus there would be no Great Awakening. There would be no Thirteen Colonies. There would be no Tea Party. There would be no American Revolution.

To read his full remarks click below.

When I decided to attend Brown University, I was at the same time deciding to return to the city of my surname roots – DellaGrotta. While a cook for the Italian army, my great grandfather decided he wanted to try his luck in America and emigrated to Providence, RI at the turn of the twentieth century. His wife followed him a few years later. In Providence, he settled on none other than Federal Hill and established a grocery store there.

As we all know, life was not easy for Italian immigrants in the early 1900s but Great-Grandpa Francesco refused any handouts and he pulled himself up by his own bootstraps. Though he and his family initially lived in an apartment with five other families and only one bathroom, he worked long hours at his grocery store and learned English to provide for his wife and three boys, including my grandfather. As a result of my great-grandfather’s support and care, my Grandpa Guerino became the first of the DellaGrottas to attend college.

Two generations later I stand here on the lawn of Brown University because of the labor of my ancestors before me. All this made possible through the dedication of the DellaGrotta family in pursuing the American Dream. The American Dream – the belief that through devoted effort and some talent one can achieve happiness and success – was originally made possible by a group of British dissenters, our Founding Fathers. Why did the American colonists happen to be on this side of the Atlantic? As a direct result of European colonization. And who initiated European colonization of the New World? Another Italian by the name of Christopher Columbus.

My great-grandfather would be ashamed of Providence’s most prestigious university and its slight against Italians. As the ultimate politically correct move, the naïve, arrogant, haughty, foolish Brown faculty last year decided to side with American Indians, less than one percent of Brown’s student body, and change the name of Columbus Day Weekend to Fall Weekend. Out of complete disrespect for America…the fact that Columbus Day has been celebrated since 1792 and has been a national holiday for over thirty years…and out of complete disrespect for the DellaGrotta family and other Americans of Italian descent in the area, Brown University is attempting to rewrite history by refusing to honor Columbus as the intellect he was. We gather here today to show we will not let this happen. Columbus the hero will live on!

When Portuguese sailors were exploring the waters of nearby Africa, Columbus set his sights high to sail west across the Atlantic. With true Italian spirit, the spirit of the Roman Empire, the spirit of the Renaissance, Columbus pursued his goals, though he was first refused funds by the king of Portugal, until he received the support of Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand of Spain to begin his voyage. By way of his superb mariner skills, Columbus landed at the New World a total of four times, opening the doors for European exploration of North America.

Brown University professors and snooty Brown students cast Columbus as a barbarian while raising the American Indians on a pedestal to be honored, but I ask them what would America be without Columbus? Would the American Dream, the ideal that inspired my great-grandfather and the ideal that draws me to Brown University now, exist if it were not for Columbus?

Columbus and the Europeans brought technology to America. They brought democracy and capitalism to a patriarchic civilization. And most importantly they brought Christianity to a land of multiple gods and human sacrifice. Brown University and the Far Left like it are ashamed of America and its white, European background, but the values and the principles that Columbus, and the Europeans that followed, brought to America are the reason for her current political and economic success. Is this no reason enough for a holiday?

Without Columbus there would be no British explorers. Without Columbus there would be no Pilgrims and Puritans. Without Columbus there would be no common law. Without Columbus there would be no Great Awakening. There would be no Thirteen Colonies. There would be no Tea Party. There would be no American Revolution.

United States GDP tops that of the world. The United States donates more foreign aid than any other country. America scores in the top 10 percent worldwide for least corruption. America harbors two of the top three and thirteen of the top twenty universities globally. The personal responsibility, the respect for life, the family values, the care for others, and the freedom promoted by Christianity generate these impressive statistics. The American Dream is a Christian dream, like Jesus’ parable of the talents in the Gospel of Matthew, and Columbus was the first to utter our Lord, Christ, in America.

Secular universities like Brown seek to diminish the importance of Christianity in the history of the United States. But they will never win that battle. Our Founding Fathers were devout Christians and alluded to it in the Declaration of Independence, that men “are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights.” America’s Christianity is portrayed on our currency – “In God we Trust,” it is displayed within our courtrooms – The Ten Commandments, it is uttered in our Pledge of Allegiance – “one nation, under God.”

American Indians knew not Christianity and thus lacked the bedrock to construct a great United States of America as we know it today. Columbus, however, was the saving grace. The Brown faculty and Brown American Indians may dislike it and they are trying to conceal it, but Columbus put in motion America’s European colonization and thus her ascension to greatness…and for this we respect him through Columbus Day!

As the phenomenon of eliminating Columbus Day from the calendar continues to spread around America’s universities, it is perhaps most noteworthy to consider Columbia University.

According to the Columbia Daily Spectator, Columbia long-ago preceded Brown and Berkeley in de-facto eliminating Columbus Day, and its campus is today swarming with protesters.

Of course, one might ask, is it not then natural that students should boycott the school itself? After all, its name, too, celebrates the legacy of the Italian “murderer” – and in fact does so 365 days of the year, rather than only one.

Or what about the country of Colombia? Perhaps we should boycott its goods until it renames itself. And then we might cordon off the District of Columbia. (Wouldn’t that be something!)

Virtually no-one would rationally argue that the individuals who bequeathed Columbus’ namesake upon their respective institution, country, capital city, etc. did so because of racist motivation. Rather, they were celebrating the legacy of the man whose discovery made America possible.

Certainly, the legacy of Columbus’ discovery contains elements of glory, as well as shame. This country’s history contains bad, as well as good.

As a holiday, Columbus Day allows us to reflect upon these historical facts, and to realize that the good far outweighs the bad. Virtually every major civilization in history, prior to ours, practiced some form of slavery or coerced oppression. Indeed, the majority of African slaves were enslaved (and sold) by other black Africans. The destruction of America’s native population is a horrible tragedy, on par with the institution of slavery. But in history, this sort of tragedy is, sadly, far from unique.

What is unique was the dramatic movement away from this sort destructive conquest – resulting from the free and self-correcting institutions upon which the United States had been founded, as well as a hard-fought civil war. These foundations allowed for the outpouring of goodwill and effort from countless civil-rights activists. And we see the culmination of Columbus’ legacy today: it is now possible for a man of mixed-race to become president. Where in Europe has there been a leader of similar heritage? It was not so long ago, lest we forget, that the United States was the only major democracy in the world. Would anyone now doubt that a Native American could follow in our current president’s footsteps in the foreseeable future?

Thus, we celebrate Columbus Day: not for the tragedies that befell those subject to colonial Europeans or early Americans; but for the triumph, the birth of our nation and the evolution and maturation of Western culture that took place. All of this was as a result of Columbus’ daring and intrepid voyage across the Atlantic.

We can damn ourselves, and focus on the tragedies of the past to the exclusion of all else. We can naively judge a 15th century man by 21st century standards. Or we can carry the legacy of history forward and with optimism: declaring our intention to strengthen democracy and opportunity, and proud in the knowledge that we are, truly, better for our struggles. The students of Columbia University should be celebrating with us.

Author’s Note: this article reflects my view, and not necessarily that of the Foundation.

The faculty’s decision last week to rename Columbus Day “Fall Weekend” on the University calendar has garnered more attention both locally and nationally than the average code revision, with Providence mayor David Cicilline ’83 and Rush Limbaugh, the high-profile conservative pundit, among those decrying the move. (story continued below)

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By Lauren Fedor
Brown Daily Herald

John Vanderlyn’s 1847 painting depicts Columbus landing on the West Indies island called Guarnahani by the natives — which he named San Salvador — on Oct. 12, 1492.

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Though the faculty’s vote last Tuesday seemed to reflect student opinion — a recent Herald poll suggested that the majority of Brown students disapproved of continuing to call the holiday Columbus Day — the resolution has prompted a wave of criticism from city leaders, who said the move was hypocritical and disrespectful to Italian-Americans.

“Brown University made itself an example to the nation by carefully exploring its ties to the slave trade and using that process to promote greater understanding,” Cicilline said in a press release Thursday. But the decision to “simply erase the celebration of an incredibly significant moment in world history and Italian-American culture for the sake of political correctness does just the opposite,” he said.

Cicilline added that “as an Italian-American,” he took “particular offense” to the decision.
Cicilline’s communications director, Rhoades Alderson, told The Herald Monday that the mayor believes the role of higher education is to “get at the truth” of “complicated parts of our nation’s history.”

Brown “set the standard for doing that” with its work exploring its historical ties to the slave trade, Alderson said, but Cicilline felt the Columbus Day decision was done “in the opposite spirit.”

“It was just kind of deleting (the event) from history, rather than using it to promote understanding,” Alderson said.

Cicilline was not the only one upset with the faculty’s decision. Members of local Italian-American organizations expressed their dissatisfaction in a Providence Journal article last week. The Italian-American community has long regarded Columbus — an Italian explorer who made his first voyage to the Americas in 1492 — as an important historical figure and cultural icon.

“Columbus was the one that opened up this part of the world to Western civilization,” Raymond Dettore, Jr., former president of the Italo-American Club in Providence, told the Journal.

Anthony Baratta, president of the Commission for Social Justice of the group Sons of Italy, told the Journal that Columbus Day is a “patriotic” holiday. “I don’t know why the faculty would have chosen this route,” he said.

Bob Kerr, a columnist for the Journal, said Monday that he thought the faculty’s decision was “a little detached” from the local community, especially considering that a large number of Providence’s residents are of Italian descent. Kerr wrote an opinion piece for the Journal on Friday, headlined “Different ways of looking at the same guy,” mocking the measure.

“I didn’t think it was a great decision,” he said yesterday. “I’m amazed that people at Brown wouldn’t realize, ‘Whoa, wait a minute, this is going to make us look a little silly.’”
The story quickly reached the national media. On Thursday, two days after the faculty’s vote, radio personality Rush Limbaugh attacked the decision.
Referring to Brown students who supported the faculty’s decision as “spoiled, rotten little skulls full of mush with brains that represent the arid expanse of the Sahara Desert,” Limbaugh said the change was “idiocy.”

“Next they’re going to come along and get rid of Halloween,” he said.
The Associated Press and Fox News were among the national media organizations to pick up the story.

Meanwhile, most Brown students continued to support the faculty’s move, despite the way it was received outside College Hill.

“I definitely support the decision,” Avi Kenny ’11 said. Columbus is “undeserving of a holiday,” he said.

“What they teach us in elementary school is misleading — hero worshipping,” said Josh Marcotte ’11, calling the faculty’s decision “a progressive step.”

Araceli Mendez ’12 said she too supported the change, but understood why some groups, such as Italian-Americans, might see it as offensive. “It’s not that complicated of an issue, but I understand where they’re coming from,” she said.

Michael Hogan ’11 said he generally approved of the decision to rename Columbus Day, but expressed some concern about the precedent such a move might set. “Are we going to stop Presidents Day because Thomas Jefferson had slaves?” he asked.

The faculty vote was preceded by months of pressure from a small group of students who wanted the University to stop recognizing Columbus Day. The students had originally proposed that the University take a different day off, but the months of dialogue ended with the proposal to change only the name of the holiday, in part because some faculty and staff wanted the University’s October holiday to coincide with that of local schools.

Columbus Day, observed on the second Monday in October, has been a federal holiday since 1971.