Inappropriate speaker choice

The choice of Mike Henry, writer and character voice for the animated series "Family Guy," to appear at Southeast Missouri State University April 16 as part of the Speakers Series is a poor one.

"Family Guy" features as regular characters a kidnapper/rapist and a pedophile, and the show's writers, which include Henry, delight in blatantly treating rape and pedophilia as subjects to laugh about. Anyone who doubts this has only to watch very few episodes. By inviting Henry to speak without recognizing his lack of empathy for the victims of rape and child molestation is staggeringly bad judgment by the persons responsible for approving his appearance. It's unlikely the same persons would invite someone to speak about the Holocaust as a laugh riot.

As a 26-year law enforcement officer who has dealt with many rapists and child molesters and witnessed the gut-wrenching effects of their handiwork, I am disgusted with my alma mater. It's sad that with a choice of speakers on a variety of important topics, SEMO would elect to provide a forum for just another immoral pop culture figure.

I urge SEMO to cancel Henry's appearance. Should he appear, I hope that well-informed rape victim advocates and child abuse victim advocates will attend to respectfully question Henry about his work.

CURT CASTEEL, Jackson