‘Traumatic’ Venue seeks to build on inter-faith connections

“We welcome people of all faiths and none,” Hill said.

- Ed Pilkington

At 10.45am on Friday, Michael Hill, the president of Chautauqua Institution, was sitting four rows back from the stage as Salman Rushdie was being introduced as a headline speaker in the cultural centre’s summer programme.

It should have been a joyous occasion for more than 1,000 people in the hall, and for Hill personally. Rushdie had spoken at the institution only once before, and as the event began, Hill reflected on how closely the novelist’s struggles and convictions mirrored Chautauqua’s own.

“Rushdie is a symbol of free speech and expression, which dovetails exactly with what we do,” Hill told the Guardian. “We pull people together across ideologies and divides to try [to] spread understanding and make the world a better place.”

Two minutes later, at 10.47am, Hill said he witnessed the antithesis of everything the institution has stood for since its founding 148 years ago. A man rushed on stage and stabbed Rushdie multiple times. The attack left Hill profoundly shaken. “ I cannot unsee what happened,” Hill said. “We watched an attack in front of us, up close, on a stage that feels like a second home to me, and that’s deeply traumatic.”