@aral Oh, they could have forged ahead. The actual impact of what they planned on 98% of the outraged community would have been utterly nothing. People forget quickly. But, you are quite right: the public insisted on a reversal, and got it. I can tell you it was a panicky few days on my campus. I had students coming to me to ask if their careers had already been ruined before they started. Today, it's as though the whole thing was just a bad dream.