The Hilltop was more like the big top when the Fox News Circus came to town on Friday, but Ed Board was unimpressed with the elephant show.

It was great to see Texans like Morgan Fairchild, Randy White and Janine Turner onstage at McFarlin Auditorium. It was not great to see Tom DeLay onstage not only representing Texas, but also SMU.

Of all the Republicans who have ties to Texas, did Fox have to go with DeLay?

Ed Board knew any politician that would appear on Fox would most certainly be a Republican. No big deal, right? There are plenty of honorable politicians from the Republican Party who have served the Lone Star State with great distinction and class. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchinson comes to mind, as does fellow Republican Sen. John Cornyn, among others.

But when Fox News decided to put DeLay, a man who is currently under investigation for violating Texas election laws, on our stage, it crossed the line.

While Ed Board agrees anyone accused of a crime is innocent until proven guilty, DeLay is surrounded in shame and scandal, most noticeably by his resignation from the U.S. House and attempted withdrawal from the upcoming election.

He does not deserve to be paraded around our campus and portrayed as a representative of SMU.

Fox News did SMU a great disservice by having DeLay on its broadcast Friday night. Ed Board is insulted and offended that this organization would abuse our hospitality and good name with its actions.

The worse part about it is, the SMU administration knew who was going to be on the guest list.

Vice President for Development and External Affairs Brad Cheves was responsible for working with Fox on the guest list. He could have stopped this from happening.

The SMU administration favored a cheap publicity stunt on basic cable to upholding the fine reputation of this institute of higher education.

We realize public perception is key to promoting the university. We realize the event was a great way to get our beautiful campus exposure on a prominent news network. What we can’t figure out is what the administration was thinking there was to gain out of letting Fox bring DeLay on the show.

DeLay’s presence tainted the event. He took what could have been a wonderful opportunity and turned it into nothing but the rest of the garbage Fox airs on its network.