A pre-planned protest of a discussion led by visiting UIC professor Bill Ayers didn’t produce much of a turnout Wednesday evening.

Instead, students gathering to protest the protest seemed to prevail.

But Jacob Hollars, sophmore in LAS, was among a few students who showed up to challenge Bill Ayers.

“We’re trying to make it known that there’s opposition,” he said. “We’re not trying to shoot him down. It’s his right to talk. His ideas need to be challenged, especially as a 60s and 70s weatherman.”

Ayers was a member of the Weather Underground, a radical political organization during the 1970s, and his connection with President Barack Obama was controversial during the 2008 election.

Ayers is staying in Allen Hall this week as part of its guest-in-residence program.

Check The Daily Illini print edition tomorrow for the full story.

Crystal Kang contributed to this report