[Not all University presidents are rude]
[Via Juan Cole's Informed Comment blog. It's a open letter to the St. Thomas University community by its president, Father Dennis Dease (it's a Catholic University)]
http://www.juancole.com/2007/10/father-dease-president-of-university-of.html
<quote>
'Dear members of the St. Thomas community,
One of the strengths of a university is the opportunity that it
provides to speak freely and to be open to other points of view on a
wide variety of issues. And, I might add, to change our minds.
Therefore, I feel both humbled and proud to extend an invitation to
Archbishop Desmond Tutu to speak at the University of St. Thomas.
I have wrestled with what is the right thing to do in this
situation, and I have concluded that I made the wrong decision
earlier this year not to invite the archbishop. Although
well-intentioned, I did not have all of the facts and points of
view, but now I do.
PeaceJam International may well choose to keep the alternative
arrangements that it has made for its April 2008 conference, but I
want the organization and Archbishop Tutu to know that we would be
honored to hold the conference at St. Thomas.
In any event, St. Thomas will extend an invitation to Archbishop
Tutu to participate in a forum to foster constructive dialogue on
the issues that have been raised. I hope he accepts my invitation.
The Jewish Community Relations Council of Minnesota and the Dakotas
has agreed to serve as a co-sponsor of the forum, and I expect other
organizations also to join as co-sponsors.
Details about issues to be addressed will be determined later, but I
would look forward to a candid discussion about how a civil and
democratic society can pursue reasoned debate on the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict and other emotionally charged issues.
I also want to encourage a thoughtful examination of St. Thomas'
policies regarding controversial speech and controversial speakers.
In the past, we have been criticized externally and internally when
we have invited controversial speakers to campus - as well as when
we have not. Rather than just move from controversy to controversy,
might there be a positive role that this university could play in
fostering thoughtful conversation around difficult and highly
charged issues? We also might explore how to more clearly express in
our policies and practices our commitment to civility when
discussing such issues.
I have asked Dr. Nancy Zingale, professor of political science and
my former executive adviser, to oversee the planning for the forum.
If you have suggestions regarding either the topic or other
participants, please contact her at nhzingale at stthomas.edu.
I sincerely hope Archbishop Tutu will accept our invitation. I
continue to have nothing but the utmost respect for his witness of
faith, for his humanitarian accomplishments and especially for his
leadership in helping to end apartheid in South Africa.
Sincerely,
Father Dennis Dease
President
<end quote>
Michael