Here is a letter from the faculty ad visor for Students against the war RE: the Demand for apology.
From: Knutson, Peter Sent: Friday, January 28, 2005 8:45 AM To: Central; North; Siegal; South; SVI
Subject: SCCC demands student group apologize to the U.S. Army To: GNA Garcia
Coordinator of Student Involvement
Student Leadership Division
Seattle Central Community College
In re: Your letter; Public Disclosure Request
I write in response to your emails of 1/27/05. You state that the student organization, Students Against War, of which I am the faculty advisor, will be disbanded as of February 3, 2005 unless the group sends a formal apology to representatives of the United States Army regarding “the events of Friday, January 21, 2005.” Should they refuse your demand, Students Against War will be denied the use of public facilities at SCCC by the college administration.
I assume you actually refer to the Inaugural Protest of Thursday, January 20. I further assume that you write this letter in your official capacity as a functionary of the SCCC administration in the Division of Student Leadership.
You allege that Students Against War engaged in “intensely alarming behavior” in the presence of Army recruiters. You claim that members of the organization Students Against War menaced people in the hallways, disregarded civil rights of others and touted such behavior as “admirable” at the subsequent Westlake Center counter-inaugural demonstration. You provide no sources or names of witnesses. Based on hearsay, you would deny this campus group their voice on our campus, without benefit of due process. Consequent to your allegations I therefore append to this letter three legally binding Public Disclosure Requests to which you and your supervisors are required to respond.
I was teaching during the time in which you allege that Students Against War was harassing U.S. Army personnel. I have subsequently spoken with SCCC staff and students who were directly present in the Atrium during the time you reference. The following are the facts as I have been able to ascertain them:
1-Students Against War was permitted to conduct a rally on the South Lawn. This rally of nearly a thousand individuals was conducted peacefully.
2-Students Against War did not promote or orchestrate the events in the Atrium. You are correct when you state that Students Against War did not plan to harass recruiters or behave in an uncivil fashion towards the military recruiters who, in your view, had “equal rights to be on our campus” along with students. Not only did the group not plan such actions, but the group did not commit such actions.
Students who demonstrated against the presence of military recruiters in the Atrium did so as a matter of individual conscience, not as members of an organized student group. As faculty advisor to many campus organizations since 1996, I have never been instructed by your office that any student group is to be responsible for policing the entirety of the SCCC campus.
3-U.S. Army recruiters were informed by SCCC staff prior to their activities that a large protest was scheduled for Inauguration Day and it was politely suggested that their visit be postponed. The recruiters ignored this request and proceeded to set up shop with knowledge of the campus context.
4-Seattle Police officers and SCCC security were in communication during the Atrium incident. SCCC security was immediately present and informed the SPD that their assistance was not necessary. Despite the immediate presence of security and nearby SPD, who presumably would have witnessed the menacing behavior and civil rights violation you allege, there were no citations made. If enforcement personnel on the scene did not witness violations of law, what specific institutional standards did the students violate?
I am troubled that the SCCC administration would force our students to write an apology to the U.S. Army under duress. What kind of a lesson does this teach them? If the group’s conduct violated the law or well-defined institutional standards, then give them due process, and if found in violation, apply sanctions. But don’t force them to write false words that violate their integrity . That smacks of dictatorship. I didn’t think we were teaching that.
Peter Knutson, Ph.D. Faculty Advisor, Students Against War Anthropology Instructor Seattle Central Community College
Now there is a guy who needs a good freeping.
Anthropologist Humanities and Social Sciences
Office 4102
Phone: 206-5876978
Email: pknuts@sccd.ctc.edu