there is an inherent academic value in bringing a figure like McKinney to our campus.The Rhodes Class of '56 Professorship was created so that accomplished and intriguing individuals representing a variety of fields could share their experiences with colleagues and students while participating in a variety of on-campus lectures, forums, round table discussions and other events.
If McKinney can use her time at Cornell to foster discussion and encourage intelligent debate about a variety of pertinent topics, then the question becomes why would Cornell not offer her the position? The University is not handing McKinney a pulpit from which to inundate the Cornell population, but is offering students the opportunity to interact with, to learn from and to debate with a politician who -- for better or worse -- helped shape the history of a post Sept. 11 America.
Though it only began in 2000, the program has already hosted the scientist and entertainer Bill Nye '77, former United States Attorney General Janet Reno '60, famed architect Richard Meier '56 and the president of Merck Research Laboratories Edward M. Scolnick.
Additionally, as the first female African-American congressional delegate from Georgia and as an important member of various House committees, McKinney should be an intriguing addition to the Hill. And if Cornell gets a little heat for the hire, so much the better. It gives McKinney and Cornellians that much more to prove, potentially raising the intellectual bar on her weeks spent at Cornell.
The only downside to the controversy surrounding McKinney's appointment is that John Pilger, the Emmy Award-winning documentarian and journalist who was named a Rhodes Class of '56 Professor at the same time as McKinney, isn't getting the attention he deserves.
