Replies

The President of Rutgers response to my e-mail which is at the bottom of the response

Thank you for your message. President Barchi has sent the following to
Rutgers faculty, staff, and students:

Dear Members of the Rutgers Community,

On May 18, we will welcome former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to
deliver the 2014 Rutgers University–New Brunswick commencement address.
In recent weeks, members of our University community have engaged in
spirited discussions, and faculty, staff, students, alumni, and a range
of individuals from across the nation have written both in strong
support of, and in opposition to, Condoleezza Rice as our commencement
speaker. We have even heard from high school students who have written
to say that they would withdraw their Rutgers applications if we
rescind—or fail to rescind—our invitation to her. These are the kinds
of exchanges that every great university welcomes. Like all vibrant
intellectual communities, Rutgers can thrive only when it vigorously
defends the free exchange of ideas in an environment of civil
discourse. Our students—like all members of our University
community—benefit from these kinds of energetic civic exchanges, and
through them learn to develop, articulate, and defend their own values
and their moral and ethical positions.

Whatever your personal feelings or political views about our
commencement speaker, there can be no doubt that Condoleezza Rice is one
of the most influential intellectual and political figures of the last
50 years. She has been on the Stanford faculty as a professor of
Political Science since 1981, and she has won two of the university’s
highest teaching distinctions. From 1993 to 1999, she served as
Stanford’s Provost, the institution’s chief academic officer. In 2001,
she accepted the offer to serve in Washington, D.C. as National Security
Advisor and later United States Secretary of State, the first woman of
color to serve in that role. In March 2009, Dr. Rice returned to
Stanford University as a professor of political economy in the Graduate
School of Business and in political science and as the Thomas and
Barbara Stephenson Senior Fellow on Public Policy at the Hoover
Institution. Dr. Rice’s success and influence is all the more
impressive when considered in the context of her childhood in the
segregated South, during the most tumultuous and violent years of the
Civil Rights struggle.

As many of you have suggested in your letters and in discussions with
me, we live in a time when politics can be deeply polarizing. Like our
fellow citizens, you and I—our colleagues—have deep and sincerely held
beliefs and convictions that often stand in stark contrast to others
around us. Yet, we cannot protect free speech or academic freedom by
denying others the right to an opposing view, or by excluding those with
whom we may disagree. Free speech and academic freedom cannot be
determined by any group. They cannot insist on consensus or
popularity. These principles are, in fact, best illustrated and
preserved when we defend perspectives that we oppose or when we protect
what may appear to be a minority view.

My hope is that we can use these seemingly controversial moments to
reaffirm our commitment to open and civil discourse. Indeed, they
provide strong evidence of a healthy and engaged University community.
I will continue to work with you to guarantee the University remains a
space where ideas can be considered, discussed, and debated, a space
that embraces and defends civil discourse, free speech, and academic
freedom.

Sincerely,

Bob Barchi

>
> Name: xxxx xxxxx
> Email:
> Subject: Condi Rice
> Comments:
> Dear Mr. Barchi,
> If you give in to pressure from the unhinged left to deny Ms. Rice a
> chance to address the graduates, you will be giving in to racism,
> sexism and showing the rest of the world that universities in general
> do not stand up for the classical liberal ideal of the marketplace of
> ideas. That would be truly shameful.
> Sincerely
> xxxxx xxxxxx
>