Dye
Asks Moment of Silence
To the Oberlin College Community:
This academic year begins at a very difficult time
in the history of the United States and the history of the world
at large. We need no reminding that the first anniversary of the
September 11 terrorist attacks is next Wednesday. The College will
be observing the national moment of silence at 8:45 a.m. that morning,
and I invite every member of the College community — students,
staff, and faculty — and the surrounding Oberlin community
to gather in Finney Chapel for a moment of music and silent reflection.
Professor David Boe will play an organ prelude beginning at 8:30
a.m., and our new professor of organ, James Christie, will follow
the silence with a postlude, ending at approximately 9 a.m. Please
feel free to leave your desks or studies and join us briefly to
commemorate this national tragedy.
At noon, the Kecomosi String Quartet, a student ensemble, will perform
a musical program at Fairchild Chapel in Bosworth Hall. And at 7:30
in the evening, the Office of Chaplains will hold an all-faith gathering
in Finney Chapel.
On Saturday morning, September 14, I hope that you will take part
in an all-community teach-in on the war on terror. Our Congressman,
Sherrod Brown, has agreed to speak at 9:30 a.m. in Finney Chapel
about the War Powers Act and the current controversy over the possibility
of an American attack on Iraq. After his speech, faculty members
and students will participate in a variety of panel discussions
on related issues. The Oberlin community is invited to each of these
events.
Much has happened in the year that has followed September 11. Here
in the United States, we have found ourselves coping with the emotional,
political, and economic aftermath of terrorism and the rise of xenophobia
and nativism targeting Muslims, Arabs, and often people from the
Middle East, North Africa, and South Asia. We have also found ourselves
faced with radical changes in our criminal justice system and dramatic
new powers for the federal government to conduct surveillance on
us all.
We have found ourselves engaged in a war and now a fragile peace
in Afghanistan. We are witnessing the breakdown of another fragile
peace between Palestinians and Israelis in Israel, Gaza, and the
West Bank, and the continuing threat of war between India and Pakistan.
And now we find ourselves seriously contemplating the real possibility
of a major unilateral pre-emptive attack against Iraq. It is a very
serious time.
It is times like these that should make us think about why we have
colleges and universities and about how strong our customs and habits
of academic freedom are, and how we ensure that every faculty member
and student can learn, teach, question, and carry out research freely.
We tend to think of academic freedom as something that must be defended
against external threats from the larger society or government.
This happens. Indeed, we are watching the extraordinary controversy
at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill surrounding the
teaching of Michael Sells’ book, Approaching the Koran, and
the University of South Florida’s controversial lawsuit to
fire tenured Palestinian professor Sami Al Arian.
To protect this college as free and open space, those of us who
live and work here must commit ourselves to clear and careful thinking,
to learning as much as we can about the issues and problems that
face the world today, and to respecting and learning from the perspectives
of those whose views differ from our own.
It is in times like these that we need to remind ourselves and the
larger society of the fact that it is only the university that will
be able to answer many of the most important questions posed by
the world situation in which we find ourselves. For example, two
questions that all of us have heard over and over again during the
past year: why do so many people hate the United States and what
can the United States do about it? These questions and many related
ones can only be answered by careful, responsible, and learned humanistic
and social science scholarship, conducted without interference or
intimidation.
I look forward to discussing all of these issues with the entire
campus community throughout the year ahead.
–Nancy Dye
President |