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This e-mail was sent this afternoon by the President of Westminster College in Fulton, MO where Vice President Cheney delivered his speech critical of John Kerry eartlier today. In the letter, sent to to students and faculty, Fletcher Lamkin said, "I must admit that I was surprised and disappointed that Mr. Cheney chose to step off the high ground and resort to Kerry-bashing for a large portion of his speech." He says Kerry will be extended an invitation to speak there as well as a result.
Fletcher M. Lamkin, Ph.D.
President, Westminster College
Dear Westminster Students, Faculty and Staff:
I would like to thank each and every one of you who were so courteous and respectful to Mr. Cheney during his visit and speech. Frankly, I must admit that I was surprised and disappointed that Mr. Cheney chose to step off the high ground and resort to Kerry-bashing for a large portion of his speech. The content and tone of his speech was not provided to us prior to the event -- we had only been told the speech would be about foreign policy, including issues in Iraq. Nevertheless, I was extremely proud of the students, staff, and faculty who represented the College so well during the organization of the visit and during the speech itself -- inside and outside of the gym.
For those of you who perhaps did not receive tickets or were not able to get into the gym before the secret service shut the doors, please accept my apologies. We were given a specified allotment and only one day to distribute them. Likewise, the security checkpoint by the secret service inside the entrance of Westminster Gym simply did not move the people through as fast as necessary for the volume of people in line. Please understand that for a high-level event of this nature involving top government leaders, we had to conform with the protocol, timelines and security measures that were required by the advance team and by the secret service.
We will be making available videotapes of Cheney's speech in our library by tomorrow afternoon, on reserve for the Westminster community to check out and view. Also, I want to remind and encourage you to attend the debate being held on Tuesday evening organized by the College Democrats and College Republicans.
Finally, I want to make it clear to the Westminster community that, in the interest of balance and fairness and integrity, we will strongly encourage Senator Kerry to take advantage of this venue to make his views known as well. In fact, I have already stated this invitation publicly via members of the the media immediately after Mr. Cheney's speech. In the framework of academic freedom and balance, I would expect and demand that our campus community treat Mr. Kerry with equal courtesy and respect should he decide to visit here. It is my sincere belief and commitment that this college will continue to be world-class venue for international leaders who want to speak to the world via Westminster.
--Fletcher M. Lamkin, Ph.D.
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