Rice Speaking at Commencement. Prof Quits Catholic College

[Tom Joad]

An open letter to William P. Leahy, SJ, president of Boston College.
DEAR Father Leahy,

I am writing to resign my post as an adjunct professor of English at Boston College.

I am doing so -- after five years at BC, and with tremendous regret -- as a direct result of your decision to invite Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to be the commencement speaker at this year's graduation.

Many members of the faculty and student body already have voiced their objection to the invitation, arguing that Rice's actions as secretary of state are inconsistent with the broader humanistic values of the university and the Catholic and Jesuit traditions from which those values derive.

But I am not writing this letter simply because of an objection to the war against Iraq. My concern is more fundamental. Simply put, Rice is a liar.

http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2006/05/12/condoleezza_rice_at_boston_college_i_quit/

[EST]

1. WOW!!

Clarity and truth--in a four word sentence.

[renate]

2. that's too bad

:applause: to him for standing on principle. Too bad Boston College is losing somebody who believes in truth and knowledge in favor of a commencement speaker who "does not personify these values; she repudiates them."

[Fridays Child]

3. Is the gesture noble or futile?

Clearly, he places the importance of truth above some other critical considerations, such as an income, and I applaud him for it. But as a method for affecting change, I'm less certain of the value of his gesture.

Anyway, I wish him well and I hope that his protest is widely reported. Maybe Keith will have him on as a guest.

[davidinalameda]

4. it's a great gesture

but he's only an adjunct prof

let's see some of the tenured faculity do the same thing

[mcscajun]

5. Well done, but not as dramatic as if a full-time professor had

done the same thing. It doesn't take anything away from his principled stand, but Steve Almond isn't giving up his livelihood, just his extra paycheck.

If his courses are well-attended, then there'll be much talk on campus about his departure. There'll be some LTTEs in response to his column, and then, nothing.

Still, for a few moments, he got the message out there, and that's important enough.

[lumpy]

6. That does my heart good.

As a diplomat Rice is a failure and a warmongering liar. Bully for the prof.

[Poppyseedman]

7. Simply put.................

Stupidity. Pointless Stupidity.

He can make a much larger statement by being a teacher for the next twenty years expressing whatever points he wants to make about Rice.

[pretzel4gore]

8. ah, a karmic adventurer....

karmic adbventurers trust karma: the irrefutable truth about a situation wins out in the end, be it 1 year or 20 years or 1 month or 5 minutes/100 years(?) eventually the truth prevails and what will be will be...like in que sera sera.... so the only responsibility is to pity the fool who lies, cheats, murders, rapes and ruins.....is s/he ever a loser!

[TreasonousBastard]

9. I got yelled at in another thread for saying...

that an adjunct quitting his job is no big deal.

Now I'm thinking the publicity he gets from this is worth a hell of a lot more than the couple of grand or so per semester he gets paid.

Principled? Maybe. Slick? Definitely.