Student believes Bush protest will embarrass University

I am afraid that this week will mark the first time I am embarrassed to say I attend Tufts University. When I chose Tufts, what appealed to me the most was the seeming open-mindedness of the faculty and student body. However, I have seen through this year's Fares lecture that much of the Tufts campus has lost its ability to value diversity and alternative views.

The planned protests surrounding this year's Fares lecture are going to be an embarrassment to us all. We are fortunate to have any past president willing to speak at our school, and no matter how one feels about Bush's politics, we owe him the respect to listen and learn from what he has to say. At an intellectual institution like Tufts, I would expect that those who disagree with Bush's views would submit a challenging question forcing him to defend his opinions or simply not attend the lecture at all.

As the president of Tufts Republicans, I think it is fair to say that I am not a huge Bill Clinton fan. However, I attended his lecture last year, and though I didn't agree with much of what he said, I learned a lot and have used what I disagreed with constructively to support my opinions. I am ashamed that so many other members of the Tufts campus do not have the decency and intellectual ability to see the importance of respect and appreciation for alternative opinions.

As for the faculty, I can't imagine why they are unable to see this year's lecturer as "intellectual diversity." Clearly these professors are liberal-minded, so we are not getting such political diversity in the classroom, and considering last year's lecturer, students are surely bound to hear a different voice on the Middle East this year. So what's not diverse about George Bush, Sr. coming to Tufts? I think it is fair to recognize that conservative viewpoints are the least heard and encouraged at Tufts, and it is surely diversity to have a conservative speaker as the Fares lecturer, regardless of anyone's opinion on what he might say.

I beg anyone, faculty or student, who is planning to tarnish the reputation of Tufts this year at the Fares lecture to spare us the embarrassment and stay home.



Anne Siarnacki (LA '05)

President of Tufts Republicans