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

September 6
September 13

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