COME JOIN US FOR A PANEL DISCUSSION ON CONDI @ BC:
SUNDAY, 5/7 @ 7PM IN DEVLIN 008...
PLEASE JOIN US FOR A RALLY FOR A POSITIVE COMMENCEMENT FOR ALL, WHICH IS TO OPPOSE THE AWARDING OF AN HONARY DEGREE TO DR. RICE: MONDAY, 5/8 @ 3PM IN O'NEIL PLAZA.
PARENTS AND ALUMNI: PLEASE EMAIL
SAYNOTOCONDI@GMAIL.COM IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN SPEAKING AT THE RALLY!!
An Open Letter to Father Leahy and the Boston College Administration,
It has recently been announced that Condoleezza Rice will be speaking at this year's commencement ceremony and receiving an honorary degree from Boston College. Although there are some individuals on campus who support this decision, there is a growing movement among students, faculty, and staff who are opposed to the BC administration's invitation to Dr. Rice and insulted by the extension of an honorary degree to a Secretary of State who supports morally reprehensible policies both at home in the United States and abroad. The BC administration's decision to award the Secretary of State with an honorary degree morally condones these unjust policies at best, and at worst endorses them. Consequently, we have come forward to voice our particular concerns as they relate to this problematic decision in an effort to raise awareness and initiate dialogue about an appropriate response.
On multiple occasions, the BC administration has cancelled events claiming that they ran contrary to Catholic and Jesuit values. As a Catholic, Jesuit, University, we have the moral imperative to uphold the ideals of peace and social justice. Yet despite the Vatican's vehement condemnation of the Iraq war, Boston College is honoring one of its chief architects. This is an example of how the BC administration has clearly been inconsistent in its invocation of Catholic values.
While we are not in favor of censorship on the basis of Jesuit ideals, we feel that the gift of an honorary degree extends beyond the limits or invocation of free speech and into the realm of acclamation and endorsement by Boston College. A commencement speaker in particular is meant to embody the spirit of our university in order to commemorate its graduates' final experience as BC students. We do not believe Condoleezza Rice fulfills this role, and we ask the university to rescind its invitation to Dr. Rice and the offered honorary degree.
Signed,
Boston College Students Opposed to Condoleezza Rice's Invitation
