Here it is. Yale refuses to even have an open debate about the new Taliban Yalie. More here that dredges up some . . . er, interesting incidents in Yale's past.
Whatever happened to the ideal of campus being a place where you could -- oh, I don't know -- debate ideas? Yale apparently won't even allow an opportunity for debate. Whatever happened to the principle of the thing? No matter whether you support the new Yalie or not, you should at least support the idea that open discussion with differing viewpoints is a Good Idea. But noooooooo.
Listen, admin people at Yale, if you think letting a former Taliban spokeman come to Yale is a good idea (and you apparently do because you let him in), what are you afraid of? Why not defend your decision in a public forum? You know you have critics -- why not answer them? Why not educate others as to why you made your decision and think it's a good one? The silence is far worse.
Thanks a lot, Yale, for making the Ivy League look even more ridiculous than it already does.
*Mad Minerva bangs her head on her desk repeatedly.*
(Oh, and what would I have done if I were a Yalie admissions head? I think I would have tried to give a coveted spot at Yale to an Afghan woman who had suffered under the Taliban simply because she was a woman. That would've sent a better message about the much-ballyhooed Ivy concern for "social justice" and "fighting oppression" and so forth.)
UPDATE: Yale alumni are speaking up about Rahmatullah Hashemi. Some are supportive of Yale and some are outraged. Among the angry alums are 2 Yale graduates who started a protest called NailYale. Well, alumni are perfectly within their rights to voice their opinions about their alma mater. When I continued to read the article in the Yale campus paper about alumni opinions, though, I was absolutely flabbergasted to read the following:
Mark Oppenheimer '94, editor of the New Haven Advocate, said he believes the alumni voice should be taken in perspective. |
Translation: "Dear Alumni, Shut up about Yale. We don't care what you think about how we run this school. Plus we will always be smarter than you are. Sincerely, Yale University. PS: Please continue to send in your monetary donations without question or delay so we can fund whatever we feel like funding without any real accountability."
My comment to anyone in academia: For pity's sake, NEVER EVER ASSUME that anybody in administration knows what they're doing!