Letter of Protest

Brian Zick

Paul Burka for Texas Monthly reports that "Faculty, Administrators, & Staff" of the Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University have written a letter to Gerald Turner, president of the Board of Trustees, urging the board to "reconsider and to rescind SMU's pursuit" of the George W. Bush presidential library. "We count ourselves among those who would regret to see SMU enshrine attitudes and actions widely deemed as ethically egregious: degradation of habeas corpus, outright denial of global warming, flagrant disregard for international treaties, alienation of long-term U.S. allies, environmental predation, shameful disrespect for gay persons and their rights, a pre-emptive war based on false and misleading premises, and a host of other erosions of respect for the global human community and for this good Earth on which our flourishing depends." (…) Surely it's not the case that SMU will allow itself to benefit financially from a name and legacy that globally is associated with suffering, death, and political 'bad faith.' via David Kurtz at TPM

The text is from the poem “QUADRENNIAL” by Golden, reprinted with permission. It was first published in the Poetry Project. Inside front cover photo by Golden.
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