Letters to the Editor

Consequences of speech To the Editor:

I believe that Stephanie Winters has every right to say or post what ever she wants.

However, I believe that for $35,000 per year students have a right to not have to deal with someone who is willing to express the kinds of ideas she has. I do not believe that it is appropriate for undergraduates to be forced to deal with her. What happens when a Muslim student needs help? It is unreasonable to believe she could be impartial.

While the University should respect the free speech rights of students and employees, Penn is a private institution and has the authority to hire and fire as it sees fit. I hope the University will exercise its rights and remove her from contact with undergraduate students.

Matt Pisanelli

Wharton '03



To the Editor:

Regarding the recent outrageous e-mail of Stephanie Winters, we want to note that we appreciate University President Judith Rodin's statement that "words of hatred and bigotry, insult and ignorance, destroy dialogue and community and must be answered." In that spirit of dialogues, here are some questions we want answered.

To Stephanie Winters: What is the biological basis for your statement of the genetic inferiority of Palestinians? Are you aware that race is one of the least important indicators of biological difference in the human species? How can you expect to maintain the respect of your students if you promote views that denigrate some of them? And without the ability to command respect, how do you expect to be taken seriously as an instructor?

To President Rodin: What is the definition of "hate speech," and at what point does the University administration decide to intervene because of the damage to the community? Would the administration have responded differently if another group had been targeted? What is the administration going to do to educate teachers who are in positions of power of their ignorance and the impact of their words?

To the DP editors: Why did you jump to the defense of free speech instead of choosing to defend the community that was attacked? When does the media have the responsibility to identify the factors that destabilize a community, or any one part of it?

To the Linguistics Department: What kind of sensitivity training and/or screening is done with teaching assistants to insure that each one can teach effectively in a widely diverse community?

To the Penn student body: When will we really take positive action when someone takes potshots, or worse, at any one of us, actions by which we are all demeaned? What can students do to set ourselves apart from people who make outrageously cruel statements? How can we help monitor one another's impulse to superiority and to view others as inferior?

Finally, to our colleagues in Penn-related religious communities: What in our faith statements allow us to condemn hateful and demeaning behaviors and words? How can we best respond to the pain Winters has created and uncovered?

Kathleen McDonough

College '02

Rev. Beverly Dale

Executive Director,

The Christian Association

Rev. Douglas Fauth

Associate Director,

The Christian Association

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.