Faculty members recall Gulf War campus climate

Over a decade has passed since the U.S. last engaged in war with Iraq and Saddam Hussein. And though the battle lasted a mere six weeks, most Americans -- including professors at Penn -- remember the opinions they and those around them had concerning the Gulf War. For many long-standing members of the Penn community, yesterday's protest on College Green brought back memories of similar student rallies focusing on war with Iraq. And as political tensions and the possibility of another conflict in the Persian Gulf increases, such faculty members can compare and contrast the atmosphere on campus during the early 1990s with the present. According to Political Science Professor Avery Goldstein, there are both similarities and differences between the two time periods. Goldstein explained that the majority of Penn students have felt no inclination to openly display their political opinions during either time period. He believed, however, that 10 years ago, "the broad sentiment... was more favorable to military action." Goldstein noted that today, there is a more noticeable "sense of a deep split and perhaps even strong opposition by many [on Penn's campus] to the prospect of the war." The political science professor explained that this difference in attitude is largely attributable to the nature of the conflicts. According to Goldstein, "the use of force in 1991 was in response to an Iraqi military attack." He added that "the argument for using force today is much more complex, based on the need to act now to prevent an allegedly more dangerous future." College of Arts and Sciences Dean Richard Beeman produced a similar explanation for the varying political stances that he has observed between now and then. According to Beeman, "the Gulf War was in fact provoked by an invasion by Iraq of Kuwait, and the events of that war then unfolded much more rapidly than is the case" today. In addition to differing student opinion, Beeman explained that he believes the current faculty's view of an impending war with Iraq offers a contrast to the position taken during the country's last Persian Gulf conflict. "In the case of the Gulf War, it seemed to me that most of my faculty colleagues in Arts and Sciences were either opposed to it or at least skeptical," Beeman wrote in an e-mail. He continued, explaining that although he "would not try to divine faculty opinion on this current situation," he suspects that his colleagues "are deeply concerned about the tendency of the United States in the present case to be contemptuous of [its] European allies and to go it alone." Harking back to his time as University president, History Professor Sheldon Hackney remarked that those on campus during the time of the Gulf War tended to be "more supportive" of our nation's actions than they appear to be today. Hackney explained that "many more people are clearly worried and talking about the downside of war" today, such as "the loss of life" and the possibility of "the domestic front not getting the attention that it needs." Even with such differences between now and 1991, the faculty members explained that the contrast pales in comparison with the variance between the charged political atmosphere of the 1960s and '70s and today. According to Goldstein, "students today don't feel the same connection with the consequences of military action that prevailed when they were subject to the draft" as they were three decades ago. Beeman noted that he has observed much of the same dwindling of political activism during his 35 years on Penn's faculty. He described the difference between the atmosphere of today's campus with that 30 to 40 years ago as "striking." Beeman explained that "the Vietnam War was not merely an intellectual abstraction.... It was a reality which affected hundreds of Penn's students' lives." The dean noted that the existence of the draft during that time resulted in a more necessary and passionate connection to military action by Penn students. The war was something that "disrupt[ed] their studies, their families and, in some cases, all of the rest of their lives." As compared with Vietnam, Beeman saw today's impending conflict as more of an "abstraction" rather than a "pressing reality" for Penn's campus. The dean noted that what he is "most struck by in the current situation is how far-removed and detached Penn students are from this [current] conflict."

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