In 1997, Bono descended onto the Franklin Field concert stage from a 40-foot-high lemon. Reminiscing about this introduction at Penn's 2004 Commencement, Bono speculated, "I guess it was at that point when your University trustees decided to give me their highest honor."
According to a few students, 2005 Commencement speaker Kofi Annan doesn't even pass the lemon test. The group, "Kofi Off Campus," is campaigning to block Annan from addressing the graduating class.
KOC has criticized Annan's handling of the "Iraq oil for food program ... the U.N. peacekeepers in [the] Congo ... the genocide occurring in Darfur and ... the Iraqi elections." While these are serious, legitimate criticisms, kicking him off campus would be an illegitimate reaction.
Every year, some Penn students object to the speaker selection. Archbishop Desmond Tutu was booed on stage. Other selections were questioned in The Daily Pennsylvanian: "In spite of critics, Bono the right choice for Penn" (May 20, 2004), "For seniors, [Jim] Lehrer not ideal choice" (Jan. 14, 2002), "[John] McCain draws mix of reviews" (March 26, 2001). Unfortunately, no commencement speaker will please all. Yet never in recent memory has a campaign been mounted to change speakers.
The call to "Kofi Off Campus" is unbecoming of a university that goes to great lengths to promote open dialogue. Nobody kicked Brother Stephen off campus, let alone Noam Chomsky, Dick Cheney, Michael Moore or Antonin Scalia. These individuals span the widest edges of our political spectrum. While controversial, they add to, rather than detract from, the campus dialogue.
It is ironic that KOC thought-police are pitting democracy against itself, using one act (petition) to repress another (speech). What kind of society suppresses those who speak out? Ask 2003 Connaissance speaker Salman Rushdie, who was condemned to death by an Iranian fatwa issued to silence him. Although the method differs, KOC is engaged in its own crusade to silence Annan's views.
Just last week, Annan published an op-ed in The New York Times, advocating global support against the Sudanese genocide. Meanwhile, KOC is shamelessly exploiting this genocide as a political punchline ("Got genocide?"). Shouldn't we all be following Annan's lead, rather than KOC's?
Fortunately, most of campus has ignored KOC's silly antics. This column has probably given it far more attention than it deserves. As of Friday, a whopping 141 unverified "members of the Penn community" have signed the petition. That's less than the number of seniors at Smokes' on a bad night.
KOC cites the lack of student input as a major grievance. Contrary to its claim, the selection of both Bono and Kofi Annan was inspired by the students on the 2003 speaker advisory committee and approved by the Board of Trustees, not the other way around.
Annan, a Nobel laureate, is a citizen of the world. He has championed the Millennium Development Goals, an ambitious effort to combat the world's great scourges; his Global Compact has encouraged businesses to embrace social responsibility (a message all too prescient for a University that counts Wharton among its members); his call for U.N. reform will hopefully restore the organization's transparency, accountability and ultimately legitimacy.
Annan certainly has his shortcomings, yet as Jimmy Smits' character explained in the West Wing season finale, "if we expect our leaders to live on some higher moral plane than the rest of us, well, we're just asking to be deceived."
Let us not be deceived by false prophets like Kofi Off Campus. Let us instead listen to what Annan has to say before passing judgment. For all his faults, his passionate, idealistic effort to alleviate global suffering is a worthy message to send graduates as they enter a difficult world.
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