Letters to the Editor

I took a photo, too To the Editor: I am writing to acknowledge that the photo I took with a student at the annual Halloween Party ("Controversy erupts over student in terror garb," DP, 11/3/06) has caused a kind of wounding to some in the Penn community. I did not immediately associate what I saw of the student's costume with the kind of gear worn by a suicide bomber. In the seconds between the student tapping me on the shoulder under that very crowded tent and asking me to take a picture with him, my agreeing to do so and asking his name, I did see his headband and the toy gun. I am dating myself, but what I thought of was the movie action hero Rambo. I didn't see the fake waistband of dynamite until after the picture was taken. At that point - in a matter of a few seconds - I put all of the pieces together in my mind of what the whole get-up was meant to symbolize. All of that now, of course, is history - and several Web sites and Internet web logs gone. The wounding, however, remains for some, and I am eager to address it in any way that I can. To be sure, I would not intentionally set out to hurt anyone, nor do I take lightly symbols that are particularly painful to anyone or any group. In the meanwhile, the photos have taken on a life of their own. They are subject to all kinds of interpretations. Those interpretations are determined by the images in the pictures, how the pictures are presented, what the images mean to different people and the intentions of the persons responsible for displaying them in a particular frame, setting or environment. For me, this aspect of the power of an image is connected with something I learned out of my own African American preaching tradition: "A text taken out of context is a pre-text." My hope is that the insensitivity and offensiveness of the images will not be the final word that defines anyone's perspective of the community at Penn.

William Gipson University chaplain

Very disappointed To the Editor: President Gutmann's statement regarding the mock suicide murderer misses the scandal's central issues. First, many at the event saw the costumed student and cheerfully tolerated him. This photo, plus photos of the beheadings, inform the world that Penn's culture and senior-most leadership is unimaginably corrupt and degraded. Did she think they were mocking Israelis, who daily experience the reality of murder? Perhaps they were cleverly mocking Iraqis, who face explosions and beheadings this very minute? She did nothing to distance herself from the situation, and I wonder if she thinks she's fit for her position. Second, she brings up the student's "right" to wear the costume. That is a smarmy, politically correct comment. The issue is not whether a law was broken, but whether Penn requires standards of student behavior. Do you have a code prohibiting behavior which is reprehensible or brings disgrace onto the institution? Must your students behave ethically? Honestly? Honorably? The fact that Gutmann is excusing the student - "it is his right," she said - is a very ominous sign of worse things to come. Too bad. Your institution used to be a very fine one.

Laura Gutman Duke professor emeritus

A passive response To the Editor: I was horrified to learn of President Amy Gutmann's response ("Gutmann responds to criticism," DP Online, 11/4/06) to the suicide-bomber costume last week. Her mere refusal to take additional pictures with the student dressed as a suicide bomber is wholly inadequate. As I imagine you are already aware, virulent anti-Israel and anti-Semitic sentiments pervade American college campuses. Penn students and alumni fully expect you to aggressively help reverse the trend, especially when this hate presents itself right under your nose. Her response was passive, weak and demeaning to the innocent victims of terror. I, along with countless other Penn alumni, await a more forceful response from the University commensurate with the horrors that terrorists inflict upon innocent victims.

Adam Singer 2003 Law alumnus

Highly offensive To the Editor: I am a college instructor (Queens College, New York City) fed up with today's PC madness regarding radical Islam. Despite President Gutmann's predictable apology ("Gutmann responds to criticism," DP Online, 11/4/06) - which made no mention of Saad Saadi's apparent amusement at brutal murder - it was highly offensive and inappropriate of her to joke and pose with the above-mentioned student as he went to her house dressed as an Islamist terrorist, with fake dynamite strapped to his body and a Qu'ran thrown in for good measure. Since when does free speech mean that university presidents are too politically correct (or too terrified?) to immediately complain about someone who admires homicide-bombing terrorists and calls them "freedom fighters?" Saadi should have been severely admonished or even expelled, not indulged. Gutmann's version of "tolerance" is appeasement of those who support the most brutal of murderers. Free speech should not mean the death of us all.

Sara Miller Queens, New York

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