LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: Defending Dean Stevens

To the Editor: According to Mr. Nadel, Professor Baker accuses Dean Rosemary Stevens among other things of failing to treat the English Department with respect and common courtesy. This astonishing assertion is simply and emphatically not true. As the Chairman of the English Department for the last five years, I can say that Professor Baker's letter (if Mr. Nadel has quoted it accurately) summarizing the relationship between Dean Stevens and the English Department does not represent my views nor (if I may speak for them) those of my colleagues in the English Department. I am writing to dissociate myself in the strongest possible terms from the opinions expressed about Dean Stevens in Mr. Nadel's column. As Chairman of the English Department, I have had my differences with Dean Stevens, and I have argued on various occasions like other Chairs in SAS for more resources for my department. I have also disagreed with some of the Dean's (and the SAS Personnel Committee's) decisions on recent tenure and promotion cases. But I respect and admire Dean Stevens, and I believe she has always done her best during difficult times for the school, for its faculty and for its students. I consider Rosemary Stevens my friend and colleague, and I have to say that I find Mr. Nadel's column deeply offensive as well as ignorant and simple-minded in its characterization of Dean Stevens and her administration. If anyone is to blame for the perennial shortage of resources SAS faces, it is probably the central administration of the University of Pennsylvania which in the past has not seemed able to understand the centrality of liberal studies in the arts and sciences for any university worth the name. John Richetti English Department Chairperson n To the Editor: I write to deplore the disgracefully personal nature of the attack on the Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences, Dr. Rosemary Stevens, by your columnist Mike Nadel and, assuming he was quoted accurately and in context, Professor Houston Baker (DP, 3/24/95). While the column's few substantive points are too misguided to require serious comment, its tactics and the viciousness of its tone can only be abhorred. These are now, sadly, the tools of modern politics, but in my view they have no place in an academic community. Eugene Wolf Professor of Music Freedom Can Be Painful To the Editor: As a believer in the full and equal rights and dignity of gays and lesbians, I should like to explain why I disagree with my colleague, Professor Gamer, whose letter to the editor (DP 3/17/95) implied that the DP should not print columns that express the views of cultural conservatives (of whom there are many in this nation) on this issue. Gays and lesbians know only too well that such categorization and criticism of them exist in this society. Neither opinions nor the consequences of such opinions disappear when their expression is suppressed, however. Mr. Teillon has as much right to the opinion pages of the DP as any other member of this community, many of whom frequently deride Mr. Teillon's point of view and way of life. Indeed, as Justice Louis Brandeis understood so well, "Sunlight in the best disinfectant." The confrontation of radically different moral consciences occurs best in an atmosphere of freedom and debate. The coerced fiction that everyone agrees with official positions on sexuality and freedom serves no one's interests. It artificially shields a community from real beliefs; it inhibits the dynamic that results from exposure to views stated by those who truly believe them. As a libertarian critic of speech codes and double standards, I have been called names in the pages of the DP -- "racist," "sexist," "inciter to violence" -- more times than I care to recall. Prof. Gamer may believe that thin-skin or thick-skin is given by history or blood rather than by temperament, but he is simply wrong in this. Regardless of my sensitivities, however, people are entitled to the expression of their opinions of me. If the orphans of soldiers could hear their fathers labelled "baby killers," I dare say that gays and lesbians can survive the views of Mr. Teillon. On almost every campus, Evangelicals frequently hear themselves insulted as "Jesus Freaks," "homophobes," or "Born Again Bigots." Jews frequently hear themselves portrayed as "oppressors" by the Nation of Islam, which in turn hears itself portrayed as "anti-Semitic" and "fascistic." The original "fighting word," by the way, in Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire, was "fascist," which, if enforced in a speech code, would have silenced the entire Left for incitement to violence during the sixties! Catholics rightly were asked to endure the celebratory display of the "Piss Christ" as the price of our liberty. Who said that freedom was easy? The attempt to purge "offense" leads ultimately to a police state or to double standards that no decent people long would tolerate. The urge to censorship is deep and fearsomely dangerous. I think that in this essentially decent community, we can bear each other's insults without sacrificing the free clash of values, and that we can respond to each other with reason, or with outrage, or, indeed, with moral witness. Alan Kors Professor of History Taking a Firm Stance To the Editor: I am very pleased by President Rodin's decision to firmly support the right of The Red and Blue to be present on this campus. This is not because I am necessarily a fan of The Red and Blue, rather, this is the first time I can remember a high level administrator at this university take a firm stand on a potentially controversial issue. Unfortunately, this University has been plagued by cowardly "leaders" who have refused to take a stance on anything which may hurt someone's feelings or annoy a special interest group. Our spineless last president seemed to rule by the "creation of a committee" method, so that he could hide in his mansion and wait until the middle of summer to make a decision after the committee made its predictable conclusions. I hope this era has ended once and for all at this university. President Rodin, I hope you do not follow the easy course into this method of governing. A real leader is someone who can assess a situation, determine by her convictions the best course of action, make a decision and stand by it even when some people cry. Many people may hate you, many people may like you, but everyone will respect you. This is the kind of inspired leadership this university needs. I hope you are ready to deliver. Brent Garrels College '95 Outraged To the Editor: I had to respond to the way you used Dean Lynaugh's name on your front page (DP 3/2/95). The article following your headline had very little to do with her, and I find that outrageous. Dean Lynaugh is a respected and beloved member of the nursing school. I am the administrative assistant at the Center for The Study of The History of Nursing of which she is the director. Joan has been at the nursing school for over eight years. She was contacted by your staff writer as she was dealing with an electrician. She couldn't speak at the time, and when she called back, your writer was gone. Hence your "declined to comment." Here in the grown up world, we would have shown her a copy before publishing an article using her as a subject. You guys are really wet behind the ears, and sometimes it really shows. Just wanted to set the record straight to some extent. Betsy Weiss Administrative Assistant Center for The Study of The History of Nursing An Unnecessary Quota To the Editor: After reading the thought-provoking tidbit that was "Quote of the Day," as well as the Page 3 article from which it was taken out of context (DP 2/27/95), I feel strongly compelled to take a stand in support of the inhabitants of the state of Arizona. It appears as if Mr. Allison Rouse feels that when venturing away from the venerable academies and preparatory schools of the East Coast, he must "dress down" for the occasion by wearing a "white shirt and khaki pants." As a proud resident of Phoenix, and a student who is thankful for his own admission to Penn in addition to the record number of Arizonans in this year's freshman class, I feel caught in a double-bind of sorts. Due to the University's achievements in a wide range of fields, it has become one of the "hotter" schools into which applicants hope to be accepted, and I applaud the efforts of Mr. Rouse to travel 3000 miles to the Southwest in order to entice the best and brightest students in my home state to come east to Philadelphia for college. However, I feel that I and my fellow "desert dwellers" are perfectly capable of succeeding based on our intelligence and merit, rather than simply profiting from a silly geographic quota. Don't get me wrong: Westchester also has a number of well-rounded people, but please don't place them on a pedestal above us "hicks" from Arizona. Jon Teitel College '96