After sparking a controversy that has since spread to Penn's campus, the student newspaper at Loyola University Chicago has issued an apology for a racially-tinged quote attributed to actor and game show host Ben Stein, who will speak at Irvine Auditorium tonight.
An article in the weekly Loyola Phoenix reported that, during his lecture on Sept. 24, Stein said he has little sympathy for Arab Americans who have been the victims of racial backlash since the Sept. 11 attacks.
The Phoenix quoted Stein as saying, "Well, 6,500 people are being buried, and I cannot afford to shed a tear for the Arabs that are feeling the backlash. Arabs attacked this country, so I can't be sympathetic toward any Arabs."
In a letter to The Daily Pennsylvanian and University President Judith Rodin, Phoenix Editor-in-Chief April Otterberg acknowledged that although the quote has been verified, it was taken out of context. The letter will also be printed on the front page of tomorrow's Phoenix.
"The context of the quote was in need of clarification, but we stand behind what was already printed," Otterberg wrote in the letter. "While we feel we are correct regarding the quote itself, we were not as specific about the factors behind the quote as we could have been."
Stein repeatedly denied having made the remark, claiming he said that while racially motivated remarks were horrible, there was "no moral comparison" to the terrorist attack on New York, Washington and Pennsylvania.
"I spent my whole life working against racism," Stein said in an interview with the DP on Wednesday, referring to his previous work as a civil rights advocate and poverty lawyer. "I consider this to be so wildly ironic."
When news of the quote first reached Penn, some student groups expressed anger toward Connaissance -- the division of the Social Planning and Events Committee that is sponsoring tonight's event -- and asked that the group bring more socially responsible speakers in the future. There was also talk of protests outside Irvine Auditorium and even a walkout during Stein's lecture.
But College of General Studies junior Melissa Byrne, one of several students who has been critical of the upcoming speech, said that while she believes Stein's statement was uninformed, the issue goes beyond tonight's lecture.
"The issue is backlash discrimination," Byrne said. "The issue isn't about Ben Stein. What we've been doing is letting people know that backlash discrimination exists. A lot of people are denying that it is happening."
The letter of apology was also sent to Stein and the Young America's Foundation.
"Stein made his statement as part of a comparison to the fact that people had died in the terrorist attacks," the apology reads. "The Phoenix regrets the error and apologizes for any misunderstanding."
Although no actual record of the speech exists, faculty and staff who attended the lecture have stepped forward and asserted the validity of the quote.
Phoenix Managing Editor Nick Ziegler said in an interview that the newspaper issued the apology in an effort to clear the issue from the table altogether.
"He used it as a moral comparison," Ziegler said last night. "Since the quote wasn't presented in its original context, it may have been unclear."
Ziegler said he believes Stein had no intention of making a racially inflammatory statement. Despite the controversy over the alleged remark, Ziegler said most students approved of Stein's speech.
"People were generally positive about the lecture as a whole," he said. "I don't think that the response was overwhelmingly negative."
