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IF THERE IS ONE CONCLUSION TO BE
drawn from the article "Minority Report"
(May/June 2006), it is that racial discrimination
at Cornell hasn't ended. It simply
has taken another form.
The fact of the matter is that Cornell,
by its practices, is perpetuating racial distinctions
and, therefore, racial prejudices.
Isn't it time that we practice what we
preach? Does having separate housing for
African Americans expedite their being
accepted into the social and economic
structure as equals? Does having separate
alumni organizations for African Americans,
Asian Americans, and others
improve relations among all graduates and
bring us closer together?
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. had a
dream. His dream was not just that
African Americans would no longer be
automatically discriminated against
because of their color but that they, and all
the other human beings in this country,
would be considered Americans. His
dream was of a color-blind nation where
all people are equal in every respect and
accepted everywhere.
Cornell has failed miserably in achieving
such a goal. When applicants for
admissions are accepted solely on the basis
of their qualifications, when students are
assigned housing without regard to race or
religion, when alumni organizations are
no longer fragmented according to ethnic
origin, it will then be a truly democratic
institution.
Walter Grimes '36
Arlington, Virginia
CAM DESERVES CONSIDERABLE PRAISE
for its well written and impressively
researched article regarding African American,
Asian, Latin, and Native American
alumni, and the prospects of increasing
the involvement of individuals of these
ethnic backgrounds in Cornell affairs. It's heartening to hear of
the success of the
Cornell Mosaic conference at CU, as
well as similar events in New York City
and Philadelphia.
As the article notes, "more than 36
percent of the Class of 2010 self-identify
as minority." This fact, alone, would suggest
that it is of great importance to continue,
and enhance, the efforts to create
more interest in the future of Cornell
across the spectrum of ethnic, cultural,
and (although the term is scientifically
problematic) racial groupings.
I would suggest an intensification
of efforts to provide more integrative
programs during Reunion. Having
helped to coordinate three panels of this
nature--with varying degrees of success--
I realize that this kind of
endeavor is neither easy nor formulaic.
However, based on the feedback from
these events, it would seem that there is
much to be gained, both by the University
and by the Cornellians who choose to
attend.
David Burak '67, MFA '80
Santa Monica, California
MINORITY CORNELLIANS WORTH THEIR
salt want to be treated with equality, not
pampered as people incapable of understanding
membership in an alumni organization.
The Cornell administration, faculty,
and alumni need to heed the wisdom
of Thomas Sowell and Shelby Steele and
stop demeaning people of color. Appeasement
of the whiners is a bottomless pit, as
acknowledged by Liz Moore '75 in the
article. It is time for Cornell to move on
from the debacle of April '69.
Joseph Deignan '61, MD '63
Glen Allen, Virginia
WITH REGARD TO THE INVOLVEMENT
of minority alumni with Cornell,my main
disappointment is with the recruitment process. I have personally recommended
highly qualified minority students with
clear career goals and real working experience
to Cornell, without any results. They
have found other universities that actually
responded in a positive manner to their
credentials and needs. I find that there is a
double standard with student referrals by
alumni: if the referral is made by a minority
alum who contributes only a modest
amount to Cornell, that referral is either
dismissed or ignored.
Juan Morales '78
New York, New York
Critical Thinking
ARIC PRESS'S COLUMN ABOUT "UNFINished
business" (Letter from Ithaca,
May/June 2006) was right on. What the
PR and development people need to
understand is that the primary educational
mission of Cornell (or any real university)
is to teach its students to think
analytically and critically. If the University
succeeds, then feeding fluff and pablum to
the alumni should not go down well.
There is nothing wrong with a substantive
story that is positive, but universities like
Cornell are complex (and, dare I say, difficult)
institutions in a large and complex
society. Thoughtful writing about tough
problems is to be expected. Fluff and
pablum are turn-offs.
Sam Greenblatt '61, MD '66
Providence, Rhode Island
LaFeber's Legacy
THANKS FOR THE PROFILE OF PROFESSOR
Walter LaFeber ("The Quiet Americanist,"
May/June 2006). In his course on
the history of American foreign policy, he
delivered the best lecture ending I have
ever heard. The lecture was on the Versailles
conference after the First World
War, and LaFeber quoted from the diary
of William Bullitt, then a young member
of the American delegation. If memory
serves, Bullitt described his disillusionment
at the betrayal ofWilsonian ideals by
writing, "If these politicians continue as
they have been, I will quit the delegation,
resign from the Foreign Service, go to the
French Riviera, and lie on my back in the
sun and watch the world go to hell." At
which point LaFeber closed the book,
looked up, and intoned, "Well, they did, he
did, and it did."
Howard Reiter '67
Storrs, Connecticut
IN MY SENIOR YEAR, I ENROLLED IN
LaFeber's course on American foreign policy.
The lecture hall was always filled (even
though the class met at 11:15 on Saturdays),
and I never missed a class. He was
incredible.
A short while ago, I was with my
daughter, a freshman at Yale. She was completing
a paper for her freshman seminar
and the topic was the Cold War.We were
at the library looking for some additional resources, and I remembered
Professor
LaFeber. I told her to look him up in the
online catalog because I was sure he would
have a book that would help with her
paper. Sure enough, he did!
Elizabeth Grover '75
Palo Alto, California
HOW CHILLING TO READ THAT WALTER
LaFeber decided to retire partly because,
as he put it, "I didn't want to wear out my
welcome." If elderly professors are unwelcome
at Cornell, this is obviously just as
bigoted as it would be if black or female
professors were unwelcome. Elderly professors
should not knuckle under to
ageism. I intend not to. As a fifty-eightyear-
old professor at another Ivy League
school, I have already informed my chairman
that I intend never to retire as long as
I can do my job--and as the daughter of
a thriving nonagenarian, I expect this to be
a long, long time.
Felicia Nimue Ackerman '68
Providence, Rhode Island
Ed. Note: We believe that Professor LaFeber
was being ironic when he said that. There is
no evidence that anyone at Cornell tried to
force him to retire--quite the opposite.
Fallout
I FOUND MURRAY PESHKIN'S MEMOIR
most interesting ("Building the Bomb,"
May/June 2006). I do, however, take exception
to a statement near the end of the
article, when he says that dropping the
atomic bomb "may have been the worst
decision ever made by a well-meaning
president."
Why? Because I owe my life to perhaps
the greatest and most difficult decision any
president has had to make. I am sorry we
did not have the bomb sooner. If we had,
my brother might have lived out his life
instead of being one of more than 12,000
casualties on Okinawa in 1945.
President Harry Truman made the
right decision. Saving an estimated 1 million
American lives that might have been
lost in an invasion of Japan was the decisive
factor. And, in some distorted way, the
use of the bomb should have told
mankind: Never again!
Harry Merker '51
Las Vegas, Nevada |
