[CornellChairman]

By the way all. This is Carla Winston's complete letter that was sent to me two nights ago. So far so good. The Cornell Daily Sun and the Dean of Students who was also cc'ed the letter has ignored her. I think she realized she was in over her head. I just became aware that this was being discussed on FR:


Dear Mr. Horn, Dean Hubbard, and the staff of the Sun,
I am writing to inform you all of a notice from
the Cornell College Republicans that is chalked
outside of the south entrance to Robert Purcell
Community Center. Next to the advertisement for the
first meeting and a drawing of the US flag is the
statement, "You're either with us or with the
terrorists."
While it is possible that this message was not
chalked by a Cornell Republican trying to advertise
for a club meeting, the placement of this phrase
makes it highly unlikely. In that light, I find this
statement extremely offensive. This heavy-handed,
black-and-white picture of the world fails to
acknowledge the incredible diversity of opinions,
complexity of interactions, and tolerance of others
that exists in today's social and political life. It
is also a blatant offense to the University's "Open
Doors, Open Hearts, and Open Minds" mission.
If it is true that a member of the Cornell
College Republicans purposefully wrote this statement
in an effort to attract members, I seriously question
the ability of the Republicans as a group to conduct
themselves in a dignified and politically tolerant
manner. As neither a Republican nor a terrorist (and
incidentally not a Cornell Democrat either), I can
safely say that this chalking has permanently turned
me away from your organization. If the chalking was
not formally condoned by the Republicans' leadership,
then I doubt your abilities to control your own
members' militancy for their cause. This use of
exclusion, belittlement, and fear tactics is
unbecoming of a major political organization and
should be immediately rectified.
This statement provides an example of some of the
worst traits of the Americans--indeed of human beings--
that your organization purports to speak for. It is
precisely the kind of trait that provokes harsh
reactions from the perceived "enemy," whether that
enemy is a terrorist or an irate fellow citizen. In
this case, the reaction it provokes is the demand of
an immediate clarification and apology to the entire
campus community.


Carla Winston '03

[TLBSHOW]

Thanks for posting that letter.

[laredo44]

Me: I'll take Poor Language for $100, Alex.

Alex: From a student who rides the short bus to Cornell University, diversity of opinions.

Me: What is redundancy?

[The_Media_never_lie]

one Republican professor in the government department, Dr. Jeremy Rabkin.

Can you please enlighten me on how Dr. Rabkin became a tenured professor at Cornell? Did he come in under the radar or is he fulfilling some kind of conservative quota?

Thanks for the good post.

[VetoBill]

While it is possible that this message was not chalked by a Cornell Republican If the chalking was not formally condoned by the Republicans' leadership, then I doubt your abilities to control your own members' militancy for their cause. This use of exclusion, belittlement, and fear tactics is unbecoming of a major political organization and should be immediately rectified.

Poor logic. Assuming it was done by a republican ignores the possibility of a liberal, perhaps this writer herself, of planting the message in order to have something to be offended at.

[Athwart]

As neither a Republican nor a terrorist (and incidentally not a Cornell Democrat either), I can safely say that this chalking has permanently turned me away from your organization.

Surely this is disingenuous. This overly dramatic, self-important sentence seems calculated to imply that this fragile, open-minded flower might have looked with favor on the Cornell Republicans, if only she hadn't come upon the grisly horror of a picture of the American flag and a statement of loyalty to it in the face of adversity.

I'd lay odds that this is not true; that, Cornell Democrat or not, her beliefs and premises and sensibilities and inclinations make her a Democrat at heart.