The US Senate confirmed Gen. Colin L. Powell as the new secretary of state of the Bush administration on Saturday. Though Powell had been the object of a recent controversy surrounding his speech at Tufts last November and relationship with former Trustee Issam Fares, the Senate was quick to approve his appointment.
While Powell's speech at Tufts was not a factor in the confirmation hearing, media attention over the last month had focused on the amount Fares, the deputy prime minister of Lebanon, paid Powell for the lecture. The Jerusalem Post estimated the fee at $200,000, but the retired general turned circuit speaker adamantly denied the report. Powell's financial disclosure statement to the Senate - filed last week - showed that he received $59,500, his normal college rate, a spokesman from the Office of Government Ethics said.
Following the Post story, Fares issued an angry statement from his office in Beirut. Nevertheless, Tufts has yet to comment on Fares' inflammatory comments, the cost of the lecture, or the details of the payment process. Powell's payment emanated from money donated by Fares, though the actual check came from the University, according to the Office of Government Ethics.
While political watchdog groups typically question the intentions of any foreign political leader who gives money to a prominent US figure, it is unclear how much, if any, influence Fares had in deciding the amount Powell would receive for his lecture.
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted unanimously to recommend Powell for confirmation. The entire Senate then confirmed Powell in a rare Saturday session held just hours after Bush's inauguration. Powell was sworn in as secretary of state later that day.
Despite the worldwide headlines over the past month, Tufts' Alumni Relations Office did not receive any calls asking about Tufts' involvement in the issue, Director Tim Brooks said. In general, alumni have not been vocal in the past during other campus controversies such as the TCF decision and the proposal for coed housing.
"I've been there since September 1999 and I've not had an instance where an alum has come to me to complain," Brooks said. "That's a pretty good track record for a university that may be dealing with a lot of controversial issues."
However, Brooks did report that he and other University officials received briefs on the issue. "I was alerted that there could be, based on some negative press, some negative reaction [from alumni]," he said.
Since retiring from the military, Powell has served as the chairman of America's Promise, a community service organization, and has also worked as a professional speaker. Last year, according to his financial statement, he earned $6.7 million in speaking fees from a variety of corporations, trade associations, and universities, including Tufts.
Powell's appointment makes him the first African-American secretary of state as well as the highest-ranking African-American political figure in US history. He succeeds Madeline Albright, the first woman to hold the position. As secretary of state, Powell is fifth in the order of succession for the presidency, should those above him be unable to fulfill the job.
Other prominent cabinet members that were confirmed Saturday include Donald Rumsfeld as defense secretary, Paul O'Neill as treasury secretary, and Spencer Abraham as energy secretary, a post filled by Tufts graduate Bill Richardson during the Clinton aministration.
