Under the guise of tolerance

I find it strikingly ironic that certain Tufts students who profess to "embrace diversity of every dimension" were hypnotically compelled to openly and contemptuously disrespect the former leader of the free world. Sitting backward in their chairs, blowing whistles, and yelling "liar" in the middle of Bush's speech, these disruptive students managed not only to embarrass themselves, but revealed a disturbing attitude among too many Tufts students that "embracing diversity" is in reality a one-way street.

This sophomoric sentiment was exemplified by Adam Carlis' recent viewpoint ("Mistake of principles, not politics," Feb. 25) that Bush's speech was "of no real use." This was a premature and offensively biased judgment offered more than a day before the former president even arrived in Boston. This rush to judgment undermines the supposed ideal that at Tufts we are capable of engaging in "civil dialogue."

If our campus truly fosters and endorses an intellectual environment, then our student body should welcome every opportunity to engage in thoughtful and constructive dialogue. Unfortunately, the outlandish actions of some students all but eliminated the possibility of this happening.

Tufts' students need to practice what they preach. The Tufts community should openly embrace the Fares Lecture series, and work to extract the many positive aspects generated by this exchange of diverse opinions. Unfortunately, close-minded students recently manifested their insecurity by twisting in their seats like tormented worms during his speech. In doing so they bastardized the professed notion of practicing tolerance to "diversity of thought."

What possible gain came from obstructing Bush's speech? Those students blowing whistles and yelling "liar" failed miserably in communicating or advancing any constructive beliefs. They did succeed however in conveying an attitude of belligerence and arrogance.

As students, we must be encouraged to engage in vigorous debate and when we agree to disagree, it must be done with civility. To show complete disgust and disrespect for an American patriot who has dedicated his life to public service, including 58 World War II combat missions as well as serving as Ambassador to the United Nations is nothing short of ridiculous. Regrettably, those disorderly students that flipped off the 41st president as they were being escorted out were an affront to human decency and a sad commentary on our reputation as a university.

As a graduating senior, I feel strongly that these actions must be condemned as contrary to the fundamental tenets upon which our academic institution was founded. Positive reform will never be achieved through frenzied and crazed behavior. If these unruly students were truly interested and/or capable of rendering constructive criticism on the content of Bush's speech, they should have done so in a palatable and non-threatening way.

As Tufts students, we must always be mindful of the fact, that free speech comes with a responsibility not to obstruct others' right to listen and express their viewpoint. The flagship of ignorance is the outright rejection of another's viewpoint. Rather that being so reactive and insular, our student body should respectfully welcome and debate all viewpoints, including those of former President Bush. Free speech is not the exclusive right of the most boisterous and obstreperous.

Some critics suggest that the University's policy of pre-screening questions for Bush ran counter to the basic tenets of free speech. However, the necessity to submit questions online was not reflective of Bush's inability to answer pointed questions posed by Tufts students, but rather was a sad commentary on the measures that must be taken to ensure that a minimum level of civility is extended to our guests. But even after the most primary safeguards were employed to ensure politeness, we still witnessed a handful of Tufts students behaving like five year olds.

Unfortunately, this all too frequent behavior is not only tolerated, but is often encouraged by some faculty members, certain campus publications, and a few student organizations.

Ultimately, if we truly care about the future of this university, we will condemn and not encourage such activity as was seen during the Bush speech. Perhaps our distinguished faculty members can help us learn from this unfortunate experience by encouraging campus civility involving all expressions of thought. This would be particularly useful the next time we are before the spotlight of national media outlets, University trustees, and a former president of the United States. As long as we continue to demonstrate our inability to truly embrace diversity of every dimension, Tufts can only pretend to be a great university.

Todd Scalia is a senior majoring in Political Science.