Donald Rumsfeld '54, U.S. defense secretary and mastermind behind Operation Iraqi Freedom, has accepted the American Whig-Cliosophic Society's invitation to speak at the University April 6, said the organization's president Andrew Bruck '05.
Rumsfeld will address the challenges of Title IX, a law that requires colleges and universities to provide equal opportunity for female athletes.
"It's just amazing," Bruck said. "We've been trying since September to get him, but we always thought it was such a longshot."
Because Rumsfeld's schedule changes rapidly from day to day, there is not yet a set time for the event, Bruck said, but the talk is titled "After Title IX: The Shaky Future of Collegiate Athletics."
Rumsfeld, who was captain of the football and wrestling teams in his time at the University, has strong objections to the regulation, Bruck said. Some suspect that Rumsfeld has influenced the Bush administration to consider relaxing the standards of Title IX, which was first put into place in 1972 as part of the Educational Amendments Act.
"Few people know how much Rumsfeld has contributed to the study of collegiate athletics," said William Bowen, president emeritus and coauthor of "The Game of Life," a study of intercollegiate sports. Many colleges and universities, including Princeton, have had to reorganize their athletic programs to ensure equality among men's and women's sports. In some cases, sports such as football or wrestling, which have no female counterpart, suffer as a result of Title IX.
Campus reactions to the news of Rumsfeld's planned talk varied.
"I really don't see how this is appropriate," said politics professor Robert George. "Not only is this man leading our country into an unjust war, but he is speaking here on an entirely frivolous topic."
Large scale security measures will be in place on Monday, Vice President of Administration Charles Kalmbach '68 said, and some peace protests are expected.
Rumsfeld majored in politics at the University, and it is rumored he used to perform one-handed push-ups at Cottage Club to raise drinking money. Editor's Note: This joke article was in celebration of April 1st.
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