Slaughter joins Freedom board

Four years after the devastating Sept. 11 attacks, the World Trade Center is again in the news, this time over controversial plans to construct an International Freedom Center on the site.

The idea has come under criticism from some victims' families for focusing too broadly on freedom, detracting from the heroes of that day. But Wilson School dean Anne-Marie Slaughter '80, who recently joined the board of 30 experts advising the architects of the project, said the center has a vital message to convey.

"It is really important that such tragedy stand for a larger purpose that triumphs over terrorism," she said.

Slaughter, an international relations scholar, has been advising the creators of the IFC on the conceptual image of the center. Despite the criticism, she said she sees much potential in the center's ability to "harness the grief and anger [of 9/11] and transform it into an image of what America stands for."

The proposed IFC would be a museum chronicling the evolution of freedom, including displays on Martin Luther King, Jr., Franklin Roosevelt and Sept. 11, as well as present struggles for democracy. These exhibits would educate visitors about the struggles and victories of a free society, concentrating on Sept. 11 as well as more wide-ranging issues.

Slaughter also confirmed that the IFC will collaborate with universities in New York — including Columbia and NYU — to provide evening programming and other educational opportunities. She hopes Princeton students will be able to work in conjunction with these programs in the future.

According to the IFC website, the center's mission is "to strengthen our resolve to preserve freedom, and inspire an end to hatred, ignorance and intolerance."

This statement, however, has not satisfied some politicians and 9/11 victims' families, who worry about weakening the commemorative aspect of the memorial. Despite the compromises the IFC presented in a Sept. 22 report, many leaders spoke out against the center's construction.

New York Governor George Pataki originally supported the IFC but distanced himself when opposition arose, encouraging the IFC to engage in open discussion with those who disagree and reach suitable compromises.

A new opponent emerged Sunday, when Senator Hilary Rodham Clinton (D - N.Y.) told the New York Post that she is "troubled by the serious concerns that family members and first responders have expressed."

This opposition to the Center, particularly critics' allegations that the IFC might be anti-patriotic, is a "load of nonsense," said Richard Tofel, President and Chief Operating Officer for the IFC.

But with construction waiting on a green light from the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, it remains unknown whether the IFC will be approved.