Rumsfeld '54 provokes protests at Stanford

Stanford has recruited former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld '54 to join the Hoover Institution for one year as a visiting fellow.

But nearly 2,000 Stanford faculty, students and community members have signed an online petition calling the decision to bring Rumsfeld, 75, to the conservative think tank "fundamentally incompatible with [Stanford's] ethical values." Some members of the university's Faculty Senate have called for a resolution in protest.

Rumsfeld, who served as defense secretary twice, from 1975 to 1977 and then again from 2001 to 2006, is a polarizing figure, and debate on the Stanford campus seems polarized, too.

"We think he has distinguished himself for all the wrong things than what the university should stand for and what America should stand for," psychology professor emeritus Philip Zimbardo told The San Jose Mercury News. "We've never protested before but this seems to be egregious."

Hoover Institution Public Affairs Manager Michele Horaney declined to comment but said Stanford faculty are entitled to their opinions.

Rumsfeld is to work on a task force on terrorism and ideology alongside other experts and scholars at the institution. It was not announced when his work at the institution would begin.

"Don has had immense experience in public service and has much to contribute to society as a result," Hoover director John Raisian said in a statement. Rumsfeld previously served on the institution's Board of Overseers.

"It is fair and to have been expected that Rumsfeld's appointment would generate protest," Wilson School visiting professor Daniel Kurtzer said in an email. "[Rumsfeld] presided over policies and military actions that are quite divisive and which have cost our country dearly in terms of human lives and material resources." Kurtzer has previously served as U.S. ambassador to Israel and Egypt.

The Hoover Institution has given no sign it will reverse its decision. It dismissed Stanford faculty concerns that Rumsfeld lacks the academic background to warrant a position at the Hoover Institution.

"He's not conducting research, and he doesn't have any kind of a tenured post at all, so I don't know that that's ... a huge concern," Horaney said.

At the University, Rumsfeld majored in politics and was captain of the wrestling and lightweight football teams his senior year. An athletic recruit, he hitchhiked from his Illinois home to campus for his freshman year.

Rumsfeld joined the Navy after graduating from the University, served four terms in Congress and became the youngest-ever defense secretary during the Ford administration. Under Bush, Rumsfeld became the oldest-ever defense secretary.

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"[T]he appointment of someone with his background and experience at a university is something that is often done in academia, notwithstanding the lack of academic experience," Wilson School professor Robert Finn GS '78 said, citing the example of former German foreign minister Joschka Fischer, who taught in the Wilson School last year. Finn himself is a former U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan.

The strident opposition to Rumsfeld's appointment contrasts with the silence that met other fellows with ties to the Bush administration when they joined the Hoover Institution. General John Abizaid, for example, became a fellow after retiring as commander of U.S. Central Command this year.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice served as provost at Stanford for six years in the 1990s. She is also on leave from her position as senior fellow at Hoover but has said she plans to return, a move that may stir more controversy.

President Bush attempted to visit Hoover last year, but his motorcade was blocked by more than 1,000 protestors. His meeting was relocated to a site off-campus.