Twenty-two University affiliates have signed a letter addressed to Dean of the Wilson School Cecilia Rouse and President Christopher Eisgruber '83 to protest the talk by Álvaro Uribe Vélez, former president of Colombia.
The signatories include University professors, postdoctoral fellows, lecturers and other faculty members, as well as Ph.D. candidates who are “from Colombia, do research on the country and/or are concerned with its political events.”
In total, 77 scholars and students from a number of institutions including Yale, MIT, Universidad de los Andes and University of Oxford signed the letter.
“We regret that the Woodrow Wilson School, an institution committed to rigorous scholarship and critical thinking, has announced Uribe’s presence in a way that overlooks Mr. Uribe’s government’s abuses of human rights and the weakening of the democratic process, and is silent on the scholarship that highlights its legacies,” the letter reads.
According to the BBC, under Uribe’s administration the country’s Departamento Administrativo de Seguridad, which was supposed to answer only to the president, is known to have murdered over 2,000 innocent civilians.
Furthermore, the signatories object to the "deceptive and biased announcement that has been used to publicize" the talk, according to the letter.
Maria Paula Saffon Sanín, a lecturer in the Politics Department, said she drafted the letter with some of her colleagues when she heard about the talk.
She noted that what she found to be problematic about the talk was not that Uribe would be speaking at the University, but rather that the Wilson School took a favorable stance when advertising Uribe’s presidential term in Colombia and that they didn’t consult any of the faculty who specialized in Colombia when framing the talk.
"If you’re going to invite a controversial figure, that’s fine, that’s part of freedom of speech and we all agree with that, but you have to keep all perspectives equally balanced," Sanín explained.
She said it is a concern, especially for Colombians and people who specialize in Colombian politics, that both Harvard and Princeton, the leading institutions in the United States, have not taken these protests seriously.
"It is disappointing that Mr. Uribe will evidently be treated as a guest of honor at Princeton University, an institution that claims to cherish human rights, justice, and democracy," the letter read, "we are concerned that Princeton be a tool for politicians and governments seeking to legitimate violations of human rights and weakening democracy and the rule of law."
"People who support his [Uribe's] government will promote these events, and if universities don’t react, they end up giving [Uribe] a platform that legitimizes his government in the end," Sanín commented.
In November 2010, Uribe visited Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government to attend a meeting hosted by the School’s Center for International Development. 42 affiliates of Harvard University protested Uribe’s visit to the school, according to Harvard Crimson. However, the school’s spokesperson Melodie Jackson noted that the visit was appropriate, citing that free exchange of ideas are one of the fundamental tenets of the school, Crimson reported.
According to Sanín, although there has been no public response to the letter, Rouse has replied personally to her by expressing that the Wilson School has historically invited controversial figures such asEdward Snowden and that all members of the community were free to attend the talk and challenge the legacy of the speaker.
Rouse noted via email that the Wilson School invites leaders and politicians with many different perspectives and backgrounds and welcomes conversation. According to Rouse, this practice is in the hope that audience members feel comfortable expressing their views and in fact count on the audience to respectfully but robustly challenge the speakers.
Rouse declined to offer further comment.
"I had no role in the invitation, nor does my office supervise or regulate invitations to speakers. Academic departments are free to invite whom they choose," Eisgruber said.
Sanín said that the group chose to address Rouse and Eisgruber as the letter’s recipients since she thought it was an affair of public concern.
"We wanted to raise the attention of the President, which is why we decided to address him as well," she said.
Uribe was recognized as the 2016 Syngman Rhee GS 1910 Guest Lecturer for speaking on campus. The recognition was named after Rhee, the first President of Korea, whose legacy had been complicated by allegations of violent political suppression, authoritarian practices and electoral fraud during his time in office.
The talk was held on Tuesday at 4:30 p.m. While the talk continued as scheduled, it received media attention from a Colombian newspaperEl Espectador, under the headline “Académicos protestan por conferencia de Uribe en Princeton.” The headline translates to “Academics Protest the Talk of Uribe in Princeton.”
Read More
Lil Tecca to headline spring Lawnparties, Weatherboy will open
Alena ZhangThe rapper’s mainstage performance will kick off at 3:15 p.m. at Frist North Lawn. Student rock band Weatherboy, which was set to open last semester but was unable due to weather conditions, will open at 2:30 p.m.
The rapper’s mainstage performance will kick off at 3:15 p.m. at Frist North Lawn. Student rock band Weatherboy, which was set to open last semester but was unable due to weather conditions, will open at 2:30 p.m.
Two officers terminated in first consequential DPS disciplinary report
Isabel YipPublic Safety’s 2023 Major Disciplinary Action Report listed disciplinary actions against three officers, including two terminations and one suspension, for the first time since the report’s introduction in 2021.
Public Safety’s 2023 Major Disciplinary Action Report listed disciplinary actions against three officers, including two terminations and one suspension, for the first time since the report’s introduction in 2021.
Postdocs set to vote on unionization in May
Victoria DaviesPrinceton postdoctoral researchers are set to vote on unionization on May 8 and 9, following an election agreement with the University. This comes after Princeton University Postdocs and Scholars (PUPS) announced that over 65 percent of postdocs had signed union cards.
Princeton postdoctoral researchers are set to vote on unionization on May 8 and 9, following an election agreement with the University. This comes after Princeton University Postdocs and Scholars (PUPS) announced that over 65 percent of postdocs had signed union cards.
