SAY NO TO PIPES CAMPAIGN DELIVERS LETTER TO SENATE COMMITTEE

June 17, 2003, Washington, D.C. - On April 2, 2003 the White House officially nominated Daniel Pipes to the Board of Directors of the United States Institute of Peace (USIP). Today, a letter signed by over 400 academics from leading colleges and universities across the country along with over 4,000 co-signatories from all walks life was delivered to the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) asking it to reject the nomination, or else hold full public hearings.

With signatories from Yale, Harvard, Cornell, MIT, Georgetown, NYU, Brandeis, Stanford, the University of California, the University of Chicago and scores of other campuses large and small across the US (see full list below), the letter which begins “As American citizens..” highlights multiple reasons for rejecting the nomination. Among them are Pipes’ “widely held to be deeply racist views,” the view that he is “actively engaged in an attempt to revive the tactics of McCarthyism” to stop free speech, and his views on conflict resolution “which favor force and fear over negotiations” in direct contradiction to the stated purpose of the USIP. In addition, at a time when our country’s views towards Arabs and Muslims are questioned by much of the world the fact that “Pipes is widely seen as a radical anti-Arab propagandist,” is only “salt in the wound”, says the letter, citing the Washington Post.

“We stand with people of all backgrounds, ethnicities, and religious persuasions,” it continues, “who, in the interest of the most cherished principles of our democracy, condemn this nomination.” We believe “the widely known facts are way more than sufficient to warrant immediate rejection of the nomination,” but if the Committee “has doubts about rejecting [it]...we urge it..in the strongest possible terms, to hold full and public hearings so that the nominee’s extremist views and practices may be brought out in the light of day...” An addendum to the letter includes some fifty university professors who have offered to testify should hearings be held.

Follow-up actions are planned and the Campaign will continue to take signatures online until the nomination is taken up by the Committee which could be as soon as next week.

SAY NO TO PIPES
http://www.say-no-to-pipes.org

Full List of Colleges and Universities with signatories to the letter: Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Albertson College, American University, Augsburg College, Augustana College, Bard College, Barnard College, Baruch College, Berklee College of Music, Bethel College, Boise State University, Boston College, Boston University, Brandeis University, Brooklyn College, Brown University, California Polytech University, California State University at Fullerton, Carnegie Mellon, Carroll College, Central Connecticut State College, Chapman University, Chatham College, City University of New York, Clark College, Colgate University, Colorado College, Columbia University, Community College of Southern Nevada, Cornell University, Community College of Rhode Island, Creighton University, Dartmouth College, Davidson College, DePaul University, Dowling College, Duke University, East Carolina University, Eastern Connecticut State University, Elmhurst College, Emory University, Evergreen State College, Florida Atlantic University, Florida Institute of Technology, Fordham University, Franklin & Marshall College, George Washington University, Georgetown University, Gettysburg College, Goucher College, Greenfield Community College, Hamilton College, Harrisburg Area Community College, Harvard University, Hofstra University, Holy Names College, Hunter College, Idaho State University, Indiana University, Institute of Advanced Studies, Irvine Valley College, Ithaca College, John Hopkins University, Johson State College, Kansas State University, Kansas City Community College, Kent State University, Lehigh University, Lehman College, Long Island University, Longview Community College, Lousiana State University, Loyola University of Chicago, Macalester College, Marquette University, Marymount University, Manchester Community College, Massachusetts Bay Community College, Metro State College, Michigan State University, MIT, Missouri Southern State College, New School University, New York University, Northwestern University, Northeastern University School of Law, Oberlin College, Ohio State University, Pace University, Palo Alto College, Penn State College of Medicine, Pennsylvania State University, Purchase College, Purdue University,Pittsburgh State University, Plymouth State College, Portland State University, Pratt Institute, Princeton Theological Seminary, Princeton University, Providence College, Purchase College (SUNY), Purdue University, Queens College, Randolph-Macon Woman’s College, Richland College, Roanoke College, Rollins College, Rutgers University, Sacramento City College, Saint Joseph’s University, St. Petersburg College, Saint Peter’s College, St. Xavier University, Salem State University, San Francisco State University, San Jose State University, Santa Clara University, Santa Monica College, Santa Rosa Junior College, Sarah Lawrence, Shippensburg University, Siena College, Sierra College, Simmons College, Simon’s Rock College of Bard, Stanford University, Strayer University, State University of New York at Plattsburgh, Swarthmore College, Syracuse University, Teachers College Columbia University,Temple University, The College of New Jersey, Trinity College, The City College of New York, Triton College, Tufts University, Tunxis Community College, University of Arkansas, University of California at Berkeley, University of California at Santa Barbara, University of California at Davis, University of California at Los Angeles, University of California at Santa Cruz, University of California at San Francisco, University of Central Florida, University of Chicago, University of Cincinnati, University of Colorado at Denver, University of Connecticut, University of Florida, University of Hartford, University of Hawaii, University of Illinois at Chicago, University of Iowa, University of Kansas, University of Kentucky, University of Maryland, University of Memphis, University of Michigan, University of Minnesota, University of Missouri Columbia, University of Nevada at Las Vegas, University of New England, University of New Hampshire, University of New Mexico, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, University of North Carolina at Willmington, University of Southern California, University of Oklahoma, University of Oregon, University of Pennsylvania, University of Pittsburgh, University of Puerto Rico, University of South Carolina, University of South Florida, University of Tampa, University of Tennessee at Knoxville, University of Texas at Austin, University of Texas at Arlington, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, University of Toledo, University of Washington, University of Wisconsin at Madison, Villanova University , Virginia Tech, Warren Wilson College, Washington University, Washington and Lee University, Wellesley College, Wesleyan University, West Virginia University, Westchester Community College, Wheaton College, William Jewell College, Xavier College, Yale University.

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