Date: February 8, 2002

The last time I wrote to the entire community was in the week following September 11. In that message, I expressed pride in the way we had come together to support each other in the wake of the terrorist attack. I also commented that I hoped this sense of closeness would not slip away over time. Sadly, I believe that a number of recent events on our campus threaten to divide us. I refer specifically to personal attacks published in some of our student publications, as well as other acts of intolerance that seek to marginalize individuals as well as groups within our community.

Individuals and the press enjoy extraordinary freedom of expression in this country and on this campus. John Stuart Mill argued that the suppression of opinion is wrong whether or not the opinion is true. If it is true, society is denied the truth. If it is false, society is denied the fuller understanding of truth that comes from its conflict with error.

Our embrace of freedom of expression sometimes exacts a price. It means we must live with gross distortions of fact, caustic commentary, boorishness, sophomoric behavior, and even personal attacks whether they come from the right or the left. To say that we must live with this behavior does not mean, however, that we have to condone it. To the contrary, the proper response as Mill argues is more speech, not less.

I condemn the personal attacks that have become commonplace in some of our student publications. While I will defend the right to publish, I believe that a line can be drawn between legitimate criticism of an individual's ideas and personal invective designed to hurt. From what I have seen, all too often that line has been crossed. To me, this behavior does not represent responsible journalism. I hope that those who edit some of our student publications would aspire to higher standards. Similarly, I also condemn those that would seek to muzzle publications by stealing copies of their print run. This behavior runs counter to everything we stand for as a university. We must be willing to engage and confront ideas, not suppress them.

This past week, racist graffiti was scrawled in campus residences and meeting places for our students. I hope that every citizen of Tufts would condemn such action. There is no place at Tufts for such behavior. We must make every member of our community feel welcome. We learn from our differences. We are a much stronger place because of the different backgrounds, different cultures, and different experiences that we each bring to our campus.

The strength of a community can be measured by how it deals with difficult issues. Please join me in helping to raise the level of civility and discourse on our campus.