Many remember the controversial hiring of Douglas Feith two years ago. As Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, Feith played an instrumental role in authorizing and “planning” the war in Iraq. Many believe that Professor Feith’s term is not being renewed due to pressure from certain members of the Georgetown faculty who are uncomfortable with his controversial role in the Iraq war. Although I am a former board member of the College Democrats and have been against the war in Iraq from day one, I completely disagree if the university’s refusal to rehire Professor Feith is in fact due to his involvement in the war.

One of the basic tenets of a Jesuit education is exposure to a variety of opposing and conflicting opinions. Georgetown should be neither a conservative nor liberal university; rather, it should strive to hire prominent political theorists, academicians and government officials from all points on the political spectrum so it can maintain its position as a pre-eminent government and foreign policy university. How are our future Hoya politicians, policymakers, lawyers and political theorists supposed to achieve excellence if we are only exposed to one side of the issue?

I am certainly not asking anyone to endorse Feith’s beliefs (on the contrary, I hope everyone realizes the error of his ways), but I am entreating the Georgetown administration, faculty and student body to support the diversity of thought on campus. Please sign this petition to support the rehiring of Douglas Feith and, more importantly, the acceptance of diversity of thought. This petition is solely about giving Georgetown students the option to hear both sides of a very contentious and momentous foreign policy issue. Professor Feith’s rehiring should have nothing to do with our personal views on the war in Iraq; if it did, I would not be writing this letter. The petition can be found at http://www.petitiononline.com/feith/petition.html.

Brenna Anatone (COL ’08)
April 17, 2008