I pray and trust that an Obama presidency will not catalyze the same response, from Blacks, when things don’t go their way.

And I am an Obama supporter–but the response the the NU Black alumni/community is astonishing in its stupidity and irresponsibility. Am I clear on this?

The issue is not whether awarding the degree to Rev. Wright is controversial. Universities are hotbeds of controversy. A number of controversial doctorates have been handed out, including an honorary degree to Kermit the Frog, from South Hampton College at the University of Long Island. What deserves closer inspection, is the process that the University engaged in when determining that Rev. Wright was not deserving of the degree that they had granted just five months earlier.

One of the glaring things in this issue, is that the University appears to be punishing a controversial black man, while allowing a clownishly controversial white man to be the commencement speaker at the law school. If controversy is the real reason for this action, then it seems that University should be held to the standard of being consistent on controversy. Of course that is a silly argument. As silly as the University saying that in spite of the academic tradition, the importance of the 24 hour news cycle carries the ultimate weight in deciding who is worthy to receive an honorary degree.

Across the country, the awarding of honorary degrees and commencement speakers is being made political. Controversial speakers are being denied the opportunity to speak. This country was founded on controversy. It is up to this generation to ensure that the academic tradition, and the role of the University as being a place to sort out controversy in upheld.

Lastly, the number of comments that have questioned why there is a need for an organization like FMO, means that we have not had the conversation on race that should have been had in this country. While people will raise questions about a group like FMO, it would never occur to them to question at the same time and for the same reason a german, polish or irish culture club.

Black is for black Americans both race and ethnicity. Other ethnic groups can separate their race and ethnicity, and therefore fail to understand that those things are not separate for black Americans. FMO exists for cultural reasons, and because contary to all of those who have declared racism in America an issue of the past, those who experience it, know it to be alive and well.

First I want to thank Zach for responding to me. Let me address the points that he addressed.

I am fully aware of the positives that Reverend Wright has done for community and I commend him and his church for it. But when evaluating whether to give a degree to both good and bad things must be evaluated. Julian mentioned that he doesn’t really understand what Wright said was so wrong and I respect his opinion on it. But NU is not only comprised of people like Julian and we must acknowledge the uneasiness and disapproval that some people have with Wright. I don’t think it’s wrong for NU administration to take that under consideration when giving this honorary degree. This degree is obviously not given by some numerical score, but is the collective opinions of a group of NU faculty and staff.

I think another point to discuss is the arguments of faculty hires to justify the wrongness of giving an award to Reverend Wright. I don’t really understand the Butz being brought up since he doesn’t teach anything about Holocaust, he teaches Electrical Engineering. So his opinion on the holocaust has nothing to do with his role at NU. But you could justify that Dohrm and Lavine are definitely faulty in some of their actions. But the key here is that neither of them are receiving an honorary degree. They are not being recognized and celebrated for their work in NU commencement to the world. Giving this honorary degree is saying that NU as an institution looks positively at the contributions of the recipient. Lavine and Dohrm though causes of debate are not rewarded for their blunder but kept to help NU keep the diverse academia at NU. Giving a honorary degree to Wright is giving a stamp of approval from NU as him as a man. Now some may feel he deserves that stamp, I have reservations about that.

Now on the last point regarding FMO. I am fully aware of FMO’s history and role in NU community being a former executive board member of the student organization and having worked with staff at Multicultural Student Affairs. I also totally disagree with above comments that believe For Members Only is not a needed student organization. I believe FMO is still needed. I do believe though that FMO must re-evaluate it’s effectiveness on campus. I do question the very forward approach of FMO on this instance but not during other circumstances. The inconsistency of FMO’s activism is disappointing, I blame myself as a member for not making FMO answer to that call and do hope that Zach with his new board can do this more effectively. This is something that can be gone into more detail on another day though.

I do commend Zach for his letter and for debating about it. I just wish he limited his representation to his executive board and had used quarterly general meeting or some other forum to get an idea of what active FMO members’ opinions of the situation.

I personally feel that NU’s error was not being more forward and transparent about their honorary degree process and not doing their research on Reverend Wright. Hopefully they will learn from this situation for future commencements.

“Seems clear to me”: you should elaborate a bit on your suggestion. I suppose you believe that we have reached a post-racial society, huh? What comedy… Or, perhaps you believe that we can’t achieve such a state with these entities in place? This is an opinion that should not be left to dangle without substantiation, context, or clearer indication of intended interpretation. I look forward to a future remark.

“Anonymous”: fair point, but I believe Zach, somewhat incompletely, attempted to relay the fact that he is NOT speaking for all Black students.

A deeper question for me is why the Reverend’s words have sparked such controversy in the first place?

Lotsa people have done good things and raised money for programs that help our students. I have problems with the school issuing an honorary degree to anyone who tells people that the government invented AIDS to kill black people.

Answer: “Why do we need a FMO in the first place? Why is that we need a Multicultural Student Affairs and African American Student Affairs?” (We don’t need either.

This issue does not concern one’s political affiliation or whether or not they agree with Reverend Wright’s critiques of this country. We call attention to this injustice because of the principles behind it. Reverend Wright’s accomplishments in his field are numerous and his practice has been long, thus more than qualifying him for this honor. He and his church have been a solid foundation for the inner city youth of Chicago, where they sponsor the ONLY HBCU College Fair. Additionally, he and his church have raised millions for the research of Aids, for foreign aid, for the building of the MLK memorial in Washington D.C., for the feeding of the homeless, for building projects to help children and the elderly and to help students through scholarships, which some of our NU peers have benefited from. It is imperative that one does their RESEARCH on the Reverend Doctor Jeremiah Wright and Trinity United Church of Christ before making uninformed proclamations.

Furthermore, FMO is an organization that was birthed out of protest and in many ways only survives as that lifeline is remained intact. You argued that you are tired of FMO “acting” as though it speaks for the Black community in its entirety, and you questioned why we did not poll our Black constituency before sending the letter to Bienen. I suggest that you review FMO’s constitution (Page 2, Section 5, Line 1), where it states: “[The FMO coordinator shall be] the official spokesperson for the Northwestern Black Community and the Executive Board to the faculty, administration, alumni, and community of Northwestern University.” If you happen to find this fact problematic, then you should question why it was, and still is, necessary in the first place. Why do we need a FMO in the first place? Why is that we need a Multicultural Student Affairs and African American Student Affairs? Why are we defined and in some instances confined by race and racism in this country? Just think about it…

Do I agree with Reverend Wright getting the honorary degree in the first place? NO!

I am also sick of people saying the media is at fault for Reverend Wright. Did the media sneak in and record his sermons, no himself and his church did. It is disgraceful to use his role as man of God to state slanderous and unproven accounts of American society. This hatred is not what our relationship is God is about and because of his own words, he’s ruined the reputation of not only himself but his church as well.

The one point that I do agree in this article is NU was ineffective with researching Wright as a recipient and should have been more transparent about the withdrawal of the degree. But I do agree with their final decision of withdrawing the degree.