The defining task of an educational institution is to foster informed, thoughtful study of complex issues and open, critical discussion of controversial ideas and events.  A college's most important contribution to social justice and the peaceful resolution of human conflicts is to educate global citizens who inquire patiently and persistently into difficult problems.

In the months leading up to the war against Iraq and in these first few days of U.S. attacks, the Bates campus has been actively engaged in study and discussion.  Many members of the community oppose the war.  Some have participated on and off campus in organized protests.  Other members of the community support the war.  Most of us are affected only at a distance, here in Lewiston, Maine.  But some of us have friends or family members who are more immediately affected by the hostilities, some of us have friends or family members who are members of the military forces fighting in Iraq, and some of us are citizens of other countries, including those in the Middle East.

In an open letter to the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at New York University, where she serves as Dean, Bates Trustee Catherine R. Stimpson writes:  "Because we are all citizens of a university community as well as private citizens, we have the freedom to explore our responses together, with knowledge, honesty, and civility.  Indeed, given the nature of war — the histories it creates, the treasure it extracts, the blood it demands — we have the responsibility to do so."  I trust that at Bates we will also realize our freedom and our responsibility.  Even as we seek to formulate and stand up for our beliefs and our loyalties, we need to be mindful of the differences among us and our common obligation to understand, support, and learn from each other through these troubled times.

Elaine Tuttle Hansen