I am writing in response to the Wespeak written by Mytheos Holt entitled “Welcome to Wes: An open letter to the class of 2012” (September 5, 2008, Volume CXLV, Number 2). In his Wespeak, Mytheos has misrepresented the positions and intentions of the Wesleyan group Students for Ending the War in Iraq (SEWI), and I would like to make a few things clear.
First of all, SEWI is not, and has never claimed to be, a pacifist group. Our mission is to work toward ending a war we believe to be morally unjustified. We recognize there are those on this campus who disagree with this view, and we have never tried to silence their opinions in any way, only to express our own.
Likewise, we never assumed universal consensus on the issue of divestment from weapons contractors. We did, however, have strong support within the Wesleyan community. Over the past year and a half, we have gathered approximately 1,000 signatures from students, faculty, parents, and alumni in support of divesting from Raytheon and General Dynamics (the two weapons contractors in which Wesleyan is invested). In April 2007, the Wesleyan Student Assembly passed a resolution calling for divestment from these two companies. In the meetings with the Trustee Working Group charged to examine the issue, multiple student groups besides SEWI were represented to express their support, as well as unaffiliated students.
Thirdly, our arguments in support of divestment from weapons contractors have never been based on the idea that all weapons are evil. However, these two companies produce weapons that are unjustifiable in their indiscriminate destruction of civilian life, including depleted uranium munitions (identified by the U.N. as an illegal weapon), and weapons similar to cluster bombs. Raytheon and General Dynamics — who have both acknowledged their financial interests in the continuation of the War in Iraq — also have extensive ties to the U.S. government and the media. In addition to campaign contributions and lobbying efforts by the companies, executives and board members from Raytheon and General Dynamics have go on to serve either within the government or as military analysts for various media outlets. Some current executives and board members are themselves former government officials. Such a revolving door structure can breed potentially troubling conflicts of interest. (For references and more information, visit our website: www.wesleyan.edu/wsa/sewi.) SEWI argues that investment in these two companies is contradictory to Wesleyan’s stated goals as an educational institution and our claim that we are socially responsible investors.
Mytheos, I object to you deeming SEWI as morally arrogant. Yes, we believe we’re right, just as you and the rest of the College Republicans believe you’re right. Yes, we will voice our opinions, just as you voice your opinions. This does not mean that we don’t take seriously dissenting views or that we try to silence more conservative voices in any way. I understand it is challenging to be in the minority, but it is important not to mistake our disagreement with your opinions as an attempt to shut you out.
If you have any questions about divestment or SEWI in general, please email us at sewicore@lists.riseup.net or come to our next meeting this Friday at 4:30 p.m. in Usdan Room 110.
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