The Words of the Devine Family
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The Words of the Devine Family |
Dean
Johnson speaking at the CARP Forum
Boston CARP and another student club on campus co-sponsored a forum on November 7, 1989. The forum was the second in an ongoing series under the theme, "Current Trends in Higher Education." It was entitled "Straight Shooting -- Hit or Miss?" The focus of discussion was Boston University President Dr. John Silber's new book, Straight Shooting. The forum was a success, but the period leading to it was full of intense experiences and battles.
Boston University is quickly gaining respect among the nation's institutions of higher education under the guidance of its president, Dr. John Silber. When he took over as president of BU in 1970, Dr. Silber had to run a school that was called "the Berkeley of the East" because of its extreme liberal views. BU was considered the back-drop for students who applied to other institutions in Boston and failed to get in. High quality students were the exception rather than the rule. In the 19 years that he has been here, he has transformed the school into a highly respected university. He had Presidents George Bush and Francois Mitterrand attend the commencement exercises in May 1989, where they were both awarded honorary degrees. He also awarded an honorary degree to King Hussein of Jordan.
Even with this kind of reputation, Dr. Silver is still under fire from many students and faculty (mainly of liberal persuasion). He is constantly dealing with issues where he is accused of discriminating against homosexuals, women, and so on. He is a very strong man and has made his views on morality very clear. To date he has refused to include the phrase "BU will not discriminate against sexual orientation" in the university's nondiscrimination policy. Even Boston city councilors persecute him.
In September 1988, Dr. Silber announced a proposed housing policy that would limit students to having no guests after 11 p.m. and only a specified number of overnight guests a semester with the consent of both roommates and residential assistants. This policy was suggested after some students moved out of the dormitories because they could not deal with their roommates having boyfriends or girlfriends stay over for days and engaging in sex. Dr. Silber said he intended the policy to take effect in September 1989 after students had time to debate it and suggest any modifications they thought suitable. Students complained bitterly under the pretext that they had to study late with friends. In reality, when we did surveys on campus, students admitted to us that their sexual life was what they were most concerned about losing, not study time. The issue received national attention and was even the topic of discussion on TV shows, including the Phil Donahue Show, which was in fact taped at BU in front of a capacity crowd. The policy went into effect but the dust over it has still not settled. Numerous negative articles have been appearing in the Boston University daily newspaper, the Daily Free Press.
Campus
ministry coordinator speaks with BU Professor Kohn and daughter
Catherine Kohn
It was under this atmosphere that Dr. Silber wrote his new book. In the book he talks about America's problems and how to solve them. The content is very much in line with Unificationism. Dr. Silber claims that America's problems are a result of moral decline and lack of values.
From the moment the book hit the stands, it was vehemently attacked. The BU newspaper wrote an uninspiring review with the intent to quell any enthusiasm to read the book. The Boston Globe, Boston's largest daily and always a critic of Dr. Silber, also did not have anything positive to say. However, even with all the negative press the book had received, it became a best-seller in Boston.
Students did not to read the book as a tactic to subtly attack President Silber. One CARP member, Paul Musembwa, went out to buy the book early in the semester. A reporter from the Daily Free Press, asked him if he was willing to be photographed looking through it. Students had refused to be photographed reading the book. Two days later, Paul's picture appeared on the cover of the newspaper. This was an interesting twist because as it would later turn out, CARP organized the only event on campus that addressed the book's content.
Dr. Silber signed copies of his book on September 21, 1989. BU CARP asked Dr. Silber to sign a copy as follows: To the President of National CARP, Dr. Joon Ho Seuk, (signed) John Silber. Boston CARP presented this book to Dr. Seuk when he last visited us in October. It is significant that Dr. Silber presented this book because Dr. Seuk met him at the World Media Conference in 1987.
We had our first forum in the series under the title, "The Creation of the Balanced Individual," during the spring semester of 1989. It was a successful event. We decided then that we would try to organize one forum every semester to create continuity.
We chose the topic, "Straight Shooting -- Hit or Miss?" as the title for our second forum. We wanted to give students and faculty a chance to discuss the book because it has a strong Principled point of view. In this way, we can let people see Father's vision by pointing out that responsible people in society are just restating parts of the Principle. This is what Dr. Silber's book is in reality: parts of Divine Principle from the viewpoint of a brilliant, responsible and moral educator.
From
left to right: student speaker Brian DeSpain, Masa Shimizu, Paul
Musembwa and Sean Fenton
We then proceeded to rally support from other student clubs. Our goal in holding these events is not just to have a good show on the actual day, but to develop relationships with other students and professors with whom we can work in the future. While trying to find support from other clubs, we had to deal with another issue.
The student government of the College of Liberal Arts organized an event under the title: "Dangerous Religious Practices and the Occult." The student government is extremely liberal. The officers are negative toward us and other religious groups. They made a poster, an outrageous one, that directly ridiculed Father. We went to the Dean of the Chapel, Dean Robert Thornburg, and asked him if he was aware of the poster. He said he did not see the poster before it was put up and also disliked the use of the word occult. The Dean, who also is the head of Religious Life at BU, was scheduled to speak at the event. In the past few years, CARP members developed a good relationship with him to the point where he considers us part of the BU community. He even defended us when we established Unification Campus Fellowship at BU. So when we told him that we intended to challenge the CLA Forum, he told us to go right ahead. That evening, we attended the program. At the beginning of his talk, the Dean asked the two officials of CLA forum (seated beside him) to recant the use of the word occult and their reference to the Unification movement. After the event we went up to the office of the CLA forum and asked them why they printed such a poster. We told them quite frankly that while we were willing to forgive them for their irresponsible behavior, we were furious about the false negative perception they were giving other students. After a fierce battle, they agreed to publicly recant their attack on Father. This has now set a precedent at BU that irresponsible actions or remarks toward Father will not be tolerated. Because this episode made it difficult for us to request funding from them, we approached other clubs. We eventually were given support by the School of Education Undergraduate Student Government.
At our first forum we had a panel of good professors. This time we decided to reach higher than before and get deans to speak. We approached a number of deans and got confirmation from the Dean of the School of Education, Dr. Peter R. Greer. Dr. Greer is a national figure. He has an amazing record that includes two years as Deputy Undersecretary to the former Secretary of Students, Norman W. Johnson. He too has a fine record of service to this country.
We also had to find a good student speaker to give a student perspective. After searching among most student leaders without success, we finally came into contact with Brian DeSpain. He is the president of a conservative student club on campus, Students for Common Sense, and one of the most active members of BU's College Republicans.
The third speaker was Professor Kevin Ryan, one of the most respected professors of education in the country today. Dr. Ryan is familiar with the Unification Movement. He is a close friend of Lawrence Tribe, the attorney that defended Father during The tax trial. Earlier this month, Dr. Ryan was named the 1990 recipient of the United Methodist University Scholar/Teacher of the Year Award, recently presented to him by President Silber.
The intensity was far from over. On November 3, while we were putting up posters for the forum, we saw an advertisement that said that President Silber was going to be speaking on the same day we had our forum, in the same building, and in the room right underneath the one we were using! We were in shock. Whenever the president speaks, he gathers capacity crowds. He has to speak in a room that holds at least 500 people! Masayuki, the BU CARP leader, went into action. We printed thousands of leaflets and unlike the usual routine of passing them out on the street, we went to the Residence Life Office and asked for permission to put them into mailboxes of all students living on campus. We were given permission. We put a leaflet into practically every student mailbox on campus. Masayuki took a letter, inviting professors and their students, to every professor in the School of Education. We also placed advertisements in the Daily Free Press for the three days leading up to the forum.
For Boston University, the forum was well attended. Sixty people came when usually a program of this type at BU would attract from 10 to 15 people. The audience included professors and administrators. The students who came were of high caliber and demonstrated a sincere desire to learn how to become people of value.
The speakers came on time to give their presentations. We were moved by their attitude because often professors will be asked to speak and they will do it out of obligation and not concern. They will come to an event and give a hastily prepared piece. Our speakers totally invested themselves in our program.
This was the first event on campus concerning the book. The content was discussed without defamation of the author whatsoever. The whole panel courageously defended the moral and ethical content of the book.
Dean Johnson spoke about the high American dropout rate, noting that about one million students drop out of high school every year. "As Dr. Silver said in his book, getting in early at the lower grades is where it has to be done to make an impact on these statistics."
A lack of values and role models for the students accounts for a "callousness that is creeping into our lives," Dean Greer said. "Teachers themselves don't know enough about values. Values are supposed to guide our lives."
Professor Kevin Ryan said that the college experience should not be totally academic: "Part of an education is that you're trying to make yourself a moral being. That is a part of education I don't feel we've highlighted enough. I think a person becomes a good person by contributing."
The student representative, Brian De- Spain, said that after reading Dr. Silber's book, he realized that the quality of education is the main problem in America. "The system of education is a mess, frankly."
The most exciting part of the evening was the discussion following the presentations. The speakers and the audience had a serious discussion on the system of education in the United States and the necessity for ethics and values. It was really give and take based on the Principle.
Professor Kohn, the father of Boston University CARP's newest member, Catherine Kohn, also came to the forum. This was a very good opportunity to show a parent what we are doing substantially on campus. Reporters from the Daily Free Press covered the forum.
We were surprised when the CARP event received the lead article in the Daily Free Press the next day. Because Dr. Silber's talk was addressing the new housing policy and was the first speech he gave since the policy went into effect, we expected that his speech would be the focus of the newspaper that day. However, CARP was given the lead article, which was completely positive and accurate, while Dr. Silber's talk got a small column without even a picture. This is the first time that CARP has received coverage in the Free Press in four years. The paper clearly reported that the panel strongly stressed values and character. This reporting is unlike the Daily Free Press. The article symbolizes the real victory of the forum. Three CARP members could positively influence the whole campus. The Daily Free Press is the third largest Boston daily newspaper, and the largest campus newspaper in the county. Everyone on campus, faculty and students alike, will read the article and realize that CARP is serving the campus, has high moral and ethical goals, and is determined to educate the campus by uniting responsible people at events such as this one. ' We plan to hold an event with even greater impact on the campus next semester. We will invite Dr. Silber to defend his book in a forum again under the series, "Current Trends in Higher Education." The advantage of a series is that people become accustomed to it and naturally desire to see the next event. It also gives CARP visibility in terms of programs on campus. An event from a series easily utilizes the success of previous events. We will gain more respect for CARP if we continue building semester after semester. We want to influence the University in a Principled way with Father's vision.
Using this victory, we can more easily approach the faculty. We have already made a good list of high-ranking faculty that are willing to speak at our programs anytime. They know we are Unification Church members and admire our enthusiasm in organizing mature, enriching events on campus.
Even though we have achieved a victory that will work very well for CARP in the long run, our determination is still to triple our membership. BU CARP's newest member, Catherine Kohn, actually joined during the last forum. We believe we can bring victory on our campus by influencing the campus community through these activities and in restoring new members. We are determined to do so for True Parents.