Condoleezza Rice to speak at Simon Benson Awards Dinner

The 14th annual Simon Benson Awards Dinner, the largest fundraising event at Portland State, is shaping up to be one of the most controversial dinners yet. Several faculty members, students and local organizations have criticized the university for its selection of Condoleezza Rice as this year’s keynote speaker.

Administrators are concerned that the former secretary of state’s arrival Wednesday night at the Oregon Convention Center may overshadow the event itself, the purpose of which is to honor local philanthropists and raise money that support student scholarships.

Guests pay at least $250 for a standard seat, and up to $50,000 to sponsor a table. Last year, the event raised about $550,000 for the university. According to Chris Broderick, associate vice president of university communications, the event is sold out—1,600 guests are expected to attend the dinner, a nearly 50 percent increase over last year’s 1,100 attendees.

Since it was announced that Rice would be this year’s speaker, the PSU Foundation—the nonprofit organization that plans the dinner—and the president’s office have received about 30 letters and emails of complaint.

Even to a casual observer of contemporary events, it comes as no surprise that Rice’s name can cause such a reaction from people both within and outside the campus community.

As the national security advisor and the 66th secretary of state, Rice helped shape many of the country’s most important foreign policies post-9/11. Her name is forever attached to former president George W. Bush’s tumultuous administration.

Broderick said the PSU Foundation usually hires a speaker of national importance with a compelling personal story to tell. Rice fits the bill, considering her successful political career and her personal struggle moving from the segregated South to the White House; Rice became the most powerful black female politician in the country.

In addition, Rice is the youngest and the first female provost at Stanford University, where she currently serves as a political science professor and senior fellow at the Hoover Institute.

Broderick said the event is bipartisan in nature, and points out that in the past, speakers have come from both sides of the political spectrum. Indeed, of the six previous political figures who have spoken at the event, the numbers are equally split between Democrats (Rosalynn Carter, Madeline Albright and Mario Cuomo) and Republicans (Rudolph Giuliani, Bob Dole and Colin Powell).

Regardless, the news of Rice’s appearance at a PSU event has drawn the ire of many students and faculty members at the university.

Perhaps the strongest criticism of Rice and the university’s decision to host her came from Ethan Johnson, an assistant professor in the Black Studies department. In an email to President Wim Wiewel, Johnson said that by employing Rice as a speaker, the university is an accomplice in Rice’s “crimes,” which Johnson said consist of both “crime of race” and international war crimes. 

In an interview, Johnson argued that Rice does not use her position to advance the lives of black Americans, nor has she improved gender equality. According to Johnson, Rice’s rise to power was due in part to her race, which was used as a political tool by the conservatives to undermine their opponents.

“I’m against her for those reasons. It’s wrong to have that kind of person speak as the voice of PSU,” Johnson said.

Tom Hastings, a faculty member in the department of Conflict Resolution, also sent a letter to the Office of the President—signed by 60 people—in which he provides a list of problems with having Rice as a speaker.

Hastings said the purpose of his letter was to warn the university about a possible backlash from the community that could become a public relations disaster.

“A number of faculty members and I want to avoid a future public relations catastrophe,” Hastings said. “[Rice] is someone who had been indicted with war crimes; it’s an embarrassment to PSU.”

Sally McWilliams, Women, Gender, and Sexualities Studies director and professor, said she is “troubled” by PSU’s invitation to Rice.

“[Her] history is tied to the creation and use of US state-sponsored torture techniques,” McWilliams said. “We may be seen as sending a message that one’s education can be detached from how a person makes use of that education and knowledge.”

In addition to letters from faculty within the university, Wiewel also received a response from Code Pink, a national anti-war group composed primarily of women. The group is said to be organizing a protest for the day of the awards dinner.

The university has issued a response that explains the rationale behind the choice of Rice as the keynote speaker. Wiewel primarily frames the issue around free speech—which allows for the flourishing of multiple viewpoints, no matter how controversial—and stresses Rice’s personal struggle, which Broderick said is a potential topic of her speech on Wednesday.

Ann Huntwork, a 1975 PSU alumna and co-signer on Hasting’s letter to Wiewel, said the issue of equity was left out of Wiewel’s official response.

“Would we have the leader of the Klu Klux Klan here?” Huntwork asked. “We’re not challenging the content of her speech, but the inappropriateness of having someone who has been tried as a war criminal to speak at a PSU event.”

Johnson said he finds the free speech argument “shallow” considering that Rice and the university chose not to disclose how much she will be paid to speak. Because her contract is with the PSU Foundation—an independent, tax-exempt organization—the university does not need to disclose the price of her speech, according to Broderick.

However, if the $150,000 price tag for Rice’s recent lecture at Miami University is any indication, her appearance at PSU could be well into the six-figures.

“If they’re going talk about a black woman rising above the south, why not Alice Walker?” Hastings said. “[Rice’s] story is one that many other black women share, including luminaries who don’t have the baggage that she does.”

Julia Rabadi, president of College Republicans, said that by selecting Rice as speaker PSU is showing an effort to reach across political lines.

“We might not always agree with her politics, but we can’t deny that she made it to one of the most sacred place in politics,” Rabadi said. “PSU students should be thankful to hear her story and use her as an example in their own life.”

Rabadi said that although she’s a Republican, she would be just as interested in paying to see Hillary Clinton speak on campus as to see Condoleezza Rice because both are women who are powerful political figures.  

Many PSU students are unaware of the event, and the fact that Rice is the keynote speaker. When informed, opinions are split—some students acknowledge that Rice’s success made her a good candidate to speak at the event, while others think the point is not who the speaker is but how much money can be raised that could benefit students.

“It’s a fundraiser for scholarships. It doesn’t matter who [the speaker] is because it’s for a good cause,” Sabrina Walker, a student in the Applied Linguistics department, said.

Seamus Shalman, a post baccalaureate student, said that having Rice at a PSU event seems to go against what the university is about.

“They need to reexamine what they want. It just makes me ask more questions about what kind of people PSU is trying to appeal to,” Shalman said.

Samantha McKeachnie, 22, said there are both positive and negative consequences of having Rice as speaker.

“It would speak to PSU’s credibility to [host] someone of Rice’s stature,” McKeachnie said, “But there are people who don’t like her.”

According to Broderick, due to the amount of media interest in Rice, the university will host a press conference before the ceremony. In addition, McWilliams said she and other faculty have talked about hosting a “teach-in” forum to discuss the role of power, privilege and personal accountability.

black studies department. In an email to President Wim Wiewel, Johnson said that by employing Rice as a speaker, the university is an accomplice in Rice’s “crimes,” which Johnson said consist of both “crime of race” and international war crimes. 

In an interview, Johnson argued that Rice does not use her position to advance the lives of black Americans, nor has she improved gender equality. According to Johnson, Rice’s rise to power was due in part to her race, which was used as a political tool by the conservatives to undermine their opponents.

“I’m against her for those reasons. It’s wrong to have that kind of person speak as the voice of PSU,” Johnson said.

Tom Hastings, a faculty member in the department of Conflict Resolution, also sent a letter to the Office of the President—signed by 60 people—in which he provides a list of problems with having Rice as a speaker.

Hastings said the purpose of his letter was to warn the university about a possible backlash from the community that could become a public relations disaster.

“A number of faculty members and I want to avoid a future public relations catastrophe,” Hastings said. “[Rice] is someone who had been indicted with war crimes; it’s an embarrassment to PSU.”

Sally McWilliams, women, gender, and sexualities studies director and professor, said she is “troubled” by PSU’s invitation to Rice.

“[Her] history is tied to the creation and use of US state-sponsored torture techniques,” McWilliams said. “We may be seen as sending a message that one’s education can be detached from how a person makes use of that education and knowledge.”

In addition to letters from faculty within the university, Wiewel also received a response from Code Pink, a national anti-war group composed primarily of women. The group is said to be organizing a protest for the day of the awards dinner.

The university has issued a response that explains the rationale behind the choice of Rice as the keynote speaker. Wiewel primarily frames the issue around free speech—which allows for the flourishing of multiple viewpoints, no matter how controversial—and stresses Rice’s personal struggle, which Broderick said is a potential topic of her speech on Wednesday.

Ann Huntwork, a 1975 PSU alumna and co-signer on Hasting’s letter to Wiewel, said the issue of equity was left out of Wiewel’s official response.

“Would we have the leader of the Klu Klux Klan here?” Huntwork asked. “We’re not challenging the content of her speech, but the inappropriateness of having someone who has been tried as a war criminal to speak at a PSU event.”

Johnson said he finds the free speech argument “shallow” considering that Rice and the university chose not to disclose how much she will be paid to speak. Because her contract is with the PSU Foundation—an independent, tax-exempt organization—the university does not need to disclose the price of her speech, according to Broderick.

However, if the $150,000 price tag for Rice’s recent lecture at Miami University is any indication, her appearance at PSU could be well into the six-figures.

“If they’re going talk about a black woman rising above the south, why not Alice Walker?” Hastings said. “[Rice’s] story is one that many other black women share, including luminaries who don’t have the baggage that she does.”

Julia Rabadi, president of College Republicans, said that by selecting Rice as speaker PSU is showing an effort to reach across political lines.

“We might not always agree with her politics, but we can’t deny that she made it to one of the most sacred place in politics,” Rabadi said. “PSU students should be thankful to hear her story and use her as an example in their own life.”

Rabadi said that although she’s a Republican, she would be just as interested in paying to see Hillary Clinton speak on campus as to see Condoleezza Rice because both are women who are powerful political figures.  

Many PSU students are unaware of the event, and the fact that Rice is the keynote speaker. When informed, opinions are split—some students acknowledge that Rice’s success made her a good candidate to speak at the event, while others think the point is not who the speaker is but how much money can be raised that could benefit students.

“It’s a fundraiser for scholarships. It doesn’t matter who [the speaker] is because it’s for a good cause,” Sabrina Walker, a student in the Applied Linguistics department, said.

Seamus Shalman, a post baccalaureate student, said that having Rice at a PSU event seems to go against what the university is about.

“They need to reexamine what they want. It just makes me ask more questions about what kind of people PSU is trying to appeal to,” Shalman said.

Samantha McKeachnie, 22, said there are both positive and negative consequences of having Rice as speaker.

“It would speak to PSU’s credibility to [host] someone of Rice’s stature,” McKeachnie said, “But there are people who don’t like her.”

According to Broderick, due to the amount of media interest in Rice, the university will host a press conference before the ceremony. In addition, McWilliams said she and other faculty have talked about hosting a “teach-in” forum to discuss the role of power, privilege and personal accountability.