No UT Charlie Wilson Chair in Pakistan Studies

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Author: dcloud

Started: August 29, 2008, 3:23:04 pm

Target: South Asia scholars and other progressives

Category: Civil & Human Rights

Supporters:

Goal:

100,000

Goal Progress:

Status

Active

We the undersigned faculty and faculty affiliates of the University of Texas, Austin, share the concerns articulated in the recent letter by our colleagues in South Asian Studies. We support the allocation of resources for a Chair in Pakistan Studies; however, we object to the naming of this position in honor of “Charlie Wilson.”.

We do not believe that Mr. Wilson’s record in Pakistan warrants either academic legitimation or Hollywood levity. While Mr. Wilson’s history demonstrates a long list of unethical actions, in this case we are particularly concerned that the devastating consequences of his actions as a US legislator to the peoples of Pakistan, Afghanistan, AND the United States, works to the contrary of our ethical foundation as an academic institution. A named chair implies not only an endorsement of the individual, but of what that individual stands for. Mr. Wilson is not a role model for what we should teach students about democracy in South Asia.

We support the University in seeking appropriate funding and recognition for this designated chair, through consulting and working directly with faculty. We encourage you to seek to engage in this process in a way that will uphold scholarly and ethical standards. Without these standards, our integrity as an institution is lost.

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Added by dcloud @ August 29, 2008, 3:37 pm
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We the undersigned faculty and faculty affiliates of the University of Texas, Austin, share the concerns articulated in the recent letter by our colleagues in South Asian Studies. We support the allocation of resources for a Chair in Pakistan Studies; however, we object to the naming of this position in honor of the former Texas congressman and misguided cold warrior Charlie Wilson. In the 1970s and 1980s, Wilson spearheaded the funding of illegal covert operations in support of the Contras against the elected government of Nicaragua and the mujahedeen (whose remnants were integral to the formation of the Taliban and al-Qaeda) in Afhganistan against the Soviets.

We do not believe that Wilson’s record in South Asia warrants either academic legitimation or Hollywood levity. While Mr. Wilson’s history demonstrates a long list of unethical actions, in this case we are particularly concerned that the devastating consequences of his actions as a US legislator to the peoples of Pakistan, Afghanistan, AND the United States, works to the contrary of our ethical foundation as an academic institution. A named chair implies not only an endorsement of the individual, but of what that individual stands for. Wilson is not a role model for what we should teach students about democracy in South Asia.

We support the University in seeking appropriate funding and recognition for this designated chair, through consulting and working directly with faculty. We encourage you to seek to engage in this process in a way that will uphold scholarly and ethical standards. Without these standards, our integrity as an institution is lost.