Chill the heck out it was just a Halloween costume. You’re all so uptight about this non-issue. Where’s your sense of humor. And lay off Amy. I don’t see any Harvard President throwing sick Halloween parties for 10,000 kids.

You must not have anything better to report. The intolerant really dont have a sense of humour.

Diversity. Admit all sorts of wogs to the university to study science or engineering. Not at all unexpected. Actually, can’t expect the hopelessly misguided admissions committee to do its homework. Homeland Security should boot this mofo’s ass toute suite.

BdR

It goes to show women should not be presidents of major universities.

…

I kid, I kid.

She is a great president.

For me to poop on!

I dont understand what the hell is wrong with this costume.

Well, this will die down soon if it hasn’t already. Aleksey is 4ever.

This ‘non-issue’ just made DrudgeReport.

not to mention the front page of yesterday’s Philadelphia Inquirer

The costume is funny. If anything, people should be offended by the kid who showed up to Gutmann’s party dressed as the ex-Wharton professor, Scott Ward, replete with a little boy doll attached to his crotch. Which, by the way, was also funny.

As a senior Political Science major, avid Israel advocate, and one of the leaders in the Jewish community at the University of Pennsylvania, I would like to add some context to the events that took place on Halloween. I was offended by the pictures as were many of my friends. There is no question that the student who dressed up as a suicide bomber on Halloween exercised bad judgment. Although he has issued a formal apology, it is true that we will never know for certain his intent.

What we do know for certain, however, is that the University of Pennsylvania is a warm and welcoming place for Jewish and pro-Israel students. That environment is created largely by the policies of the University administration. Pro-Israel students over my four years at Penn have felt exceedingly comfortable expressing their Zionist beliefs. We walk through campus proudly wearing our pro-Israel T-shirts, celebrate Israel Day on College Green, and dance Torahs around campus on Simchat Torah without the slightest fear of anti-Semitism or anti-Israel rhetoric.

Over my Penn career I have come to know President Gutmann well. We sat together on the University Council and even sung Chanukkah songs together as we lit the menorah in the Penn Hillel foyer. President Gutmann is proud of her Jewish heritage and a supporter of the pro-Israel community on campus. As she made clear in her written statements, she “abhor(s) terrorism, suicide bombers, and everything they do.” President Gutmann personally called me as well as other student leaders today, and it is clear from the conversations that she firmly believes what she wrote in her statement.

Continuing to sensationalize the Halloween events does not serve a productive purpose. I as a Jewish student and pro-Israel advocate am eager to return to pro-active Israel advocacy, leadership development, and supporting Jewish exploration. I encourage the greater community to join me in these efforts.

Andrew Mener
University of Pennsylvania
Class of 2007

dude, you are such a toolshed. get laid and get a life.

This is very typical of so called “Jewish professors”. They claim to be Jewish yet they say and do things that are offensive and wrong. Clearly her saying she is Jewish is just to quiet the people and fake interest towards her Jewish students/audience.

My also “Jewish professor” with extreme liberal views recomended Amy Gutmann as a choice for reading material. Not a suprise.

Stuff like this is deplorable and if this stuff offended a blackp person she would be on her ass quicker than Trent Lott.

I hate how “anti-Israel rhetoric” is made out to be something that is hateful and should be feared or deplored. Every day people protest something that the U.S. does, and that’s just fine. The university setting, especially in the Ivy League (are we still considering Penn the Ivy League?) should be a forum for different beliefs and thinking. If someone were preventing someone else from practicing Judaism, then that is not right. However, protesting Israel’s right to exist as a nation, especially while others promote its right to exist as a nation with t-shirts, is ok and I think should be invited. In a matter like this, which is political, in what ways could a Socratic approach to the issue not be helpful, if at the very least by merely encouraging dialogue?

As a U.S. citizen, as most students in the Ivy League, including Penn, are, when I think of suicide bombers I think of attacks on U.S. embassies and New York, not Jews. Also, it was a Halloween party. I’m sure people dressed up as serial killers and (gasp!) Death, too. If someone dressed up as the Grim Reaper, would someone else write an article on how insensitive that is to humans, because most people know someone who has died? Get a sense of humor.

Seeking the termination of Guttman’s presidency is not only ridiculous, it is puerile. Granted that Guttman should have taken a good look at the student’s outfit, but all this hoop-la is unwarranted. We should stand with and support our president – besides, anyone who thinks that Guttman is incompetant either because of the poor hallowee pic choice or because she’s a Woman…needs to get some counseling ASAP. The only way you would believe that Guttman endorses terrorism is if you were dropped on your head when you were a child. GO GUTTMAN!!

You can’t be too rich, too thin, and now, too photogenic!

As Not-a-US-citizen I’m shocked to see how low reached the level of the ME and Politics departments in some notorious univercities (Wacademia). Univercity’s platforms turned to be a polical and ideological pamplettes of Arab professors for the last 20 years. They don’t teach science but ProPalganda.

Abe Bird
abe_bird@yahoo.com

please stop linking to anti-peace, chicken-hawk, imbeciles like the “democracy project”.

i suspect they don’t get ALOT of jokes over there, what with them too busy reading “neoconservative.net”, “redstate.com” and “the evangelical outpost”.