Paul's Perambulations a personal blog

In mid-April Villanova announced that the commencement speaker would be Admiral William Fallon, a Villanova alumnus whose highest accomplishment was appointment to head of U.S. Central Command, whereby he assumed full responsibility for the conduct of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.  By honoring Admiral Fallon in this manner, Villanova would be, and would be seen publicly to be, condoning war and particularly the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. This is hardly Christian behavior, and a number of us faculty organized a graduation demonstration to make our peaceable feelings known.

A copy of the flyer that we distributed is posted on the first comment.  The backside of the flyer simply had the word PEACE in large bold letters and could be held up as a visible sign. For convenience, some of the following material is based on selections from my emails to other members of our group, Villanovans for Peace.

Recap of May 17 2009 Commencement:

Some of us distributed flyers and adhesive images in the faculty area, while Sue and I held the large Villanovans for Peace banner at the corner of Lancaster and Ithan Aves.  Large numbers crossed at that corner on their way to the entrance to the stadium, and we were able to distribute hundreds of our flyers to graduates and their families. One of our group was a member of the stage party and wore an armband and spoke with the Admiral personally.

Admiral Fallon’s speech was traditional, the same as what a civilian might have given (although that civilian might have been the likes of a basketball coach, when things got a bit hip-hip and rah-rah).  It’s likely that Fr. Donohue felt the need to inform Fallon that a peace demonstration was planned, and that might have led him to avoid anything that might be seen as inflammatory.  Good.

At the close, a group of us faculty marched out holding the banner (I had brought it into the stadium folded under my ample robe).  This was a unique act for any graduation in my memory, and it looked to be well received by those in the stadium (at least folks were taking pictures of us).

What Villanovans for Peace group agreed to in advance, after much discussion.

1. We will voice our objections to the speaker in the name of Villanovans for Peace, a student/faculty/staff group affiliated with the Center for Peace and Justice Education.
2. We will distribute flyers to faculty and students (and any interested members of the audience) explaining our objections to Admiral Fallon on one side of an 8 x 11 sheet (see attached). On the other side will be the word PEACE in big letters with a dove underneath.  Anyone who wishes can hold up the PEACE sign to show support.
3. Two or three of us will stand in front of the Jake Nevin Fieldhouse with the big Villanovans for Peace banner and distribute the flyers
4. One or two of us will be at the entrance to the Pavilion to distribute 4″x6″ self-adhesive “armbands” to faculty.  The armband stickies will have a peace symbol and/or dove, etc. printed on them.  We will also distribute the flyers (as described above) to faculty.
5. We will invite sympathetic faculty to march into the stadium together with us as a group.
6. The faculty group may also march out (and maybe in) behind the Villanovans for Peace banner

There’s always a question about what to call what we did.  I prefer public affirmation, avoid like the plague the word protest, sometimes use witness, and we settled on using dissent in our flyer.

I’m atypical of Villanovans for Peace in that I am a Christian pacifist, and I made a point of referring to myself that way when we met with Fr Donohue (President of Villanova) to discuss our concerns about the choice of commencement speaker. This concept seems to be totally lacking at Christian Villanova. Has anyone heard of others on campus, or is that my unique role here?  “Look, that’s him, our Villanova Christian pacifist.” 

The following is from my response to a friend’s email on Just War Theory:

I can’t give over responsibility for participation in war to the politicians’ decision to go to war, even if an individual’s conduct in war followed “jus in bello” principles of Just War Theory. There is much discussion about the value of the “good Nazi”, but Jesus’ message is clear (even if incredibly demanding) that nothing short of the White Rose and Franz Jagerstatter is asked of us.  Why do we honor this only when it is done by the OTHER side?  Incidentally, do you know of any soldiers among the many thousands who participated in saturation bombing of civilian targets during WWII (the mis-named “good” war, but hardly Christian by jus in bello standards) who refused to participate in these bombings?

The following is from my response to a friend’s email:
I completely agree that the military does not want wars.  That is a significant point of agreement that I use to stress our common interest when I speak with military personnel.  However, the military are legally bound to be followers of others more than leaders (despite the hype to the contrary).  If they do not follow orders, they are sacked and replaced with reliable followers.  There is rumor that Admiral Fallon disagreed with Bush, but there is no reliable support for this rumor anywhere on the web. In any case, our witness is not about Fallon per se, but about Villanova’s honoring him.  The formal press release only describes the high positions he has achieved in the military and says nothing of objections to the Iraq/Afghan Wars.  So Villanova is honoring him for advancing in the system, not for trying to reform it.  I notice in a recent post they mention his “humanitarian aid for Afghanistan.”  I wonder if this new comment might be related to the concern we expressed when we talked with the President of Villanova?  I support humanitarian aid; lets do it.  But the military is NOT a humanitarian aid society.  What a lie, to try to justify military intervention in that way.  In any case, most Afghans would be happier if we took the total package elsewhere and stopped killing their civilians.