Letters to the Editor | Oct. 17, 2023

The Inquirer reported that Mitt Romney, who is not running for reelection to the U.S. Senate or to a higher office, urged his supporters to coalesce behind a single challenger to Donald Trump. But are there any? Even though the Republican Party is in total disarray, most of the men running for the nomination have not taken a stand against Trump. If the party wants a challenger who is a true conservative, and a clear adversary of the 45th president, they should back Liz Cheney of Wyoming. Cheney has demonstrated integrity and courage. While I might not agree with her conservatism, she gives the Republican Party a real opponent to Trump.

Joel Chinitz, Philadelphia, jjchin@comcast.net

In the wake of Hamas’ attack on Israel, former Speaker Kevin McCarthy stated the House would be “going after any antisemitism” on college campuses. On Sunday, The Inquirer reported that Vahan H. Gureghian has resigned as a trustee at the University of Pennsylvania, citing the school leadership’s “broken moral compass” in his belief that Penn “embraced” antisemitism by hosting the Palestine Writes literature festival. He is quoted as saying, “It is time for universities … to reassess the values they demonstrate to the young minds they are shaping.” This is dangerous stuff. Hooray for Penn standing its ground and saying it supports the “free exchange of ideas.”

Clearly, for Gureghian and McCarthy, the “shaping” of young minds is one-sided — in this case pro-Israel — with no desire or opportunity to hear differing points of view. This flies in the face of the goal of educational institutions to develop critical thinkers and deprives students of being taught and encouraged to form their own opinions. This “shaping” would leave young people in no shape to discern anything beyond a one-sided perspective, unequipped to develop their own opinions or points of view. The opportunity for flexibility, tolerance, and empathy is lost, and the cementing of uncompromising rigidity of belief is the unfortunate result.

Deborah DiMicco, Newtown

How sad it was to read in The Inquirer that the Penn donor who chairs Wharton’s board of advisers is leading an effort to have Penn’s president and its board chair resign. Their failure? The fact that they defended (in the form of the Palestine Writes festival, which was held on campus last month) the historic principle of academic freedom, which has served as a foundational strength of America’s colleges and universities. This principle, derived from the Enlightenment, established the unhindered exploration of ideas in open competition as the most reliable path to discovering both true ideas and wise public policies.

Clark Kerr, first chancellor of the University of California, Berkeley, famously wrote that of the 75 institutions founded before 1520 that had survived in forms recognizable today — including the Catholic Church and the parliaments of Iceland and the Isle of Man — about 60 are universities. I submit that the reason for the predominance of universities on this list is their proven social utility as havens for the free exploration of ideas. The University of Pennsylvania has carried on this tradition, thus establishing itself as one of the nation’s great universities.

Gresham Riley, Philadelphia

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