“You can’t find the meaning of life without figuring out who you are yourself and how you fit into a universe you did not create.” The only shocking thing about this statement is who said it: John Silber. That’s right, in a September 2002 interview with The American Enterprise, the man who ordered the termination of a GSA at the BU Academy told interviewer Eli Lehrer that his role is to awaken his student’s sense of self. To me, the GSA at the Academy was serving exactly that purpose.

As a freshman who had just arrived on campus, I was excited to see that BU had been ranked second on the Princeton Review’s list of gay-friendly schools. As the days have passed in the two weeks I have been here, I find it very hard to believe that such a high ranking is truly deserved. John Silber, Chancellor and acting President of Boston University, is a homophobe. (Surprisingly enough, I read in the Boston Globe that Silber’s son was gay and died of AIDS.) I would think that a man touched by such a painful disease would show more compassion towards the gay community. Reading the outpour of dismay at Silber’s decision has been heartening; I hope that he will hear what students, alumni, politicians and faculty are saying, and reinstate the GSA at the BUA. If the calls of the people don’t reach his BU-owned home, then maybe this Kant scholar should listen to his conscience. I implore you, John Silber, to stay true to your inspiring words and reestablish BUA’s Gay Straight Alliance.

Jeremy Gordon COM ’06