Letters

I write to protest the Bulletin’s dereliction of journalistic duty in publishing Carrie Compton’s “Correcting the Record” (winter 2016). I can understand why Michael Meeropol ’64 continues to minimize the guilt of his parents. But the Bulletin has some duty to the truth: Both Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were traitors in the service of one of the most evil regimes that has ever disgraced human history. 

Reading Dominic Tierney’s essay, “War and the Liberal Arts,” (fall 2015) I appreciated his description of the 2003 illegal invasion of Iraq as erroneous. However, it was not “driven by a mistaken view of the Iraqi threat” as he claims. Since 2003, multiple former U.S. intelligence officials have revealed that members of the Bush administration made false claims of Iraqi WMDs and ties to al-Qaeda to garner support for attacking Iraq. 

Thank you for the charming sketch of Alan Gordon ’81 (winter 2016, “Jack-of-Some-Trades”). I didn’t know him at Swarthmore, but I did know Professor Susan Snyder and I am delighted that he credits her as an inspiration. She was just that: erudite, witty, imaginative—it is no surprise that Professor Snyder helped detonate his explosion of creative activity. I’m sure other alumni can supply similar testimonials. My own? A lifelong love of Spenser’s Faerie Queene, whose beauty and side-splitting comedy she brilliantly exhibited to the students in her Renaissance Epic seminar. Experiences like that are the enduring benefit of a Swarthmore education.

Welcome, Jonathan, to your new job as editor of the Bulletin. 

I see not a word about your immediate predecessor, Carol Brévart-Demm, in your first issue. Carol was a mainstay of the Bulletin for many years, and in my opinion, one of its greatest strengths.

Lynne Steuerle Schofield ’99’s essay, “Grief and Gratitude,” touched me deeply with its fearless self-examination. If my husband had not died in 2011, just shy of our 30th anniversary, I would never have worked in the Congo twice with Doctors Without Borders, my son would not have matured as he has, and I would not have the delight of sharing my home with my daughter, son-in-law, and new granddaughter. I miss my husband always, sometimes with a vague ache, sometimes a sharp pang. As many bereaved whom I know personally and professionally, I live with sadness enveloped in a sense of great good fortune. 

As a career higher-ed communicator and magazine editor, welcome, Jonathan. Telling the stories of colleges like Swarthmore is a privilege and a delight. I love the new design, and the winter 2016 cover is simply gorgeous. Opening the book was irresistible!