Convocation speaker addresses political correctness
By Lisa Hoppenjans
News Editor

> February 16, 2001

Mary Ann Glendon, a professor of law at Harvard University, encouraged students and faculty to voice their personal values more openly at the university’s Founder’s Day Convocation Feb. 8 in Wait Chapel.

The celebration, part of the university’s Year of Ethics and Honor event series, marked the 167th anniversary of the university’s founding by Samuel Wait in Wake County.

Glendon is the Learned Hand Professor of Law at Harvard Law School, and has written over a dozen books in the fields of human rights, comparative law, constitutional law and legal theory.

Glendon’s speech addressed what she views as a primary problem in America today – the culture of political correctness silencing the expression of religious and personal views.

Glendon expressed her fear about the depreciation in importance of character, lamenting the American Bar Association’s recent decision to remove the word “honor” from their code of personal ethics. “We hear a lot about ethics these days, but not so much about the more personal concept of honor,” she said.

Glendon claims this lack of emphasis on issues like character and honor endanger the success of democratic government by the people. “The Founders knew that our experiment in democracy was an experiment and that its success or failure depends on the competence and character of its citizens and public servants,” she said.

She explained her concern over recent opinion polls, which reveal that although most Americans say that the biggest problem facing the country is moral decline, these same people are reluctant to assert their moral views in public.

“In recent years there has been no shortage of self-appointed censors telling us that moral, and especially religious views, are out of bounds in the public square,” she said. “And more insidiously, we’re told, not in so many words but obliquely – ‘If you want to get ahead in politics, in business, in the academe, check your religious beliefs at the door.’”

Glendon cited intimidation and the tendency to take refuge in slogans such as, “Personally I’m opposed to this or that, but I can’t impose my opinions on others” as harmful to a democracy in which the Constitution “invites and requires public deliberation.”

She refuted the claim that expressing one’s ideas is synonymous with imposing them on another. “When we advance our moral viewpoints, we are not imposing anything on anyone,” Glendon said. “We are proposing. That’s what citizens do in a democracy.”

Glendon concluded her presentation with a Biblical warning that Paul gave to the Corinthians: “Do not conform yourself to the spirit of the age.”

In addition to Glendon’s speech, the ceremony also recognized the achievements of students, faculty and other contributors to the university community.

The university presented its highest award for service, the Medallion of Merit, to Victor Flow Jr., 52, a member of the board of trustees. Flow was recognized for his significant contributions to university, most notably in the area of international studies and assistance in the purchase of the Vienna house, which was named in his honor. He has served three terms on the university’s board of trustees, and is co-chair for the Campaign for Wake Forest: Honoring the Promise.

Faculty members were recognized for their achievements and contributions to the university community. Among the recipients was Angela Hattery, an assistant professor of sociology, who was awarded the Kulynych Family Omicron Delta Kappa Award for Contribution to Student Life. Nina Lucas, the theater department’s director of dance, was presented the Reid-Doyle Prize for Excellence in Teaching. Kathleen Kron, an assistant professor of biology, and James Schirillo, an assistant professor of psychology, received the Award for Excellence in Research.

Student members of the Mortar Board and Omicron Delta Kappa honor societies were also recognized.