Where Was Harvard While America Slept?

President Bok Feigns Misunderstanding

Misinterprets request to review work of 9/11 Prof
with request to review all work of all Profs

Published On Friday, October 27, 2006 4:35 AM

A request for President Bok to review the teaching of
Professor of History Ernest May on the subject of the
events of September 11th was misunderstood by the
president to mean that he should review all the work of
all Harvard professors.

Professor May, who teaches a freshman seminar on the
9/11 Commission and its report, to which he served as
a senior adviser, teaches the Commission's findings as
historical fact, when the contents of the report have
been thoroughly discredited by the work of such
scholars as Professor David Ray Griffin in his book
Omissions and Distortions of the 9/11 Commission
Report.

The text of President Bok's comments are below, as is
the email from a concerned alumnus that prompted the
response:

Dear Mr. [Gretavo]:

Thank you for your email regarding Professor Ernest
May's involvement with The 9/11 Commission Report . I
hope that you will understand that the University
cannot possibly review and comment on all the reports
and documents with which our professors are associated.

I appreciate your taking the time to share your
concerns with me.

Best regards,

Derek Bok

Dear President Bok,

I write to you as both alumnus of Harvard College ('96)
and current member of Harvard's administrative staff
to request a formal statement from you on the subject
of the evidence that the events of September 11 have
been and continue to this day to be misrepresented in a
profoundly malicious and unconscionable manner. As a
senior adviser to the 9/11 Commission Harvard Professor
of History Ernest May has associated my alma mater
with a report that is acknowledged by a growing number
of people around the world to be, without exaggerating,
a criminally deceptive document, as it intentionally
deflects blame from the actual planners and executors
of the controlled demolition of the World Trade Center
complex.

A thorough summary of the relevant issues may be found
in the following documentary:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6708190071483512003&sourceid=do...

and further documentation on the subject on this
website: http://www.st911.org

An institution that is as highly regarded as Harvard,
and whose motto is "truth", cannot be allowed to
remain silent on an issue of such import. I attempted
without success to bring these issues to the attention
of Prof. William Kirby while he was Dean of FAS.
Presumably because he knows me personally he did
respond to my inquiry only to express his ignorance of
the subject, but his faith in his colleague Professor
May.

I replied to him that the facts suggest that his
colleague was at the very least negligent in his job of
advising the 9/11 Commission and urged him to become
familiar with the evidence. He did not reply so I
cannot say with certainty if he read my message.

As shown by the recent actions of Brigham Young
University against their professor of physics Steven
Jones, placed on paid leave for his audacity in
publishing and discussing with students his research
proving beyond reasonable doubt that the WTC was
demolished with explosives, the time has come for the
leaders of American and world academia to weigh in on
the subject of academic freedom, and beyond that to
speak truth to power on the subject of the atrocities
committed on September 11, 2001.

I trust that you will acknowledge your receipt of this
inquiry from a concerned alumnus and reflect on its
significance. The time has come to confront an ever
more clearly troubling reality--this institution cannot
remain silent on this issue and retain its credibility
into the future.

Should you wish to discuss the issues involved in more
detail I would be happy to meet with you in person at
your convenience.

Respectfully yours,

[Gretavo]

Harvard College Class of 1996