In his column today, President Skorton urges university citizens to engage in debates and discussions about political conflicts, particularly that in Israel and Gaza. While we agree with Skorton that an academic setting is the best place to foster such political engagement, we hope that he and the University do more to encourage these dialogues.

Skorton makes an important point about the role of university presidents during such politicized situations. When approaching as polarizing and gray an issue as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, a president must avoid taking sides and thus alienating any faculty, students or other parties who may disagree with him. However, the University and President Skorton must not shy away from encouraging students and other members of the Cornell community to form and discuss educated opinions.

While individual professors or student groups, such as the Jewish/Muslim Dialogue Group mentioned by Skorton, may be making concerted efforts to encourage dialogue, there have not been any forums, debates or events organized by the University.

This response is not entirely the fault of Cornell, however: In previous attempts to host similar events, such as the diversity forums in Fall 2007, only a handful of students attended each event.

On such a highly debated issue as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, however, the University must consider student interest and the increased likelihood of students and student groups to get involved. As a community of well-informed, educated citizens, Cornell has a unique position and opportunity to host an event where people across broad geographical, racial and religious spectrums will potentially attend. An issue such as the current conflict in Gaza ignites passionate discussions among students of highly variable backgrounds and opinions. It is our guess that a University-hosted forum would be packed to the brim with students interested in voicing their opinions or simply learning more about the situation.

President Skorton took a step in the right direction by encouraging community members to consider the conflict, and by explaining the University’s difficult position in circumnavigating such a polarizing issue without offending people on either side. However, Skorton and the University could easily take that advice one large step further by actively fostering informed and organized debate and discussion. Skorton makes an important point about his and the University’s roles in the current conflict — what he doesn’t do is substantiate that role. We hope that Cornell takes action, both for the benefit of its students and for the hope of peace in the Middle East.