I'm writing this letter in response to Wednesday's speech by Rudolph Giuliani. I, like many New Yorkers, do not appreciate what Giuliani has done for my hometown, but when I heard he would be coming to UB to speak, I must admit I was interested to hear what he was going to say. I remember what Giuliani's speeches were like in the past, and I wanted to see if he would once again trip over himself, by saying or doing something totally inappropriate as he had done so often in the past. Sure enough, Rudy did not disappoint.
The Distinguished Speaker Lecture Series to me is supposed to be a series for students, as a portion of the money for the series comes from our tuition and it is an opportunity for us as students and for the public to learn about something from an influential person that we may have not learned otherwise. In the past, I personally have learned a great deal from the speakers who have come to UB, but all I have learned from Giuliani is that he has not changed a bit. He still has an enormous ego, and his trip to UB was a tremendous waste of money and time. Instead of giving a speech to the students that would inspire us, he gave a speech that was a self-promotion of his own book. Giuliani's book, "Leadership," was shamelessly promoted throughout the night before, during and after the speech, and of course, Rudy himself had to speak about the five hallmarks of leadership, something detailed in his book.
I thought the end of the night was going to give me a chance to ask the former mayor a question about an important issue that affected many of the lives of the people in New York, but Dennis Black (editor's note: Dennis Black is vice president for Student Affairs at UB) moderated the question-and-answer period and once again asked the stupidest possible questions, like "What happened to the Yankees?" I was appalled by the fact that anyone would think such a question was important. Obviously, Giuliani was a controversial figure, just as Bill Clinton was when he came to UB, and the open questions had the possibilities of bringing some challenges from the crowd. Even with the possibilities of controversy, New Yorkers and other Americans should have the right to ask him questions about the real issues that affected our everyday lives. At the end of the night, we, as a university, paid someone for the advertisement of his own book.
You may question this letter and wonder how I could ostracize such a "hero" to America. I will say this; Giuliani was one of the most oppressive figures in American history in the last 20 years with perhaps the exception of Ronald Reagan, one of Rudy's heroes. Rudy's legacy would have been one of oppression of minorities, lack of professionalism and police brutality if it weren't for the terrorist attacks that destroyed the World Trade center on Sept. 11, 2001. On 9/11, Giuliani did his job, the same thing any other mayor would have, and just as the Rev. Al Sharpton said, "Bozo the clown would have done the same thing."
The fact that Giuliani is still praised as a "hero" is due to the fact that supporters of Giuliani, especially those who aren't from New York City, don't know anything about him or his policies as mayor. I challenge all Giuliani supporters to find out about Rudy's role in the cases of Amidou Diallo, Abner Louima, or about the state of education in New York City since Giuliani came into office. Once you know about these issues, then I challenge you to argue for Giuliani's heroism, and I also challenge those people to argue that it was important for us to bring him to UB.
Photo: Meredith Forrest Kulwicki
