Publisher's Notebook

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Defining Diversity At Wayne State

T

he recent comments by veteran White House cor-
respondent and columnist Helen Thomas about
Israel and Jews generated a firestorm of criticism
from across the political, interfaith and media spectrum. The
now-retired Thomas ended her otherwise trailblazing and
occasionally controversial career with a thud.
But the repugnant remarks by the
89-year-old Thomas will reverberate
every year at Wayne State University
in Detroit as it continues to raise
scholarship money for journalism
students via the Helen Thomas
Spirit of Diversity Awards. Wayne
State has announced it will retain
the name of the awards, which were
started by Thomas with a gift to her
Arthur M.
alma mater.
Horwitz
Leonard Pitts Jr., the syndicated
Publisher
columnist and one of this year's
Wayne State University Helen
Thomas Spirit of Diversity Award winners, told his nation-
al audience that in light of her comments, receiving this
spirit of diversity award "feels not unlike
receiving a Kim Jong-il award in the spirit
of diplomacy"
He went on,"... if you consider bigotry
a cancer of the human spirit, then at some
point, you have to call people on their gar-
bage. Even when they are old. Even when they
are beloved. Even when they are legendary.
The spirit of diversity demands no less."
The university's hasty decision to retain
Thomas' name on the spirit of diversity
awards assures a decline in the number of
future nominees who will want their name
associated with Wayne State and Helen
Thomas. It will also interfere with the
school's ambition to be the intellectual and Leonard Pitts
economic bridge linking the Detroit region
with countries in the Middle East, including Israel.
Aside from reconsidering the award's name and pre-
serving its intent — the raising of scholarship dollars
for minority journalism students — Wayne State must
clarify and strengthen the criteria it uses for selecting its
"spirit of diversity" honorees. There have been several
notable and deserving winners, including Pitts, former
Philadelphia Inquirer Executive Editor Eugene Roberts,
former Knight-Ridder and Detroit Free Press executive
Robert McGruder and Michigan Chronicle Senior Editor
Bankole Thompson.
But, with Pitts' words and North Korea's Kim Jong-il in
mind, consider the following editorial by Osama Siblani in
the June 12 edition of the Dearborn-based Arab-American
News entitled "Thomas Should Be Commended, Not
Vilified":

"If Thomas made an error in judgment, it was placing too
much trust in the educational level or intelligence credibil-
ity of the targeted audience. Honest, accurate examination
of the facts surrounding the founding and perpetuation of
Israel demands we admit that the current Jewish residents

of Israel — indeed the entire diaspora of Jews — have no
connection whatsoever to the biblical land of Israel or the
lost tribes of Israel or any other historic claim to the land
between the Dead Sea and the Mediterranean. All the myths
perpetuated by the Zionists as hasbara toward maintaining
American stupidity and confusion about who the land really
belongs to are just that: myths.
`And this, in our opinion, is what Helen Thomas was say-
ing. The land was stolen from the Palestinians to create a
"Jewish state," and we should acknowledge that truth and
move on. If we don't, Armaggedon is close.
"Thomas should be commended, not vilified, for her
honesty and candor. The land of Palestine was taken from
the Palestinians and given to the Zionist Jews without the
permission of the Palestinians and Israel has slowly and
steadily magnified that wrong with every chance it gets.
"Wayne State University gives out the Helen Thomas
Spirit of Diversity Award every year. Since the Thomas flap,
debate has occurred over whether the name of that award
should be changed. We're happy to report that WSU has
decided not to change the award name. They are right and
we thank them."

Let's see ... no Jews and, by extension,
no Christians have any ties whatsoever to
the Holy Land. Cleanse history of the Jews
and the Christians and all would be homog-
enous and peaceful in the Middle East. This,
according to Siblani's own filter, is what
Thomas really meant.
By the way, Siblani was also one of this
year's Wayne State University Helen Thomas
Spirit of Diversity Award honorees. Using
Wayne State's judging criteria, could Henry
Ford and the Dearborn Independent have
been first-runner up? Free speech is free
speech. That doesn't mean bigoted, divisive
Jr.
and disrespectful speech warrants celebra-
tion and approbation.
To its credit, Wayne State has been at the forefront
promoting diversity and inclusion on and around its
campus and the region. A recent Chaldean-Jewish young
entrepreneurs' forum at Wayne State's TechTown, part of a
broader Chaldean-Jewish initiative sponsored in part by
the university, is just one of several examples. That's why
its unwillingness to, as Pitts said, "call people on their gar-
bage" because "the spirit of diversity demands no less" is
so vexing.
Wayne State must offer its own clear and consistent defi-
nition of what diversity means and how it wants to cele-
brate and honor it, whether it's in the law school, the busi-
ness school or the journalism department. Otherwise, the
value of a Wayne State University degree will be tarnished
and its regional leadership ambitions diminished.

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Why shouldn't Wayne rename its Spirit
u) IX of Diversity Award?
I--
Z z How does Osama Siblani's view of Jews
o
a. 0 - mesh with diversity?

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July 8 • 2010

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