Pete Vogel ('75)

Jane Jervis, President
The Evergreen State College

Dear Ms. Jervis,

As a TESC alum, I am very disappointed in my alma mater for having apparently bowed to "political correctness". By the recalling of the first printing of the Evergreen student retrospective and its reissue minus the work of SM Park, you have effectively participated in the time-honored practice of book burning. As Mr Park's work was approved for inclusion and subsequently printed in the initial press run, what other conclusion can I reach? Are you aware that the work in question had been so highly regarded as to be displayed on the walls of the Library Building prior to this brouhaha? I suppose that Mr Park's piece is so inflammatory in content as to put at risk future funding for TESC. If this is the case, is it worth sacrificing a principle which is at the very core of the College? I don't think so. Let's take a chance on allowing the truth to stand as it is clearly represented by the artwork in question. Who knows? Citizens and legislators just might respect you for your character and vote your funding. They just might be smart enough to see that a school which can laugh at itself and acknowledge its own foibles is a school worth attending and supporting.

Sincerely,

Pete Vogel, Class of 1975. E:mail: petevogel@w-link.net

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