Dear President:
I do have concern and a question about this issue.
I want to know how many University of Washington alumni have died over the last century, and how many official public gatherings the UW has held for them.
I don't actually want to know those numbers. The point is this: It is a sign of leadership gone awry when nationalist-induced fervor and grief sets the public agenda.
The astronauts who died were certainly brave men and women who risked their lives in their job. They gave their lives for their job. They should be mourned if they have loved ones willing to do this.
That a nation cries for them is something else altogether, and not something a University with a mission of higher learning should participate in. I can imagine no reason that these people, or this one gentleman, Michael Anderson, should be publicly mourned by the UW except for reasons based on that old saw of tortured logic, the political body: Anderson was part of the body; he is gone, and we need to heal now.
This dream of solidity and solidarity, of an organic continuity that spreads among all UW living and dead, however, is just that, a dream, and here at least, a retroactive one since the UW public had very little awareness of Michael Anderson prior to his death. That we ignored him in life means we ignore him in death? Well, yes. Or rather, let us not pretend our grief to be genuine. His ROTC comrades, his classmates, and those others who remember him can mourn him in their way should they wish to do this. Let us not imagine, however, that we are all connected to him through the body of the UW. Such myths we are better off without.
Indeed, the UW has been responsible for the education of so many persons of admirable talent and achievement. Were a public ceremony to be held on the death of each, our commemorations would likely devolve into a perversion of that ritual we know to be celebrated by corporate offices everywhere, the monthly birthday party, where a cake and song is offered to everyone born that month. The UW would commemorate monthly the death of its fallen children. Were we to commemorate each death, it is likely every day would find the flag at half mast.
Since we do not commemorate the deaths of all those UW alumni who have died, then we must ask, why this one death? There are frankly no good reasons except nationalist ones, which again, should not be underscored as the party line by the University. This is a perversion of its mission; not an application of it.
I feel forced to produce this shrill and ugly note if only to cleanse my palate, for I cannot believe that the national public outcry is anything but the result of quite a cynical manipulation of public feeling, having closer connection to the spectacle of OJ Simpson than the death of a beloved. We must underscore this point particularly in view of the war drums beating in the other Washington by the other President.
It might be countered that commemorating the death of so few might give pause to a war effort surely to kill so many more. This argument is false, for it recognizes overtly the politicization of mourning, and in any event, we should take care for such mass identification can quickly be reversed and utilized for other ends. There is never so strong a need for critical awareness than in mass outpourings of sentiment under the near shadow of death.
In closing, let me add that I am sure a public ceremony for Michael Anderson and his fellow crew members, "fallen heroes," as you call them, is being held with only the best intentions. I just wish hereby to register my fear that in such ceremonies even the best of intentions may find themselves corrupted.
Yours, very sincerely
,Gregg Miller
Ph.D. Candidate in Political Science, UW
pres@u.washington.edu wrote:
February 4, 2003
UW Students, Faculty, and Staff
Dear Colleagues:
You are invited to attend a brief ceremony in Red Square at noon, Friday, February 7, 2003, to commemorate the loss of the crew of the Space Shuttle Columbia, including University of Washington alumnus Michael Anderson, class of '81. Lt. Col. Anderson was also a graduate of the University's Air Force ROTC program. Join with members of the campus community as we pay tribute to these fallen heroes.
Sincerely,
Lee Huntsman
Interim President
If you have questions or concerns about this issue, please reply to pres@u.washington.edu.
© 2003 Gregg Miller