To the Editor:
In her column "No Substitute for an Open Mind" [Jan. 16, 1997, The Dartmouth] columnist Jen Parkinson '99 makes several highly questionable statements regarding a forum on feminism that was sponsored by the Conservative Union at Dartmouth. She begins her column by criticizing the Conservative Union for even hosting such an event. She states that it was not a great idea and likens it to the Young Democrats inviting Patrick Buchanan to lead a forum about immigration. I find this puzzling. Even if conflict is, as Parkinson states, inevitable, both sides can benefit from listening to each other's thoughts and ideas.
Parkinson goes on to criticize the behavior of CUAD members during the discussion. She calls the debate uncivilized stating that, "the discussion was in marked contrast to the civilized debate that I have found so beneficial in many a class." She goes on to say that, "several members of the audience, armed with statistics and an alarming skepticism, seemed eager to contest any statement that Munafo made." Both of these statements are untrue. A vast majority of the discussion took place about one topic, affirmative action. Additionally, I am at a loss to see how the debate was in any way uncivilized. Munafo had statistics to support what she was saying, and members of CUAD had statistics to back up their thoughts and ideas. Clearly the forum would not have sparked much discourse or discussion if we had spent the hour agreeing with one another. Finally, during the forum itself Munafo said that she was surprised that CUAD would invite her to such an event, but did not feel that she was being mistreated.
Parkinson also incorrectly quotes Munafo as saying, "it would be impossible for any one person to take the theories of conservatism and feminism seriously." Munafo was instead referring to the views of Katha Politt from The Nation who spoke at Dartmouth last year. In fact Munafo left that point open to discussion and stated that she knows of Dartmouth women who consider themselves both conservatives and feminists.
The Conservative Union at Dartmouth remains proudly committed to promoting discourse and discussion on all political issues including feminism. In fact we have extended an open invitation to the Women's Studies Department for a debate on feminism involving a Women's Studies Professor and an outside conservative. We are eagerly awaiting a response.
