Why, then, do the students involved attribute this view to Mansfield? Is it because they have just not taken the time to understand his statement, or do they have some sort of reason to particularly dislike him? Are they simply looking to be offended? Or is there something entirely different at work here that I have missed?
Those who would so viciously attack Mansfield and call for a university censure owe the campus a more coherent account of what they take Mansfield to have said, how they derive this interpretation from the words that he uttered, and why what they take him to have said makes him worthy of censure.
Ari Weinstein '02
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Feb. 12, 2000