Freshman Reader

Administration's Position

First, here is the original request for a meeting with administration:

4 September 2007

Dear Dr. Samuels:

The Steering Committee of Focus the Nation – IUP requests a meeting with you in order to discuss Dr.

Atwater’s and your participation in a political round table to be held on the evening of 31 January 2008 as

the culmination of a year-long, nation-wide effort to focus the nation’s attention on the issue of global

warming. Further, we wish to invite Governor Rendell and all our national and local representatives to this

round table to discuss American solutions to global warming. The Political Science Department has agreed

to co-sponsor this event with the President’s and Provost’s offices. Similar roundtables will be held on

that date across the nation.

We are a grassroots organization representative of the students and faculty at IUP that have affiliated

with a nation-wide effort that to date includes 628 other academic and civic organizations. We have

commitments and funding for a presentation from the Union of Concerned Scientists and the Global

Climate Change Project, a weekly environmental radio show, faculty from 15 different academic

departments that have agreed to participate in a global warming discussion day, a project proposal from

the College of Fine Arts and other events planned. Our work dovetails well with this year’s Common

Freshman Reader activities as well.

We believe this effort serves the University’s goals well in acting as a forum for the discussion of this

urgent issue, educating students and the broader community about global warming, and can provide

positive exposure for the University in the media and in the surrounding communities. And one last point.

Students have been a driving force in this effort. This is their issue and they are engaged.

We hope you have time to have a brief discussion about this proposal at your earliest convenience. We

should like to get commitments from our political representatives before other Pennsylvania universities.

We feel we are organized enough at this point to make a coherent and brief presentation.

Sincerely,

Susan T. Zimny, PhD.

Steering Committee, Focus the Nation – IUP

Psychology Department

Indiana University of Pennsylvania

Indiana, PA 15705

Provost's Response (9/21/07):

Hello Susan. I am sorry that I have not been able to get back to you sooner. President Atwater and the

other senior officers were able to discuss yesterday your request for Presidential and Provost support of

the Focus on the Nation event on January 31, 2008. I understand from Dr. Luckey that you did speak with

her last spring about this event and that you have not talked with her since that initial meeting. I am sure

you can appreciate that as a public state supported institution, the IUP administration can not support

events that are clearly of a political nature and held not just for educational purposed but to influence
legislators and legislation in a specific direction. Yes, the topic does relate to the topics in the Common

Freshman Reader. However, the IUP events being conducted as a part of that focus are designed to

provide some balance in the viewpoints on the issue of climate change. Your event clearly has a
political agenda and you are certainly welcome to work through appropriate channels to get private and

other non-governmental organizational support for your efforts. However, it is not possible for the

President and Provost to provide institutional support for this event and certainly the IUP administration

can not invite the Governor or legislators to this event.

I wish you the best in planning your event and you did mention that other private and non-governmental

organizations have shown their support. If you have any questions about the process for holding your

            event on campus, please contact Dr. Luckey's office for the steps to follow.

            Thank you for your enthusiasm and your understanding of the administrations position.

            Cheryl T. Samuels, Ph.D.
            Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs
            Indiana University of Pennsylvania
            Sutton Hall, Room 205
            Indiana, PA 15705-1046
            724-357-2219 (Office)
            724-357-2498 (Fax)
            csamuels@iup.edu

Steering Committee's Response:

25 September 2007

Dear Dr. Samuels:

Thank you for your prompt consideration of our request. The Steering Committee of Focus the Nation – IUP

would like to make sure that our position has not been misunderstood. Our intention regarding the political

roundtable was to invite all our political representatives regardless of party affiliation. We wished to

truly be a forum in which people could come together to discuss ‘American solutions to global warming’.

We hoped that the leadership of the university would play an important role by introducing the

participants and addressing the challenges and possibilities that will face young people in the future

regarding climate change.

If your refusal to participate in the political roundtable is because Focus the Nation acknowledges the

reality of global warming and you consider that to be a political stance, we should be clear that Focus the

Nation considers this to be an issue of science, not politics. In this assessment we are joined by the

National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, the national academies of science of 25

other modern nations and the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

If there has been some misunderstanding and you would like to reconsider your position, we would

welcome your participation. Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,

Steering Committee of Focus The Nation - IUP