Suddenly, Duke isn't the baddest kid on the block anymore. It turns out Yale is harboring a terrorist on its campus.
That's right, Sayed Rahmatullah Hashemi is a former official in the Taliban regime-and he's also a special, non-degree seeking student at Yale.
What's more, the former "ambassador-at-large" has submitted an application to become a full-fledged sophomore, and he should hear back any day now.
And I thought we had problems.
This is not the first time Rahmatullah's name has been in the news; you may recall him from Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11, in which he is confronted by a burqa-clad protester shouting, "You have imprisoned the women-it's a horror, let me tell you." Hashemi retorts: "I'm really sorry for your husband. He might have a very hard time with you."
The roving spokesman is also remembered for his role in advocating the destruction of Afghanistan's ancient Bamiyan Buddha statues, just months before 9/11. When questioned about the statues, Hashemi asserted, "You know, really, I am asked so much about these statues that I have a headache now. If I go back to Afghanistan, I will blow them."
So here we have a man who has stood by an organization that advocated the oppression of women, the desecration of religious artifacts and the persecution of Christian aid workers.
Apparently, Rahmatullah is as astonished as I am by this turn of events in his life, saying, "I could have ended up in Guantanamo Bay. Instead, I ended up at Yale".
And how did such a man end up at Yale?
When asked about the decision to admit Rahmatullah, an admissions official explained that Harvard had snagged a similar student, and now Yale needed one-as though they are third graders trading pogs and baseball cards. It most certainly wasn't Rahmatullah's academic qualifications that got him in, since he only has a fourth-grade education and high school equivalency certificate. So, I'm left to conclude that Yale is trading on the blood and anguish of the Taliban's victims and the notoriety of a former official.
To be fair, The New York Times Magazine article that "broke" this story portrays Rahmatullah as eager to learn. He's even gained acceptance from students at Yale's Hillel through participation in a Jews and Muslims dialogue group. Of course, he still thinks that Israel is "an American al Qaeda," and he has likened the Taliban's public executions to those carried out in Texas.
Now, you could certainly argue that this man-above all others-should study Western values. Certainly, he is uniquely poised to convey them to one of the most backward regions on the face of the earth.
That is a valid perspective.
But I'm hoping that you will still be upset by his presence at Yale for two reasons.
The first is the hypocrisy at the heart of Yale's conduct. The university cloaks Rahmatullah's admission in euphemisms like "increase understanding." Yet Yale certainly doesn't apply this standard to the United States Armed Forces, whose ROTC programs it has deliberately banned from campus.
Yale can't have this both ways; considering that 281 American soldiers (as of March) have died since 2001 to defend all of us from the Taliban, how could Rahmatullah's voice be welcome when the military's is not?
My second, larger concern is the moral relativism that has infested Yale-and portions of academia in general.
Consider the words of Yale Law's assistant director of giving, who actually called one graduate's concerns over Rahmatullah's crimes "retarded" and "disgusting."
Indeed, this parallel universe in which Yale's administration obviously dwells is a place where a man's complicity in a regime marked by genocide, torture and rape constitute, in the words of Yale's dean of undergraduate admissions, "personal accomplishments that had a significant impact."
Clearly it's not the alumni who are retarded.
My greatest sadness stems from the fact that we continue to pamper an ex-terrorist when his victims get nothing. I wonder how many foul-mouthed Yale employees recently sprang to the defense of the victims of Rahmatullah and his ilk. Where is their fundraising committee? Where are their student visas?
If Mr. Rahmatullah wants to study our culture and values so badly, then he can have my library card. But until each and every one of the women, children, ethnic minorities and myriad others he oppressed has gotten their Yale degree, I can never countenance his presence at an elite university.
We should not allow him to continue profiting from the misery of Taliban victims.
By the way, Rahmatullah did quite poorly in his "Terrorism: Past, Present and Future" course last semester.
Kristin Butler is a Trinity junior.
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