President Skorton’s Politically Correct Statement on Kenya University Massacre

On April 2, four gunmen belonging to the radical Islamic terrorist organization Al-Shabaab stormed Kenya’s Garissa University College and murdered 148 while injuring another 79.

The Somalia-based jihadists specifically targeted Christian students because they claim the university’s campus is situated on Islamic land.

“If you were a Christian, you were shot on the spot,” a Garissa University student told The Associated Press. “With each blast of the gun I thought I was going to die.”

Sheik Abdiasis Abu Musab, the group’s spokesman, told Reuters, “We sorted people out and released the Muslims.”

In response to the horrific attack, the White House released a lame statement failing to acknowledge the religious backgrounds of the Al-Shabaab terrorists and their victims.

Later that day, Cornell University President David Skorton also felt compelled to issue a statement titled “President expresses shock over attack at Kenya university.” The statement in full:

“I write today to express my shock over the attack on Garissa University College in Kenya. My heart goes out to all of those impacted by this senseless act. I am especially mindful of the many members of our community with ties to the region. As the full impact of today’s events continues to unfold, I ask that you please keep them, the victims and their families — as well as the entire Garissa community — in your thoughts. Universities should be safe havens for the sharing of ideas and embracing differences, not targets for violence.”

Notice, once again, the failure to acknowledge the fact that a specific religious group–Christians–were targeted and massacred. Whether or not you are a Christian is irrelevant when it comes to explicitly referring to the victims as Christians. That they were specifically targeted is a fact, and leaving out such facts is reprehensible. Skorton also fails to condemn the attackers and their aims.

Truly believing that “universities should be safe havens” requires the condemnation of what is clearly a threat to safety–radical Islamic terrorism–and the defense of not only the Christian victims at Garissa but also the idea of religious liberty, which groups like Al-Shabaab reject.

You may ask why I’m criticizing Skorton for these failures–arguably, his condemnation of the attack would be as pointless as the statement as it is now–and the response is because now the precedent is set for asking Cornell’s president for comment on all international events, especially those regarding religious terrorism. It also comes down to the fact that if Cornell’s president is so compelled to issue statements on international events, there should be no reluctance to be frank, to use the factual and necessarily specific vocabulary, and to leave out moral equivocation.

Unfortunately, Skorton decided to adopt the White House’s preferred vocabulary and bow down to the politically correct appeasement and apologist crowd.