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Thursday, Apr 25, 2024

Open Letter What message does Clinton send?

Author: Jim Cowperthwait

To the Middlebury College Board of Trustees,

As a proud parent ('94 and '97), former head of the Parent's Fund and an active Middlebury supporter, I am at a loss to understand the selection of former President Clinton to be the 2007 Commencement Speaker and, even worse, to receive an honorary degree from this distinguished institution.

Mr. Clinton was one of only two Presidents in the long history of our republic to be impeached by the United States House of Representatives. He was impeached for lying to a grand jury, not for an adulterous sexual act. Every citizen is required to tell the truth to a grand jury, but Clinton apparently felt he was above the law.

What message about Middlebury does this send to your students and to the world? Political affiliation aside, any President should, above all, represent moral values which are in keeping not just with the Office of the Presidency but also with those of the average American citizen. The most basic of these is the duty to obey the law.

I'm sorry to say you've lost my support from now on, and I deeply regret to say you have lost my respect.


Sincerely,

James B. Cowperthwait
Boca Grande, Fla.




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