Debra Pemstein

Vice President for Development and Alumni Affairs

Bard College
Annandale, NY 12504

December 6, 2010

Dear Ms. Pemstein,

My education at Bard was formative and important, and I would love to make a
contribution to Bard’s scholarship programs this year. It is thus with great sadness, frustration and
even anger that I inform you that I will not make a donation this year, or any other year, until
Marty Peretz is removed from the Board of Trustees. I understand that Board politics are
complicated, but I can’t financially support an institution that gives legitimacy and power to an
unrepentant racist and bigot. I hesitate to even reprint some of the things that Mr. Peretz has said
about African-Americans, Latinos, Arabs and Muslims, but in case you aren’t aware of the kind
of rhetoric he commonly spouts, consider the following:

 "So many in the black population are afflicted by cultural deficiencies."

 "Latin society with all of its characteristic deficiencies: congenital corruption,
authoritarian government, anarchic politics, near-tropical work habits, stifling social
mores, Catholic dogma ... and increasingly violent modes of conflict."
 "Muslim life is cheap, most notably to Muslims" and "I wonder whether I need honor
these people and pretend that they are worthy of the privileges of the First Amendment,
which I have in my gut the sense that they will abuse."

Marty Peretz is, of course, fully empowered to use the First Amendment rights he so readily
wishes to eliminate for particular groups of Americans. Indeed, as editor of TNR, he has a very
large microphone with which to do so every day. When Bard wants to find itself in the right place
on the long arc of justice in history, asking Mr. Peretz to leave the board will not be a judgment
on his First Amendment rights to free speech. It will be the best expression of the true meaning of
the First Amendment: that you have the right to speak and I have the right to disagree.
The best way for Bard to express disagreement with Mr. Peretz would be to ask him to leave
the Board. In allowing Mr. Peretz to remain powerfully connected to it, the College damages
itself, sending a message to current and future students and alumni that intolerance and racism are
acceptable, even desirable professional qualifications. It sends that message to students of color
and to Muslim students, who deserve better from the administration.
Bard wouldn’t have ever invited someone to join the board if they regularly made anti-Jewish
or anti-gay statements. Mr. Peretz’ bigotry is no different, and Bard should express its contempt
for such speech and the racism that underlies it. If nothing else, you owe it to your students of
color to stand up for them.

Sincerely,

YOUR NAME
Class of YOUR CLASS
CC: President Leon Botstein, Executive Vice President Dimitri B. Papadimitriou