A letter from an alumnus about President Tilghman's inaugural address

December 11. 2001

President Tilghman's inaugural address on September 28, 2001, has come to my attention, and I must say that a portion of her remarks strikes me as being somewhere between disappointing and appalling.

I refer to her description of the probable reaction of the American citizenry to the attacks of September 11. She says there will be "deep disagreement" among us with respect to how best to respond to the assault upon our society and "how best to hold accountable those responsible."

Since President Bush, with the clear and unequivocal support of the Congress, had declared that we would seek out and bring to justice the "evil-doers" with a massive military campaign, I submit that statements indicating less-than-entire support are an affront to our government, to those most directly and tragically affected by the attacks and to our society as a whole.

To react in any less-forceful way to the events of September 11 would be craven and unthinkable. To suggest there should be disagreement about this response is incomprehensible.

Tom Horn ’45
Charleston, W.Va.

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