March 13, 2003
Dear Editor:

The president, provost and deans of Emory University wish to express their support for the organizers of the “Classroom on the Quad,” a nonpartisan forum for faculty, staff and students to be held on the Emory Quadrangle in the event of hostilities with Iraq. This forum is intended to be an opportunity for the civil expression of diverse political opinion.

The University leadership endorses the concept of civil expression in a democracy and its necessity in the case of exceptional events that concern the welfare of the United States.

Classes, laboratories and lectures will not be officially suspended during the Classroom on the Quad. But we believe that faculty and students who wish to attend the Classroom should be allowed to participate in a discussion of the Iraq situation without academic or employment penalty.

—Council of Deans