Letter to Rice Board of Trustees re Leebron Message re Travel Ban Executive Order

KIRWIN DROUET

1314 KENT OAK DRIVE

HOUSTON, TX 77077

February 2, 2017

Rice University Board of Trustees
Attention: Bobby Tudor, Chair
P.O. Box 1892
Houston, TX 77251-1892

Re: Message to the Rice community from President Leebron on January 30th re Presidential Executive Order on Travel Ban

Dear Trustees:

As a proud alumni, stake holder and supporter (financially, emotionally and otherwise) of Rice University, it pained me to see President Leebron’s recent message about President Trump’s executive order on travel for certain countries that was issued last Friday (http://news.rice.edu/2017/01/30/message-to-the-rice-community-from-president-leebron/?utm_source=Facebook&utm_campaign=Facebook+Links&utm_medium=Leebron). While I support President Leebron issuing assurances to those students affected by this executive order that Rice will assist them if needed, the language he used in a portion of his message was insulting to those Rice alumni, students and other interested parties that support the measures taken by our President on Friday. Specifically, President Leebron stated “Every country is entitled to defend its borders, to define an immigration policy, to keep its residents safe and to protect itself from terrorism. It is understandable that we will disagree about what measures are appropriate in pursuit of these goals. But we should be clear that there is no reasonable basis (emphasis added) in pursuit of those goals to support the measures taken Friday. These measures were implemented with a callous indifference (emphasis added) to their immediate impact on individuals and their families.” Excuse me? Where does it say in his job description that he alone gets to determine what is reasonable or not? And callous indifference? Perhaps President Leebron needs to appreciate that the executive order was precisely to protect those Rice students that he is charged with protecting. I’d like to see what President Leebron would say to the parents of any Rice students that were, God forbid, harmed or killed by any terrorists that came from those countries subject to the executive order.

Too bad President Leebron was disingenuous when he said later in the same message “As a university, we do not engage in partisan political activity.” Really? His statement sounded more like a SAG acceptance speech than a letter to all the stake holders of Rice University. Taking such political positions when communicating with the entire Rice community is not what I expect from the President of my alma mater. Support for our students is one thing; showing your prejudices whether liberal or conservative is another. Here is an example of how Texas A&M University’s President Michael K. Young addressed the same situation: http://president.tamu.edu/messages/response-to-white-house-executive-order-travel-ban.html A message from the Harvard University President was similar—no interjection of personal prejudices as to the political correctness of the executive order.

In conclusion, I expect an apology from President Leebron to the entire Rice community for making such obvious political statements in his message on this executive order. If none is forthcoming, I would ask that the Rice Board of Trustees consider removing him from office since he clearly cannot separate his political prejudices from his messages to the Rice community at large. I may not be the biggest donor at Rice but I am a Rice Associate (based on my contributions to the school) and have consistently made financial contributions to Rice since graduating in 1972 (annual fund, Owl Club, RBI Club, Extra Point Club). I was also on the Jones Graduate Business School Partners board, a member of the Class of 1971 Giving Committee, a member of The Parliament Hall of Fame, and have been a regular attendee at many Rice events every year. Any future financial contributions from me to Rice will depend on your response.

Sincerely,


Kirwin Drouet
BA Economics 1971
BS Accounting 1972
Masters in Accounting 1976


Rice Board of Trustees—

Mr. Robert B. Tudor, III, Chair '82
Mr. Edward B. "Teddy" Adams, Jr. '91
Mr. J.D. Bucky Allshouse '71
Mr. Doyle L. Arnold '70
Ms. Nancy Carlson '80
Mr. Albert Y. Chao
Mr. T. Jay Collins '69
Mr. Mark D. Dankberg '77
Mrs. Ann Doerr '75
Mr. Douglas Lee Foshee '92
Mr. Lawrence H. "Larry" Guffey '90
Mr. James T. Hackett
Ms. Patti Lipoma Kraft '87
Mr. Robert T. Ladd '78
Mr. L. Charles "Charley" Landgraf '75
Mr. David W. Leebron
Mr. David Rhodes '96
Dr. Ruth J. Simmons
Mr. Jeffrey A. Smisek
Ms. Gloria Meckel Tarpley '81
Mr. Guillermo "Memo" Treviño '83
Ms. Randa Duncan Williams '85
Mr. Scott Wise '71
Dr. Huda Y. Zoghbi