9 Comments
Apr 27, 2022Liked by Amna Khalid

Banished is an invaluable source of open-minded thinking. You are doing a great job. Thank you.

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Apr 27, 2022Liked by Amna Khalid

Thanks for this very valuable interview, and thanks to Ed Santurri for his willingness to defend the principle of free inquiry and open debate.

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Apr 27, 2022Liked by Booksmart Studios

Incredibly rich perspectives, as usual. Thank you.

My daughter's generation, in my opinion, has a deep relationship to identity that is complex in ways I find hard to understand completely. This quest for identity feels tied directly to the cancel culture phenomenon, so I am grateful for this platform that reminds us of the value and purpose of uncensured conversation.

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"Now is not the time"! A phrase coined in the last century to excuse stalling on Integration, is that their intellectual heritage? Thoughts of an old Sothern white guy.

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Thank you for this interview, Amna. It is an example (like many of the conversations that Ed has facilitated) of an informed, respectful discussion of a complex topic that has no one right answer.

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Dr. Santurri was fired for doing his job–poorly–exceedingly poorly. If I had failed at my job in such spectacular fashion I would have been fired after the first offense not the fifth. On five occasions by his own accounting, he made St. Olaf College a hostile environment for the most vulnerable and assaulted members of our community and in so doing he damaged the reputation of the college. You should have had him read the mission of the college and explain how he was building an “inclusive community.” People of color on campus--students, faculty and staff--have singled out the IFC as making them feel less welcome on campus. Under Dr. Santurri’s leadership, the IFC has come to be known as the “racist club on campus.” This is lost on Dr. Santurri. He dismisses it as unimportant or inconsequential. What is clear from the interview is that Dr. Santurri has not learned anything from his several serious failures and that he is not going to. We could have expected the same had he been allowed to finish out his term as IFC director. Campus leadership was patient with him to a fault. I applaud them for acting, if not for doing it sooner.

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