CAMPUS WATCH

A cartoon depicting future Harvard professor Cornel West '74, which ran in The Daily Princetonian last week, has sparked controversy on the New Jersey camps.

Student and faculty have called the cartoon--which appeared on the Princetonian editorial page on Wednesday, February 9--racist, stereo-typical and malicious.

The cartoon shows a white Harvard student, "Muffy '96", at her first meeting of a class taught by West. In the cartoon, Muffy is told that "Today's lecture is entitled 'Rhythm - Why None Of You Have it, And How You Can Get it. 'Office hours will be posted for those in need of tutoring..."

The cartoon calls west "newly purchased" and identifies his course as "Intro to Afro."

West is pictured partially hidden behind a lamp, and at the bottom of the cartoon, "Muffy" says to another white female, almost identical in appearance, "I'm so relieved."

The cartoon was drawn by Princeton junior Wentworth Miller. Because of problems with the page's layout, it appeared in the space usually reserved for official editorial positions of the newspaper.

West could not be reached for comment.

The day the cartoon ran, nearly 50 students and administrators met to discuss a response, according to a news article in the Princetonian.

Princeton students and faculty at the meeting were concerned about the message behind the cartoon and the Princetonian's decision to run the cartoon, according to the article.

Princeton senior Bridgette Dehart, who organized the meeting, criticized the stereotypes she saw in the cartoon. Dehart told the Princetonian she found the phrases "newly purchased" and "Intro to Afro." especially offensive.

Hue Rhodes, also a senior, said he felt the cartoon was malicious.

"I didn't see the point [of the cartoon]," Rhodes said. "it seemed to me [the artist] was just being malicious. All I felt was insulted."

The following day, February 10, the Princetonian ran a staff editorial that defended the decision to run the cartoon.

But the editorial added: "The cartoon should not have run in the space on this page that it did."

The Princetonian editorial page is "set aside for the opinions of the entire community - hawks and doves, patriots and traitors, liberals and conservatives," the editorial said.

The editorial also said that The Princetonian had not anticipated a negative response to the cartoon, and "our lack of foresight indicates that there is much headway that this newspaper needs to make in understanding the different perspectives this community holds."

On Wednesday of this week, the newspaper published a letter condemning the cartoon. The letter was signed by 45 people, including Nobel Prize winner Toni Morrison and Dean of the College Nancy Malkiel.

The letter criticized The Princetonian's decision to run the cartoon, and its "rationalization" after it had done so.

The letter pointed out that The Princetonian had turned down an advertisement for a Holocaust denial debate.

"Of course, anyone may have an opinion about everything; but this newspaper doesn't publish everybody's opinion about everything," the letter said. "It decides that some things don't need debating."

The letter also objected to the cartoon's perceived attack on African-American Studies.

"Are Princeton's other distinguished professors and programs equally fair game for such caricature?" the letter asked.