House Ponders Hanson Debate

In the latest round of campus discourse on the issue of divestment, Winthrop House residents discussed over their House e-mail list how to respond to Frankfurter Professor of Law Alan M. Dershowitz’s call for a debate with Master Paul D. Hanson.

Dershowitz challenged Hanson, who signed a petition last spring advocating that the University protest Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians by divesting, to debate divestment in an Op-Ed in the Crimson yesterday.

Dershowitz wrote that “a House master who peremptorily signs a petition and then hides behind other priorities does not serve the interests of dialogue and education.”

Dershowitz said that if Hanson did not agree to debate him, he hoped students would invite him to make his case unopposed.

Hanson has not responded publicly to Dershowitz and was unavailable for comment yesterday.

But on the “Throptalk” list yesterday, there was no shortage of opinions. Some students denounced Dershowitz’s challenge as an intrusion into their House and called for a public show of support for their master.

Others welcomed the idea of the debate, while others yet cautioned that the House should show patience and carefully discuss the issue—off the list.

Aaron M. Koller ’03 said he planned to offer Dershowitz an invitation today. “I don’t see any reason not to,” Koller said in an interview last night. “This is a recognized public figure who wants to come to speak, and we should welcome him.”

Benjamin P. Solomon-Schwartz ’03, president of Hillel and a resident of Winthrop House, said that while he disagreed with those denouncing Dershowitz, he didn’t think a debate in the House, with or without Hanson, was a good idea.

“I think the debate over Throptalk today made it clear that the House is in need of some forum,” said Solomon-Schwartz, who is also a Crimson editor. “I just don’t think that forum should be to invite Dershowitz to the House.”

Rick DuPuy ’03, who initiated the e-mail thread, said his main concern was maintaining “a friendly and happy” atmosphere in the House. “I think the potential contribution of the debate suggested in Dershowitz’s piece is really quite trivial compared to the potential it has to disrupt.”

DuPuy was among a number of students who posted to the list that the House should try to come up with a unified response to Dershowitz, but as of last night no such response was planned.

House Committee co-chair Jordan Webb ’03 said the Committee would likely discuss the issue in the near future, but that no plans had been made yet.

—David H. Gellis