Rushdie Visit Clashes with Muslim Holiday

by Max Heintz

The night of Monday, October 27th found the University Center Ballroom packed from wall to wall with Adelphi students, faculty, administrators, and local residents. Hardly a seat in the room was left vacant for this sold out event. Featuring the "crown jewels" of Adelphi's first semester lecture series: an evening with renowned author Salman Rushdie, the author of such works as Midnight's Children and The Satanic Verses. However, some members of the Adelphi community were deeply upset by the timing of Rushdie's visit and even more so by the perception that their grievances had gone unheard.

Members of Adelphi's Muslim community were upset by the fact that his appearance coincided with the first day of Ramadan, the Islamic holy month. They were offended because what Rushdie has written, particularly in his book The Satanic Verses, has been interpreted by some Muslims as an insult to Islam.

Celena Ibrahim, head of the Muslim Student's Association, clarified this interpretation of Rushdie's words and ideas in an interview saying that he had completely rejected the Prophet (Mohammed, the central figure of Islam) by calling him a fraud while Rushdie, himself, is a Muslim. Ibrahim and her organization did not wish to ban Rushdie from speaking. Rather they simply wanted a chance to refute whatever he might say, a chance she says they won't have due to religious priorities.

Ibrahim stressed that her main concern was not with what Rushdie would or wouldn't say but with the lack of communication between the International Initiatives Committee and her organization concerning the matter. "(I received) no direct answers. You could see that there was a total lack of communication since they (The International Initiatives Committee) were giving me the run around." She went on to state that she did eventually speak to Alain Lanz, head of the International Initiatives Committee and responsible for booking Rushdie and other speakers. To her surprise, "[Lanz] had no idea that [Rushdie's visit] clashed with the holy month [Ramadan]." She took this as a sign that no one in authority considered what the Muslim community's reaction wuld be. She also claimed that the first time she became aware of the date of Rushdie's visit was not from Adelphi sources but through a phone call from a friend, the head of the Muslim Student Association at Colombia University, two weeks before the lecture.

However, the University tells a different story. A number of university officials acknowledge that an oversight was made in booking Salman Rushdie for October 27th. They maintain that the knowledge of Rushdie's visit was most certainly no secret.

According to Lori DugganGold, head of Public Affairs, the events calendar, which contains the names and dates of all speakers at Adelphi, has been posted around campus, on the University's website, and mailed to students and other interested parties. Gold added that as of October 24th, no complaints regarding Rushdie's visit on the 27th had been registered with the Office of Public Affairs.

Assistant Dean of Student Affairs Della Hudson Tomlin, adviser to the MSA, stated that the organization had expressed their grievances to her office. In response, Tomlin apologized to the members of the organization and promised to bring their complaints before the International Initiatives Committee. "I was personally apologetic for not seeing the oversight myself....It is not our mission to offend anyone," she stated.

In an interview on October 27th Alain Lanz personally admitted that an oversight had been made. "I found out about the date two weeks ago," Lanz stated. He stressed that an oversight of this nature would not happen again and adamantly characterized the incident as an "accident". He also detailed the safeguards that were being instituted to ensure the prevention of such mistakes in the future. These measures will include consulting with campus religious officials to create a calendar of religious dates so that the planning of an event on those days will be avoided. "A little bit mroe digging on the dates" is what is needed, Lanz said.

At the saem time, Lanz stressed the valuse of having an "A-list speaker" at Adelphi and the great benefit afforded the students as a result. "We had other universities call us for tickets to Rushdie and [Steven] Pinker...we should take note of the speakers and their benefits for the students," Lanz stated enthusiastically. As for the controversy, "controversy is part of learning...we try to have events that all students will come to and be interested in."