University President DeGioia, Law School Dean Treanor and others defend Sandra Fluke

President of Georgetown University, John DeGioia, released a statement today on the recent ad hominem attacks made on Georgetown Law 3L Sandra Fluke. Describing the attacks as “misogynistic” and “vitriolic,” DeGioia commends Fluke for providing “a model of civil discourse.”

Law Center Dean William Treanor, in a statement joined by “faculty members and senior administrators of Georgetown University Law Center and other law schools,” strongly condemned “the recent personal attacks on” Fluke.

Both statements are included below in full.

Letter of Georgetown University President, John DeGioia

Dear Members of the Georgetown Community: 
  
There is a legitimate question of public policy before our nation today.  In the effort to address the problem of the nearly fifty million Americans who lack health insurance, our lawmakers enacted legislation that seeks to increase access to health care. In recent weeks, a question regarding the breadth of services that will be covered has focused significant public attention on the issue of contraceptive coverage.  Many, including the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, have offered important perspectives on this issue. 
  
In recent days, a law student of Georgetown, Sandra Fluke, offered her testimony regarding the proposed regulations by the Department of Health and Human Services before a group of members of Congress.  She was respectful, sincere, and spoke with conviction.  She provided a model of civil discourse.  This expression of conscience was in the tradition of the deepest values we share as a people.  One need not agree with her substantive position to support her right to respectful free expression.  And yet, some of those who disagreed with her position – including Rush Limbaugh and commentators throughout the blogosphere and in various other media channels – responded with behavior that can only be described as misogynistic, vitriolic, and a misrepresentation of the position of our student.  
  
In our vibrant and diverse society, there always are important differences that need to be debated, with strong and legitimate beliefs held on all sides of challenging issues.  The greatest contribution of the American project is the recognition that together, we can rely on civil discourse to engage the tensions that characterize these difficult issues, and work towards resolutions that balance deeply held and different perspectives.  We have learned through painful experience that we must respect one another and we acknowledge that the best way to confront our differences is through constructive public debate. At times, the exercise of one person’s freedom may conflict with another’s.  As Americans, we accept that the only answer to our differences is further engagement.  
  
In an earlier time, St. Augustine captured the sense of what is required in civil discourse: “Let us, on both sides, lay aside all arrogance.  Let us not, on either side, claim that we have already discovered the truth.  Let us seek it together as something which is known to neither of us.  For then only may we seek it, lovingly and tranquilly, if there be no bold presumption that it is already discovered and possessed.” 
  
If we, instead, allow coarseness, anger – even hatred – to stand for civil discourse in America, we violate the sacred trust that has been handed down through the generations beginning with our Founders.  The values that hold us together as a people require nothing less than eternal vigilance.  This is our moment to stand for the values of civility in our engagement with one another. 
  

Sincerely, 
  
John J. DeGioia 
President 
Georgetown University

Statement of Georgetown Law Dean William Treanor (list of signatories included below)

The undersigned faculty members and senior administrators of Georgetown University Law Center and other law schools strongly condemn the recent personal attacks on our student, Sandra Fluke. Ms. Fluke has had the courage to publicly defend and advocate for her beliefs about an important issue of widespread concern. She has done so with passion and intelligence. And she has been rewarded with the basest sort of name-calling and vilification, words that aim only to belittle and intimidate. As scholars and teachers who aim to train public-spirited lawyers, no matter what their politics, to engage intelligently and meaningfully with the world, we abhor these attacks on Ms. Fluke and applaud her strength and grace in the face of them.

William M. Treanor, Dean

Update on Friday, March 2, 2012 by Justin Waddell

Georgetown Law’s student government, the Student Bar Association, has also released a statement supporting both Fluke and the University’s strong stance on the issue. The statement is individually signed by SBA members.

Statement Concerning Personal Attacks Against Sandra Fluke and Georgetown University’s Response