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The Trinity College Community
FR: President Patricia McGuire
RE: April 15 Community Forum and Statements
Click Here to Read Statements
From the Trinity Community.
March 18, 2003
Founders' Day is traditionally a moment for the Trinity College
community to recall the courage and vision of the religious
women who surmounted considerable odds to establish Trinity
College in 1897 in the belief that educated women could and
should make a profound difference in society.
This year, with issues of war and terrorism dominating global
discussions, we believe that it is appropriate to devote a portion
of our time on Founders' Day to reflect together on the current
global crisis. Consistent with Trinity's mission as a Catholic
women's college, we want to provide a theoretical and moral
context within which we can come together as a community to
formulate and express reasoned opinions on the war against Iraq,
the United Nations, and the future relationships of the United
States in the international community.
Accordingly, we invite all members of the Trinity College campus
community to participate in a Founders' Day Forum on the War
Against Iraq at 2 pm on Tuesday, April 15, in Social Hall. To
ensure that this activity has a sound framework to guide the
discussion, we ask that participants prepare for the discussion
by doing a little research and then writing a one-page statement
expressing your opinion on one of these questions:
- Does the War Against Iraq satisfy the conditions for the
religious doctrine of a Just War? (See below
for a synopsis of the Just War doctrine.)
- What role do you see for the United Nations in the future
and why?
- How would you advise President Bush to rebuild international
relationships with the U.S.?
For those who wish to share their statements publicly, we will
post them on our website. Please submit your statements in Word
document format to webmaster@trinitydc.edu
(Statements must include your name, class year or school if
you are a student, or title if you are a member of the faculty
or staff, email address and daytime phone number. The webmaster
reserves the right to edit for length and grammar.) We will
publish the best statements in an upcoming issue of the Trinity
magazine. Please submit your statements by the close
of business on Friday, April 11.
Just War Doctrine Synopsis:
In the Catholic faith tradition, the "Just War" doctrine
is summarized as follows:
"The strict conditions for legitimate defense by military
force require rigorous consideration. The gravity of such a
decision makes it subject to rigorous conditions of moral legitimacy.
At one and the same time:
- the damage inflicted by the aggressor on the nation or community
of nations must be lasting, grave, and certain;
- all other means of putting an end to it must have been shown
to be impractical or ineffective;
- there must be serious prospects of success;
- the use of arms must not produce evils and disorders graver
than the evil to be eliminated. The power of modem means of
destruction weighs very heavily in evaluating this condition.
These are the traditional elements enumerated in what is called
the "just war" doctrine."
SUPPORT OUR TRINITY TROOPS!
Also on Founders' Day, we will have a day-long message-writing
activity in the Well to give you an opportunity to write a message
of support and encouragement to Trinity students and family
members who have been called to active military service. We
will bundle all messages and send them to our students and family
members who are now serving our nation in the military. If you
have a family member who has been called to service, please
register his or her name in the book in the Well and we will
add them to our list for message packets.
Please let me know if you have additional ideas for how the
Trinity community can respond to this challenging tie. Thank
you for your active consideration and participation.
President Patricia
McGuire
Trinity College
202-884-9050
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