Word: diplomat
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LAST WEDNESDAY, South African consul general for New York City Abe S. Hoppenstein attended an uneventful forum at the Kennedy School of Government. He came, he spoke, no one complained. The next day, this mid-level diplomat came to Lowell House to meet behind closed doors with members of the Conservative Club...
...Room, crowds outside grew larger and more hostile. When Harvard police refused to allow any people into the JCR, the group crammed into the small foyer separating the JCR from the Lowell House dining room. Harvard police, with Hoppenstein in low, finally burst through the crowd to take the diplomat to a waiting...
When 12 students blocked Hoppenstein's getaway car, Harvard police rushed the diplomat back into the JCR. The disorganized throng outside then voted to barricade Hoppenstein in the room until midnight, causing Harvard police to enter panic mode and stage a military-style break through the protesters and assorted students heading to and from lunch...
Certainly, student threats to shut the bewildered diplomat in Lowell House till midnight were excessive and unnecessary, but no more so than the Conservative Club's initial invitation to Hoppenstein to come to a wine-and-cheese reception. In the midst of heightened tensions over Harvard's $580 million in South Africa-related investments, the Conservative Club's move amounted to little more than bald and cynical provocation...
...aspect my rights to invite and host outside guests. The case of the Consul General is no different simply because he represents a regime which nearly all of us find morally reprehensible. While we may not support his position, he deserves to be heard. His status as a foreign diplomat and an invited guest should have been respected...