Statement from Kean University

Date: 12/15/2007
Dear Editor/Columnist

On behalf of Kean University and the organizers of the seminar at Kean University, we are writing this letter to inform you that we have seen several errors in the reports that are being written about the recent seminar at Kean University on December 9, 2007 titled “Bangladesh 1971: Intolerance Violence and Genocide”
As Kean University staff/administrator/faculty we urge you to write a correction report and I urge you NOT to misrepresent facts and truth. All of reports affect the reputation of the faculty and staff of the university and also the university itself. We are a reputed and accredited university in New Jersey. We are also the third largest university in New Jersey. We cannot afford loosing our reputation and cannot afford anybody to misrepresent ourselves. We urge you to contact the university and its administrators before you write any facts about any university event and about its faculty and staff.

We are posting some errors below and we are posting the correction as well.
Report: Prothom-Alo, Dated: 12/14/2007 By: Hasan Ferdous

1. The reporter Ferdous mentioned here that Dr. Nuran Nabi approached the university administration about the seminar on behalf of the expatriate Bangladeshis. This is a misrepresentation of the true fact.

Dr. Nabi did not approach the university authority. Dr. Nabi was invited to come and see Dr. Weinstein by the main organizers of the seminar after the concept of seminar was drawn. However, he helped with his heart to organize and gather the speakers/family members of the victim and Bangladeshi audience.

As university employee and as organizers of the seminar, we hope every Bengali in the United States community and in Bangladesh understand that, a university authority does NOT talk to an unknown outside person until a staff or a faculty member refers that person and brings in him/her to the university. An outsider to the university community CAN NOT just walk in and talk to a program coordinator or the Dean or the President and propose that an event like this should be done for the bigger community that is out there. Everybody should understand that there is a protocol and there is a chain of command process for every institution.

The reporter has put the university, its staff/faculty members and their combined effort down by writing such an unwarranted statement.

2. The reporter mentioned that the university is going to write a course description within a year, hire faculty member and start offering course.

This is also misrepresentation; there has not been any official declaration yet from the university about the time frame of developing a course on Bangladesh Genocide. As a university administrator We are speaking on behalf of the university. The university authority is overwhelmed by knowing the magnitude of the genocide and by looking into resources available. It will look into the possibility of writing a course after collecting enough resources that can support the course curriculum. The university administration is looking into developing research network with other universities and researchers about this genocide so that there is a strong background work before the curriculum is developed. All these actions are yet to be taken by the university administration. Please verify with us before making any statement about course work and please wait until there is an official declaration from the university authority.

I hope the correction to the report will be printed without any distortion.
Thank you,

Arifur Rahman/Dr. Bernard Weinstein

Assistant Director/Coordinator, MAHGS Program
Founder of Bangladesh Genocide Study Group at Kean University
Kean University, New Jersey