A University of Pennsylvania alumnus is not backing down after his anti-Trump efforts at the school’s 50th class reunion activities were met with online criticism.
For last month’s 50th reunion weekend, the class of 1967’s Michael Sales had created “Denounce Trump” buttons in order to question Penn’s “disservice to itself and to its students and its subsequent reputation” by not standing up to the president’s “unproven claims” about his time at the school.
To be sure, Sales is a big critic of the chief exec in general, referring to him as “anti-intellectual” and having signed a petition which called Trump’s positions “intolerant.”
“How do you not discuss the tangerine-headed elephant in the room?” he had said.
Sales claims commentators online “mostly deplored” what he had done, and referred to his button wearers as “snowflakes” and “adult children.” He takes on these critics in a recent Daily Pennsylvanian op-ed:
As a 50-year student of administrative science, I felt that Penn needed a “system power move.” (Definition: a high leverage, small action that makes a difference; exemplar: Pussy Riot.) I wanted to reiterate the demand made by many others that the University to take a stand on Trump. The need to do this is as clear as the glasses on Ben Franklin’s nose.
Why denounce Trump? He uses his association with the University of Pennsylvania to buttress his claim of legitimacy. By not standing up to its most notorious graduate, the University seems to lack the courage necessary to confront an egregious bully and cad. The fabrications about his record at the University are an important element of his “alternative facts” universe. Officially depriving him of this fabrication would be a step toward undermining his falsehoods. For the sake of its soul and its competitive position, Penn should formally distance itself from this member of the class of ’68. …
Two classmates — Lawrence Walsh, an award-winning journalist, and Deborah Pellow, an anthropology professor — responded with wholehearted, action-oriented support. They were alarmed. As Lawrence noted, “Wharton attends to branding. This dreadful creature has done the business school serious, bodily harm.” A third classmate, Jane Friedman, is also a veteran journalist. Jane wasn’t sure about wearing a button, but she knew it was a story, and she directed the DP to it. The four of us became a project team.
Additionally, Sales points out that when he asked Penn President Amy Gutmann about the “profound embarrassment” that is Donald Trump, he received a round of applause. “Equally important,” he says, “nobody booed.”
Um, hel-LO!? It’s Penn.
But “most distressing” to Sales is that he appeared to be flying solo that weekend when it came to political activism.
“Today, the United States confronts a multidimensional crisis, as a result of the election of the most autocratic president in its history. But on campus, the very little open discourse on this topic took the form of a debate about a 2½ inch button. This is pathetic.”
He concludes by asking Penn — again — to “denounce this immoral alum.”
MORE: U. Pennsylvania 50th class reunion attendees to don ‘Denounce Trump’ buttons
MORE: Ivy League political science department hosts anti-Trump ‘resistance’ event
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