2003 Issam M. Fares Lecture
Remarks, President Lawrence S. Bacow
February 26, 2003

Trustees, overseers, friends, faculty, staff and students… welcome to the 2003 Issam M. Fares lecture. Thank you all for attending what I know will be a memorable and timely speech today by our distinguished guest, the forty-first President of the United States, George Bush.

This is a special day for Tufts…

We are grateful to His Excellency, Issam Fares, and the entire Fares family for their generous support of this lecture series. We are grateful to the faculty of the Issam Fares Lecture Committee and to all who have worked so hard to make this event possible. Through the generosity of the Fares Foundation and the efforts of the committee, Tufts continues to take the lead among academic institutions, bringing prominent figures to campus to discuss issues of the Middle East.

Through the Fares lecture series, Tufts has welcomed to our campus former President George Bush – and we are delighted to welcome him again – France’s former president Valery Giscard d’Estaing, and Secretary of State James Baker. We have heard from Lady Margaret Thatcher, the Honorable George Mitchell, General Colin Powell and former President Bill Clinton.

In addition to the lecture series that brings us together today, over the past ten years the Fares Center has also sponsored numerous conferences, lectures, and seminars on a wide range of topics related to the Middle East. These events have brought to our campus fellow scholars from Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, Morocco, Turkey, Greece, France, Great Britain, Germany, Jordan, Egypt, Australia, and even the United States.

At a time when it has been difficult on many college campuses to have thoughtful, informed debate on topics related to the Middle East, the Fares Center has created a tolerant and safe place where students and faculty may gather with visiting scholars to learn from each other; a place where opinions are often expressed sharply but always with respect. To the Fares Foundation and the Fares family, we thank you for helping to make this possible.

Before our speaker takes the podium, we have the pleasure of hearing from two individuals who have been instrumental in making this event possible.

I am pleased to introduce the chair of the Issam M. Fares lecture committee, Professor Leila Fawaz. Professor Fawaz holds the Issam M. Fares Chair in Lebanese and Eastern Mediterranean Studies at Tufts University. She holds faculty appointments in both the School of Arts and Sciences and the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. She has also served previously as Dean of Humanities and the Arts at Tufts.

Professor Fawaz is an internationally recognized scholar of the Middle East. She is the author of two books, editor of a series on the Middle East at Columbia University Press, and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Professor Fawaz is a delegate to the American Council of Learned Societies and a member of the steering committee of the European Science Foundation’s project on the Muslim Mediterranean World. She is a past president of the Middle East studies association, the largest international organization dedicated to the study of the Middle East.

Leila is a gifted teacher, mentor and colleague. Especially in the period since September 11th, 2001, she has worked tirelessly with Arab, Muslim, Israeli, and Jewish students to encourage ongoing dialogue and understanding as the Director of the Fares Center. Ladies and gentlemen, please join me in welcoming Professor Leila Fawaz.

[ Read Leila Fawaz's remarks ]

His Excellency Issam Fares was appointed Deputy Prime Minister of Lebanon in the year 2000. He previously served with distinction as an elected member of the Lebanese Parliament, and is recognized world-wide as a successful international business leader who is deeply committed to the advancement of Middle Eastern studies in the United States.

Mr. Fares has received numerous lifelong honors, including the Gold Medal of Acropolis from UNESCO, being named Knight of St. Peter and St. Paul by the Lebanese government, and an honorary doctorate from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation. He was awarded the honorary degree, Doctor of International Public Affairs, from Tufts University in 2000.

An emeritus trustee of Tufts, Mr. Fares is a wonderful supporter of the University. He is also the parent of a Tufts graduate and a current Tufts student. His son, Fares Fares, Tufts Class of 1993 and a member of university’s Board of Trustees, provides able leadership for this lecture series, and although he could not be with us today, I would like to thank him for his many contributions to the series’ success.

Indeed the entire Fares family has ensured that Tufts’ scholarship in Middle Eastern affairs will continue to hold a prominent position among leading American universities. One year ago, we celebrated the establishment of the Issam M. Fares Chair in Lebanese and Eastern Mediterranean Studies (which is held by Professor Fawaz). Last March we dedicated the Fares Center for Eastern Mediterranean Studies. From the Fares Tower at Tisch Library, to the Fares Center at the Fletcher School, to the Fares Equine Research Center at our Veterinary School, the Fares family’s impact is felt throughout our university, and indeed throughout the world.

I cannot thank you enough, Your Excellency, for your investments in Tufts which have strengthened this university immeasurably. Ladies and gentlemen, please join me in welcoming and thanking His Excellency, the Deputy Prime Minister of Lebanon, Issam Fares.

[ Read Issam M. Fares' remarks ]

Your Excellency, Mr. Fares…Professor Fawaz … Trustees of Tufts University… overseers… students, faculty and staff… alumni… neighbors and other honored guests…

It is my distinct pleasure to introduce our distinguished speaker for the 2003 Issam M. Fares Lecture.

At Tufts, we take pride in educating students to be active, engaged and effective citizens in the world they will inhabit. Thus it is a great honor to welcome George Bush, our forty-first president, who is an exemplar of active citizenship through public service. Indeed, the entire Bush family has a long and distinguished record of public service. President Bush’s father, Prescott Bush, served as a U.S. Senator from Connecticut. As a very young man, President Bush served with distinction in World War II as a much decorated pilot. He served in the House of Representatives as a Congressman from Texas, then as the US Ambassador to the United Nations and Chief of the US Liaison Office in China. He served as director of the Central Intelligence Agency, as Vice President and then as the forty-first President of the United States.

Two of President Bush’s sons have served as Governors: Jeb is the current Governor of Florida, and of course, George W. Bush, currently President of the United States, previously served as Governor of Texas. President Bush, the service and leadership demonstrated by your family have shaped our nation and the world, and we are grateful for this opportunity to recognize and acknowledge these many contributions.

President Bush, your return to Tufts is particularly timely. Our nation is poised to engage in military action in the Middle East. Our government’s position on Iraq has prompted considerable discussion, debate and tension on this campus, in this country, and throughout the world. Like any great university, we do not speak with one voice. In this audience you will find both supporters and critics of US policy.

Indeed at Tufts we embrace diversity in every possible dimension including diversity of thought. Given our natural divisions and given your close association with our current President, I am sure you are not surprised that quite a few members of this community have questioned my decision to extend to you the invitation to be our 2003 Fares lecturer.

On your way into campus, you saw and heard those who have chosen to express their views. These members of our community are exercising one of the fundamental freedoms that make this country great – the right to freedom of speech.

This First Amendment right extends to all – but especially to you, our invited guest. While we may express ourselves sharply from time to time, at Tufts we typically do so with civility and respect. I ask every member of the audience to join me in extending this courtesy to you.

President Bush, we look forward to hearing your thoughts on the current situation in the Middle East. You are uniquely positioned to help us understand and appreciate the risks we face as a nation from action and inaction in Iraq. We appreciate this opportunity to listen to you, to engage you, and to learn from you.

Ladies and gentlemen, please join me in welcoming our 2003 Fares lecturer, the forty-first President of the United States, George Bush.

[ Read Former President George H.W. Bush's remarks ]
[Q & A with Former President Bush]