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Ethics in Transition
People with Disabilities Speak out in protest of Peter Singer Speaking to Students at Dickinson College
February 11, 2004
Dickinson College is a well-respected education institution. Located in Carlisle, PA, it was the first chartered in these new United States. On its website, Dickinson claims to be proud of its heritage and true to the vision of its founders.
Established at a time when America had fought for its liberties, Dickinson founder Benjamin Rush, a prominent Philadelphia physician, understood Americans needed to maintain a nation worthy of those liberties. Rush believed that America would only be able to live up to that goal by educating the citizenry.
Some things do change with time.
Several speakers are scheduled to present during a three-day Dickinson College event whose sponsors say explores globalization. The free public event runs from Feb. 15 through 17.
Peter Singer, who is known for publicly asserting that persons with disabilities should be killed and that animals are more valuable to society than a person with a disability is scheduled to talk at 7:30 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 16. Singer has been credited with launching the modern animal rights movement and is touted as an expert on applied ethics. He plans to discuss human rights as part of his talk during Dickinson College's 41st Annual Public Affairs Symposium (PAS), "Clash of Civilizations: Culture, War, and Globalization."
The question raised by Singer's stated position regarding folks with disabilities is this: When he discusses human rights, which humans have rights according to Peter Singer?
According to Professor David Commins, Executive Director of The Clarke Center, Dickinson College (717-245-1846) "Peter Singer will be speaking as part of this year's Public Affairs Symposium, an event that Dickinson College students have planned and organized for forty years. This event belongs to the students, and the college does not dictate the program or guests to them."
Pamela K. Auer, Community Organizer at the Center for Independent Living of Central PA has spoken out about Singer’s talk at the prestigious Dickinson College. "The disability community would like the opportunity to address the students to relay our perspective on his controversial views."
Auer has requested that Commins present this to the students who have made the decision to invite Singer to speak. "Regardless of what issues Peter Singer is speaking on to your students he is a famous ethicist who is very public in his views that many of us should have been euthanized, either upon our birth or upon our acquiring a severe disability. Therefore we think Dickinson has a responsibility to our community and to the wider community to engage us as well as Singer."
Dickinson’s founder, Benjamin Rush had marched alongside the American army during the Revolution and signed the Declaration of Independence. Was the freedom Rush fought for only for citizens who had not yet experienced disability?
According to the Declaration of Independence, People with disabilities are equal to those not-yet-disabled. The beginning of the second paragraph states, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." Nowhere in this document are people with disabilities excluded.
The question raised by Dickinson students inviting Singer to speak is this: Is it ethical to ask a man who disregards the rights of humans to speak at a college that was founded by a man who fought for and believed in equality and human rights?
Do the students realize that they are most likely to become victims of disabling conditions/accidents which would make them candidates for euthanization according to the man they have invited to tell them about ethics and human rights?
According to National Safety Council statistics, millions of Americans suffer temporary or permanent disabling injuries each year. Statistically, young adults are most vulnerable.
According to the TBI Model Systems national database, 24% of all TBI occurrences happen between the ages of 15 and 24. Within that 24%, 19% are listed as full or part-time students. As you can see college students are disproportionately affected by Traumatic Brain Injury.
People with disabilities hold true to Dickinson’s revolutionary roots: We are unafraid to take risks, to speak out on important issues, to remain decisive and committed to freedom, liberty and justice for ALL, not just people without disabilities.
Ms. Auer has vowed, "we will be there the night of Singer's presentation to hold a peaceful witness to the reality that we love our lives-sadly a perspective not widely known."
This event is open to the public. In response to Ms. Auer's letters, the event has been moved to the Social Hall of the Holland Union Building because Professor Commins learned from events organizers that it is much more suitable for wheelchair access.
If you live nearby, plan to be in the area or would like to show your support, please contact:
Pamela K. Auer,
Community Organizer
Center for Independent Living of Central PA
207 House Avenue
Suite 107
Camp Hill, PA 17011-2308
(717) 731-1900
1-800-323-6060
(717) 737-1335 (TTY)
1-800-829-7404 (TTY)
Interested in contacting Dickinson College?
Post Office Box 1773
Carlisle, PA 17013
Phone: 717-243-5121