Questions for Thursday's "9/11 NOW" Panel Can be Submitted through Wednesday Night

CHESTERTOWN, MD—Do you have a question about American security in a post 9/11 world for four top counter-terrorism experts to address? If so, you can email it in advance of the special panel discussion taking place Thursday, Sept. 8, at Washington College. Marking the 10-year anniversary of the Al Qaeda attacks on the United States, the panel, titled “9/11 NOW,’’ will convene in Decker Theater, Gibson Center for the Arts, at 5 p.m

To submit questions or topics for the panel, email them by midnight, Wednesday, Sept. 7, to Matthew Icenroad, Assistant to the President, at micenroad2@washcoll.edu.

Sponsored by the College’s Richard L. Harwood Colloquy and the Goldstein Program in Public Affairs, the event is free and open to the public. No tickets or reservations are required. Those unable to get to campus can watch the event live from the College Website: www.washcoll.edu.

College President Mitchell B. Reiss, author of Negotiating with Evil: When to Talk to Terrorists (2010, Open Road), will moderate. (CNBC’s Chief Washington Correspondent John Harwood was originally announced as moderator but had to cancel because of a work conflict: he will be covering President Obama’s speech on job creation later that evening.)

The panelists will be CIA veteran Cofer Black, retired U.S. Navy Admiral Dennis Blair, George Mason University professor and author Audrey Cronin, and Harvard professor of international affairs Sarah Sewall. Each brings a unique perspective based on his or her experiences or research in the fields of warfare, intelligence and international security issues.

To read more about the panelists, click here for an earlier article on the event.

Panel of Top Counterterrorism Experts To Assess U.S. Security a Decade After the 9-11 Attacks

CHESTERTOWN, MD—Marking the 10-year anniversary of the Al-Qaeda attacks on the United States, a panel of top counterterrorism experts will convene at Washington College on Thursday, September 8, for an important dialogue on the current state of national security. The event, which is free and open to the public, will begin at 5 p.m. in Decker Theatre on the Chestertown campus and will be simulcast through the College website, www.washcoll.edu.

Members of the Washington College community and the general public are encouraged to submit questions and comments for the panelists in advance by email to Matthew Icenroad, Assistant to the President, at micenroad2@washcoll.edu. The deadline for submitting questions is midnight, Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Washington College president Mitchell B. Reiss, author of Negotiating with Evil: When to Talk to Terrorists (2010, Open Road) and a leading expert on American foreign policy, will serve as moderator. The panelists will be CIA veteran Cofer Black, retired U.S. Navy Admiral Dennis Blair, George Mason University professor Audrey Cronin, and Harvard professor of international affairs Sarah Sewall. Each brings a unique perspective based on his or her experiences or research in the fields of warfare, intelligence and international security issues.

In a career with the CIA that spanned nearly three decades, Cofer Black completed six operational tours abroad before serving as director of the agency’s Counterterrorist Center. From 2002 to 2005, he helped develop, coordinate and implement U.S. counterterrorism policies in the office of the Secretary of State.

2008 profile in Men’s Journal described Black as “the foremost expert on counterterrorism in the world today.” He is credited with tracking and helping to capture noted terrorist Carlos the Jackal in Khartoum, Sudan in 1994 and was later targeted for assassination by Osama Bin Laden.

After leaving the CIA, he joined the private business sector, first as Vice Chairman of the controversial private-security firm Blackwater Worldwide and then as Chairman of Total Intelligence Solutions. Since 2009 Black has been Vice President for Global Operations at Virginia-based Blackbird Technologies, which provides technology solutions for clients in the defense, intelligence, and law enforcement communities.

Admiral Dennis Blair, U.S. Navy (Ret.), served 34 years in the Navy, retiring in 2002 as Commander in Chief of the U.S. Pacific Command. He served as Director of National Intelligence from January 2009 to May 2010, leading 16 national intelligence agencies and administering a budget of $50 billion while providing integrated intelligence support to the President, Congress and operations in the field.

From 2003 to 2006, Blair was president and CEO of the Institute for Defense Analyses (IDA).From 2006 to 2008 he held the John M. Shalikashvili chair in national security studies studies at the National Bureau of Asian Research and the Omar M. Bradley Chair at the Army War College and Dickinson College.

He has been awarded four Defense Distinguished Service medals and three National Intelligence Distinguished Service medals. In addition, he has received decorations from the governments of Japan, Thailand, Korea, Australia, the Philippines and Taiwan. A graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, Blair earned a master’s degree in history and languages from Oxford University as a Rhodes scholar.

Audrey Cronin, the author of How Terrorism Ends: Understanding the Decline and Demise of Terrorist Campaigns (2009, Princeton University Press), recently joined the faculty of George Mason University’s School of Public Policy in Arlington, Va. Prior to that, she was director of the core course on military strategy at the U.S. National War College, where she revised the curriculum for senior military officers to include the study of Thucydides and an emphasis upon classics in the history and theory of war.

Cronin joined the War College in 2007 after a two-year stint at Oxford University (Nuffield College) as Director of Studies for the Oxford/Leverhulme Programme on the Changing Character of War. Earlier in her career, she taught in the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University, where she created a renowned graduate course on political violence and terrorism. She also has taught at the University of Virginia, the University of Maryland and Columbia University.

In addition to her 20-year career as a professor, Cronin, a graduate of Princeton University, holds extensive experience applying her research for government and military groups. She has served in various positions within the U.S. Navy and the Department of Defense. In the wake of the 9/11 attacks, she advised members of Congress as a Specialist in Terrorism at the Congressional Research Service. Her previous books include Ending Terrorism: Lessons for Defeating al-Qaeda (Routledge, 2008) and Attacking Terrorism: Elements of a Grand Strategy (Georgetown University Press, 2004).

Sarah Sewall, professor of international affairs at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, has worked at the intersection of national security and humanitarianism throughout her career in government, academia, and non-governmental organizations. Her research focuses on U.S. national security strategy, civil-military relations, and the ethics of fighting insurgencies and terrorism.

Sewall is the founder and faculty director of the Mass Atrocity Response Operations (MARO) program, which she created in 2007 while serving as director of the Kennedy School’s Carr Center for Human Rights Policy. MARO’s mission is to create a military concept of operations for intervening to halt mass atrocities. Sewall subsequently co-wrote Mass Atrocity Response Operations: A Military Planning Handbook. She is also the co-author of Parameters of Partnership: U.S. Civil-Military Relations in the 21st Century (2009, CreateSpace). She led a seminal study for the U.S. military on efforts to reduce civilian casualties in 2010, and in 2008 directed the Obama Transition’s National Security Agency Review process.

Sewall was the first U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Peacekeeping and Humanitarian Assistance during the Clinton Administration and previously served for six years (1987-1993) as Senior Foreign Policy Advisor to Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell. A graduate of Harvard College, she received her doctorate from Oxford University.

The “9/11 Now” panel is sponsored by the College’s Richard L. Harwood Colloquy and the Goldstein Program in Public Affairs. No tickets or reservations are required.

General Barry McCaffrey On The War On Terrorism, March 31 At Washington College

Chestertown, MD, March 1, 2004 — Washington College's William James Forum and Goldstein Program in Public Affairs present retired General Barry McCaffrey, former White House “Drug Czar” and a recognized authority on national security and terrorism, speaking on “The War on Terrorism,” Wednesday, March 31, at 7:30 p.m. in the College's Hynson Lounge. The event is free and the public is invited to attend.

General McCaffrey serves as the Bradley Distinguished Professor of International Security Studies at the United States Military Academy and is also President of his own consulting firm based in Alexandria, VA. He has been a frequent guest expert in the broadcast media on drug control policy, terrorism and national security, serves as an analyst for NBC News and writes a regularly on national security issues for Armed Forces Journal.

In January 2001, General McCaffrey stepped down as the Director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, a position which he held since 1996. By law, he coordinated the $19.2 billion federal drug control budget and developed the U.S. National Drug Control Strategy. Prior to confirmation as the National Drug Policy Director, General McCaffrey served as the Commander-in-Chief of the United States Armed Forces Southern Command coordinating national security operations in Latin America. During his military career, he served overseas for 13 years, including four combat tours, and commanded the 24th Infantry Division during Operation Desert Storm. At retirement from active duty, he was the most highly decorated four-star general in the United States Army. He twice received the Distinguished Service Cross the nation's second highest medal for valor. He was also awarded two Silver Stars and received three Purple Heart medals for wounds sustained in combat. General McCaffrey served as the assistant to General Colin Powell and as the Joint Chiefs of Staff advisor to the Secretary of State and the United States Ambassador to the United Nations.

The War Or Terror: Myths And Misconceptions, Lecture March 2 At Washington College

Chestertown, MD, February 24, 2004 — Washington College's C.V. Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience presents Townsend Hoopes, Senior Fellow at the Starr Center, in a presentation, “Misconceptions in the War on Terrorism,” Tuesday, March 2, at 4:30 p.m. in the Custom House Library. Hoopes will discuss the effect of September 11 on U.S. foreign policy and the global war on terrorism. The event is free and the public is invited to attend.

Townsend Hoopes was a staff aide to three Secretaries of Defense—James Forrestal, General George Marshall and Robert Lovett—and also served as principal deputy for International Security Affairs at the Pentagon and Under Secretary of the Air Force. He has been co-chairman of Americans for SALT and director of the American Committee on U.S.-Soviet Relations, and is the author of several prize-winning books on foreign policy.

The talk is sponsored by the C.V. Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience, an innovative forum for new scholarship about American history. Drawing on the special historical strengths of Washington College and Chestertown, the Center is dedicated to exploring the early republic, the rise of democracy, and the manifold ways in which the founding era continues to shape American culture. News about upcoming events is available online athttp://starrcenter.washcoll.edu/, or by calling Program Manager Kees de Mooy at 410-810-7156.

ACLU President Nadine Strossen

Chestertown, MD, August 5, 2003 — Washington College's William James Forum and Goldstein program in Public Affairs present Nadine Strossen, President of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), on “Protecting Civil Liberties and National Security After 9/11: How to Strike a Balance.”
Nadine Strossen, Professor of Law at New York Law School, has served as President of the ACLU since 1991, and has written, lectured and practiced extensively in the areas of constitutional law, civil liberties and international human rights. The National Law Journal has twice named Strossen one of “The 100 Most Influential Lawyers in America,” and in 1998, Vanity Fair included Strossen in “America's 200 Most Influential Women.” Since becoming ACLU President, an unpaid, volunteer position, Strossen has made more than 200 public presentations per year and comments frequently on legal issues in the national media. She was a regular guest on ABC's “Politically Incorrect” with Bill Maher and is a weekly commentator on the Talk America Radio Network. In October 2001, Strossen made her professional theater debut as the guest star in Eve Ensler's award-winning play, The Vagina Monologues, during a week-long run at the National Theatre in Washington, DC.
Strossen's writings have been published in many scholarly and general interest publications (approximately 250 published works). Her book, Defending Pornography: Free Speech, Sex, and the Fight for Women's Rights (Scribner 1995), was named a “notable book” by the New York Times and was republished in October 2000 by NYU Press. Her co-authored book, Speaking of Race, Speaking of Sex: Hate Speech, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties (NYU Press 1995), was named an “outstanding book” by the Gustavus Myers Center for the Study of Human Rights in North America. Strossen graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Harvard College in 1972 and magna cum laude from Harvard Law School in 1975. Before becoming a law professor, she practiced law for nine years in Minneapolis, MN, and New York City.
The talk is sponsored by Washington College's William James Forum and Goldstein Program in Public Affairs, established in honor of the late Louis L. Goldstein, 1935 alumnus and Maryland's longest serving elected official. The Goldstein Program sponsors lectures, symposia, visiting fellows, travel and other projects that bring students and faculty together with leaders in public policy and the media.

Speaker To Discuss The 2000 Presidential Election And The Context Of American Suffrage March 4

Chestertown, MD, February 25, 2003 — Washington College's Guy Goodfellow Memorial Lecture presents “Election 2000 and the Limits of American Democracy,” a lecture by Alexander Keyssar, Professor of History and Social Policy, Harvard University, on Tuesday, March 4, at 4:30 p.m. in the College's Hynson Lounge. The lecture is free and the public is invited to attend.

While the conflict with Iraq and the war on terrorism have preoccupied our nation since September 11, 2001, before that fateful day few subjects commanded our attention more than the controversy surrounding George W. Bush's upset of Al Gore for America's top political position. Dr. Keyssar is the author of the 1986 book, The Right to Vote: The Contested History of Democracy in the United States, which was named the best book in U.S. history by the American Historical Association and the Historical Society and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and Los Angeles Times Book Award. In his lecture, Dr. Keyssar will examine the 2000 presidential election in the light of his research on the history of suffrage in America. Although the history of suffrage has been portrayed as a steady and gradual extension of the franchise to broader categories of American society, Dr. Keyssar argues that this history has been consistently challenged by doubts about democracy itself, resistance to expansion of suffrage, and by measures meant to reduce opportunities to vote. The 2000 election brings to the forefront the questions of disenfranchisement, the limitations of the Electoral College, and the role of the Supreme Court in presidential selection and has caused Americans once again to consider the strengths and weaknesses of democracy in the United States, who has the right to a voice, and how the voices of American citizens should be balanced in the election of their leaders. Dr. Keyssar will offer insights into those debates and suggest how our political process will continue to evolve from its contentious foundations.

The Guy F. Goodfellow Memorial Lecture Series was established upon Dr. Goodfellow's death in 1989 to honor the memory of the history professor who had taught at Washington College for 30 years. The intent of the endowed lecture series is to bring a distinguished historian to campus each year to lecture and spend time with students in emulation of Dr. Goodfellow's vibrant teaching style.

Have We Gone Too Far? ACLU President On National Security Vs. Civil Liberties At Washington College

Chestertown, MD, March 18, 2003— Washington College presents Nadine Strossen, President of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), on “Protecting Civil Liberties and National Security After 9/11: How to Strike a Balance.” This event is free and open to the public.

Nadine Strossen, Professor of Law at New York Law School, has served as President of the ACLU since 1991, and has written, lectured and practiced extensively in the areas of constitutional law, civil liberties and international human rights. The National Law Journal has twice named Strossen one of “The 100 Most Influential Lawyers in America,” and in 1998, Vanity Fair included Strossen in “America's 200 Most Influential Women.” Since becoming ACLU President, an unpaid, volunteer position, Strossen has made more than 200 public presentations per year and comments frequently on legal issues in the national media. She was a regular guest on ABC's “Politically Incorrect” with Bill Maher and is a weekly commentator on the Talk America Radio Network. In October 2001, Strossen made her professional theater debut as the guest star in Eve Ensler's award-winning play, The Vagina Monologues, during a week-long run at the National Theatre in Washington, DC.

Strossen's writings have been published in many scholarly and general interest publications (approximately 250 published works). Her book, Defending Pornography: Free Speech, Sex, and the Fight for Women's Rights (Scribner 1995), was named a “notable book” by the New York Times and was republished in October 2000 by NYU Press. Her co-authored book, Speaking of Race, Speaking of Sex: Hate Speech, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties (NYU Press 1995), was named an “outstanding book” by the Gustavus Myers Center for the Study of Human Rights in North America. Strossen graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Harvard College in 1972 and magna cum laude from Harvard Law School in 1975. Before becoming a law professor, she practiced law for nine years in Minneapolis, MN, and New York City.

The talk is sponsored by Washington College's William James Forum and Goldstein Program in Public Affairs, established in honor of the late Louis L. Goldstein, 1935 alumnus and Maryland's longest serving elected official. The Goldstein Program sponsors lectures, symposia, visiting fellows, travel and other projects that bring students and faculty together with leaders in public policy and the media.

Shields and Gigot on Campus to Discuss America's Sea Change and The Politics of the New War on Terrorism

Chestertown, MD, September 20, 2001 — On Monday, October 1, 2001, Washington College will bring together political commentators Mark Shields and Paul Gigot--co-hosts of "Political Wrap" on the Public Broadcasting System's NewsHour with Jim Lehrer--for a frank, open discussion of the changes and future direction of American politics and society in the face of the terrorist attacks of September 11th. The panel discussion will be moderated by John Harwood, political editor of The Wall Street Journal, and begins at 7 p.m. in the College's Hynson Lounge. The event is free and the public is invited to attend.

Mark Shields is a syndicated columnist, Washington Post contributor, and moderator of CNN's "Capital Gang." Shields has been a NewsHour analyst since the segment began in 1987. He provided political analysis of both the 1988, 1992 and 1996 presidential elections and, in 1988, contributed to the political coverage that won a Peabody for The NewsHour. Shields also provided election analysis for CBS and NBC.

A graduate of the University of Notre Dame, Shields has taught at Harvard University and the Wharton School of Business. He is the author of On the Campaign Trail, which documents the 1984 presidential race. He lives in Washington, D.C.

Paul Gigot is the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Wall Street Journal "Potomac Watch" column and the newly named editorial page editor of the Journal. He joined Shields as a NewsHour political commentator in 1994.

His career with the Journal began in 1980 as a Chicago-based reporter. In 1982, Gigot moved to Hong Kong as the paper's Asia correspondent and became the first editorial page editor of The Asian Wall Street Journal in 1984. That same year he won an Overseas Press Club award for his reporting on the Philippines. Gigot took a year's leave from the Journal to serve as a White House Fellow from 1986 to 1987. A graduate of Dartmouth, Gigot went on to write for The Far Eastern Economic Review in Hong Kong and National Review in New York. He lives in Alexandria, VA.

The Harwood Lecture Series in American Journalism is sponsored by the Richard Harwood Endowment Fund, established to honor the distinguished career of the late Washington Post columnist and ombudsman Richard Harwood, who served as both a College Trustee and a lecturer in journalism at the College.

Additional Information:

Potomac Watch Farewell
http://www.opinionjournal.com/columnists/pgigot/

Shields & Gigot: Political Wrap
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/shields&gigot/political_wrap.html

President Toll on National Day of Prayer and Remembrance Ceremony

Remarks of President John S. Toll at the Washington College Service of Remembrance

Chestertown, MD, September 14, 2001 — No one in our country is untouched or unchanged by the vicious attack on innocent lives that took place in New York and Washington, and over the skies of Pennsylvania on Tuesday.

In the Washington College community, we are still learning the magnitude of the personal impact of this great tragedy. To the best of our knowledge, the father of one of our students is confirmed dead in the attack on the World Trade Center. Three other students have parents who worked in the World Trade Center, but who mercifully have been located, either safe, or in one case, in critical condition in a New York City hospital. A relative of one of our students was a pilot aboard one of the United Airline flights out of Boston. Yet another student has a brother who is a Marine guard at the Pentagon and is still missing. In addition, many, many members of our community know of friends and extended family that were lost in these attacks.

Today, in response to the President’s Proclamation, we join the nation and the world in a Day of Prayer and Remembrance for the victims of the terrorist attacks. Earlier today, the countries of the European Union paused to observe three minutes of silence. In Great Britain, the Queen and the Prime Minister joined a nation in mourning the loss of an estimated 500 British citizens in Tuesday’s attack. Indeed, the whole world has been touched and changed by these cowardly acts.

My personal emphasis has been to help those members of the College community whose family members are missing. But we have also responded with programs on campus every day for others in the community, so that people can come together to comfort each other.

It is my fervent belief that we not magnify the impact of the terrorists by allowing them to damage the College program severely. Let today's gathering also be an expression of hope. Let us remember that the human spirit is indomitable and cannot be crushed by the vicious hand of terror. We will continue the work of this community of learning, with hope that the wisdom we acquire will help bring about a lasting peace that will prevent this kind of crime against humanity from ever recurring.

As we reflect today on the lives of those who have perished, let us honor their memory by dedicating our labors to the pursuit of peace and wisdom.

Additional words from Reverend Peter Lai, Chaplain, Heron Point, Chestertown, MD

Almighty God, we ask that you fill this solemn moment with the majesty of your presence and fill our hearts with your love. Our hearts are saddened by the loss of the people who perished as a result of the attacks that took place three days ago. Today we remember and honor them as our heroes. Bring your comforting Spirit to those family members who are in deep despair and in great sorrow. Be with the rescue workers who act with such courage and determination. Guide them and protect them from danger.

For those of us who live today, we pray that this memorial service will inspire us to a greater commitment to you and our neighbors. May we be brave so that enemies who would deprive us of our freedom will not succeed. Give to our president and other leaders your wisdom as they have difficult decisions to make in the days ahead. Give us your wisdom as we try to find meaning in the midst of this horrible tragedy. Fill us with compassion so we can reach out to those in need.

Then as we leave this place, we will be renewed in our spirits with faith, hope and love and we know confidently that the people we honor today will not have died in vain.

In your holy name we pray. Amen.

Additional words from Board Chairman Jay Griswold

There is no question that there is evil in the world. As we reel from the devastation and loss of life in New York, in Washington, and in Pennsylvania, and these affronts to the symbols of a free democracy, we come to understand that the very fabric of our country has been torn. Just as the landscape of New York is changed, so America is changed. We have lost our innocence. We have come to a brutal awareness that we are not invulnerable to terrorist attacks on American soil.

Yet the spirit of the American people remains unflappable. Even in our tremendous sense of loss and sadness, we begin to take solace in the emerging stories that speak to our humanity. We find victories in each rescue of a fallen firefighter, in the messages recorded by hostages held in the skies, in acts of heroism as passengers attempted to wrest control of a plane from the hijackers, in the compassion shared between strangers in time of crisis.

We mourn with those who have suffered great and disastrous loss. All our hearts have been seared by the sudden and senseless taking of innocent lives. We pray for healing and for the strength to serve and encourage one another in hope and faith.

I urge you as you work through all of the emotions to reflect on the broad sweep of history. Much has happened to this country since 1782, tragic and triumphant. God bless Washington College, God bless America.

Words from Dean Scholz

Campus Ceremony on the Front Lawn, September 13

Chestertown, MD, September 13, 2001 — The tragic events of this week have touched every one of us. Many of us have friends, relatives, and loved ones among the dead or among those still missing in New York, Washington D.C. and in Pennsylvania. By attacking these innocents, those responsible for this terrible act have attacked each one of us. We are joined in outrage and grief.

We come together today to express our solidarity in the face of this destruction. It is a time to remember that even in Chestertown we are members of a global society. As an educational community, we remain united in our pursuit of truth, united in the love of the wisdom that grows from it, and united in our commitment to peace around the world.

We also come together today to reflect on the lives of those who have perished, to honor the memory of those who died at the hand of terror as well as those who sacrificed their lives in acts of rescue.

In placing flowers at the feet of our founder's statue, we declare the community of Washington College to be of one heart. We dedicate our labors to the support of each other in this time of need and to the preservation of all that is good in our community, in our nation, and in the world.

I will now place a wreath on behalf of the College to witness our respect for the victims and in evidence of our dedication to the values inscribed in the mission of Washington College. I invite all of you to join me in the laying of flowers in acknowledgement of our community's deep sense of sorrow and solidarity.

A Message from President Toll

Classes Canceled September 11

Chestertown, MD, September 11, 2001 — As you have no doubt heard, some parts of our nation have suffered multiple terrorist attacks. Our concern and national solidarity have been heightened. I implore all to remember that we are a community of learning, of tolerance and of understanding. Please remain calm and help others who may be concerned or whose families may be affected by these tragedies.

Because a state of emergency has been declared in Maryland, public schools have closed, and we are canceling classes for the remainder of the day. We hope that all offices providing services to students will try to maintain normal hours. Except for essential personnel in such offices as the Dining Services, Public Safety, and Buildings & Grounds, all of our faculty and staff are free to leave. Other related changes in college programs will be announced through the campus Blitzmail. If you know of anyone needing assistance, please call my office at ext. 7201.

There are still many unanswered questions. Let us stand together in peace and support one another. Most of all let us show compassion through these tragedies as we continue the work of the College.

Sincerely,

John S. Toll, President Washington College