We hereby, the undersigned members of the University of Pennsylvania community find the selection of Kofi Annan as the 2005 commencement speaker to be both inappropriate and appalling, and request that a new speaker be immediately chosen with greater student input.





The corruption in the Iraq Oil for Food program, coupled with the abhorrent behavior by United Nations peacekeepers in Congo, make a mockery of Penns motto that Laws without morals are useless. Inaction by the UN concerning the genocide occurring in Darfur, and the bodys limited support of the Iraqi elections solidify Annan as an incompetent leader, unrepresentative of Penns graduating class.





Further, the process of choosing commencement speakers is of grave concern, as no student on the Board of Trustees has voting power. With the improper selection of such a polarizing figure as Kofi Annan, it is clear that both the procedure and the 2005 commencement speaker need to change.