FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 21, 2023
CONTACT: Rev. George Hunsinger, (609) 252-2114

Ad Hoc Faculty and Student Committee at Princeton Theological Seminary Asks School to Rescind Invitation to Condoleezza Rice to Speak on May 8, Citing Her Role in the Post-9/11 Torture Program of the Bush Administration

PRINCETON, NJ - Former National Security Advisor and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has been invited to speak as part of a 5-part series on Faith and the Future of American Democracy on May 8 at the Wright Library of Princeton Theological Seminary, and an ad hoc faculty and student committee wants their school to have nothing to do with her. They have asked the Seminary to rescind the invitation.

A public statement issued by three Princeton Theological Seminary faculty members pointed out that Rice “was one of the chief architects of the Bush/Cheney torture program” and “signed off on the grotesque torture of Abu Zubaydah” who was “waterboarded more than 80 times and was buried alive for hundreds of hours” (Harvard Law Review, November 2022). Zubaydah lost one of his eyes as a result of his torture at the hands of the U.S. government.

“Why has she been issued an invitation that brings shame and disgrace to our community – to say nothing of Christ and the church. The question of allowing someone to speak who has authorized torture and other human rights abuses has nothing to do with academic freedom. What Rice did was illegal, it was morally wrong, and Princeton Theological Seminary is unfortunately providing a mantle of respectability for torture.” said George Hunsinger, McCord Professor of Theology at Princeton Theological Seminary and founder of the National Religious Campaign Against Torture.

“I can’t think of why anyone would give Condoleezza Rice a forum to speak about Faith and American Democracy when she was instrumental in planning and implementing one of the biggest failures of global democracy of the past 21 years -- the CIA torture program conducted by the U.S. government after 9/11. To this day, the CIA torture program and Guantanamo Bay prison, which still holds 30 detainees in indefinite detention, is being used by Putin, Xi and numerous global dictators to blunt U.S. calls for respecting human rights and democracy inside their own countries,” said Rev. Ron Stief, Executive Director of the Washington D.C.-based National Religious Campaign Against Torture.

Of grave concern to those initiating this call to rescind the invitation is that Rice has never shown any repentance or remorse for her role in the Bush Administration’s illegal torture program. The Ad Hoc statement by three faculty members states that “torture is an international crime and a moral outrage” and calls on the Seminary to rescind the invitation: “By doing the right thing, Princeton Theological Seminary could easily avoid tarnishing itself further. We call for the invitation to Condoleezza Rice to be rescinded.”