What convinced me not to apply, though, was this stipulation in the eligibility rules:
In her Will, Dolores Zohrab Liebmann stated that:
"It is my desire that no benefit from such Fellowships or scholarships be enjoyed by any person who, or institution which, supports, advocates or upholds the principles and doctrines of Communism."
Accordingly:
a) If the Candidate or the institution supports, advocates, or upholds the principles and doctrines of Communism, the Trustee reserves the right to reject the application.
b) The Trustee also reserves the right to require the Candidate to submit an affidavit, affirmed or sworn to before a Notary Public, confirming that he or she does not support, advocate, or uphold the doctrines of Communism.
Whew. What is this, the 1950s? We have to swear we're not Communists? Sounds like Senator McCarthy is chuckling from the grave.
Now, I'm not a communist, but neither am I a wholehearted supporter of unrestrained capitalism. My grandparents are proud Labor Zionists, and I have a lot of sympathy for pseudosocialist viewpoints (though I think they are often misapplied). Would that mean I 'support' some of the Communist doctrine? Probably Ms. Liebmann would think so.
Now, I understand this still exists today because it was in her will. But it just seems so... archaic. It makes me wonder what made Ms. Liebmann so opposed to Communism that this was her sole stipulation about the candidate's character or ideology.
Weird.
6 comments:
I like the color red.
No offense wig, but communism was responsible for the deaths of tens of milliosn of people and was used as a justification for occupying over 50 million people in Eastern Europe. Anyone who was forced to live under such a system would no doubt think as badly of communism as they would of Nazism, and I doubt you'd have any problem applying for a fellowship that excluded Nazis.
Was communism responsible for deaths, or was it the responsibility of a totalitarian dictatorship using communism as a thin veneer of justification for their actions?
Just saying.
(Not to argue that communism is the way to go; far from it! Just that I was offended I'd be asked to swear an oath that I don't support any of its principles.)
Most people don't bother to differentiate between communism the ideology and communism as it was practiced. The scholarship probably comes from a person whose family suffered at the hands of communists and doesn't want his/her money to go into the hands of people who support that ideology.
Ms. Leibmann is the daughter of an influential Congressman, and was married to an incredibly successful businessman. I somewhat doubt that someone from her relatively privileged American upbringing had much direct contact with Communism at all.
now the restriction is gone hehe
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