Please join us, the Colorado Student Power Alliance (COSPA), to protest Dean Hill's award to George Bush at the Korbel Dinner this coming Monday, September 9th at 4:45pm at the Hyatt Regency at the Colorado Convention Center, 650 15th Street, Denver. Please join our Facebook event and spread the word.

Earlier this year, the Josef Korbel School of International Studies announced its intention of honoring former President George W. Bush with the newly created "Improving the Human Condition Award" at the Korbel Dinner annual fundraiser on September 9th, 2013. Korbel School Dean Christopher Hill, the former U.S. ambassador to Iraq during the Bush administration, decided on this award without the input of Korbel School students, faculty, staff, or alumni.  

In the wake of this announcement, over 1,600 students, faculty, staff, alumni, and community members signed a petition demanding that Dean Hill rescind Bush's "Improving the Human Condition Award” because "former President George W. Bush left behind a legacy of human rights abuses, including the torture of detainees in extra-territorial jails, preemptive war, domestic surveillance programs, and other egregious actions that deleteriously impact the human condition." The petition goes on to say that Bush does not represent "the values promoted by the Josef Korbel School of International Studies and the University of Denver or embodied by its students, faculty, and alumni."

This brought a lot of negative attention to the school. But instead of rescinding the award altogether, Dean Hill chose only to change its name to the "Global Service Award", which he plans to present to Bush this coming Monday, September 9th at the annual Korbel Dinner being held from 5-8pm at the Hyatt Regency at the Colorado Convention Center, 650 15th Street, Denver.

Dean Hill's decision to go forward with honoring Bush is a veritable slap in the faces of many Korbel students, faculty, staff, and alumni. We believe that merely renaming the award does not suffice. "Global Service" is nearly as appalling and inappropriate as "Improving the Human Condition". Bush is not deserving of any commendation from the Korbel School. While giving this award will likely raise big dollars from conservative donors, honoring Bush does harm to the Josef Korbel School's reputation, thereby damaging the credibility of the many individuals who form the Korbel community. This, in turn, may have irreparable negative consequences for Korbel graduates' career possibilities in the field of global service, and could damage Korbel's student enrollment, long-term financial health, and academic prestige.

Of course there are innumerable other global servants who would be far more appropriate recipients of an award from our prestigious institution than Bush, and many of those would undoubtedly attract large contributions from donors without having to compromise the values, intellectual identity, and mission of the Korbel School community.  

While it is highly unlikely at this late juncture that Dean Hill will do the right thing and decide not to present the award, we can still make our voices heard. Please sign this petition to tell Dean Hill that honoring George Bush is shameful, unjust, and antithetical to what the Josef Korbel School stands for. 

Therefore, Dean Hill, we petition you on two points:

1. Do not honor George W. Bush with an award of any kind.

2. Thenceforth, involve students, faculty, staff, and alumni of the Josef Korbel School of International Studies in the decision-making regarding recipients of awards given in the name of the Korbel School.

Please join us, the Colorado Student Power Alliance (COSPA), to protest Dean Hill's award to George Bush at the Korbel Dinner this coming Monday, September 9th at 4:45pm at the Hyatt Regency at the Colorado Convention Center, 650 15th Street, Denver. Please join our Facebook event and spread the word.

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