AP, November 10, 2002

St. Xavier University apologizes over e-mail sent by professor

St. Xavier University is considering taking disciplinary action against one of its professors who sent an e-mail to a U.S. Air Force Academy cadet that described him as a "disgrace to this country."

The university also issued an apology for the e-mail sent by Peter N. Kirstein. The cadet had contacted Kirstein by e-mail, asking for ideas on how to advertise an academic forum that the academy was planning. In his reply Oct. 31, the professor wrote: "I am furious you would even think I would support you and your aggressive baby-killing tactics."

His response was distributed through military Web sites and networks, prompting hundreds of e-mails to the South Side university's mailbox with protests.

Kirstein, who has taught at St. Xavier for 28 years, declined to comment to the Chicago Tribune and Chicago Sun-Times. A message left by The Associated Press for Kirstein at the school on Sunday was not immediately returned.

Kirstein has issued an apology to the cadet, according to a letter posted on a university Web site.

"I did not mean to impugn his character," Kirstein wrote to the academy instructor in charge of the forum. "I should have written him in a more thoughtful and contemplative manner."

University President Richard Yanikoski said the e-mail was a rash response by the professor. He also said it was rude and unprofessional and that the university is considering taking disciplinary action against Kirstein.

"A professor, based on a lifetime of his own research, is entitled to hold a pacifist viewpoint and is entitled to be critical of the military," Yanikoski said. "However, in holding to that view, or any view, professors are expected always to speak and write in a manner that is respectful of all people and opposing points of view."

Yanikoski said the instructor in charge of the academy assembly had accepted Kirstein's apology.