Sunday night’s “Rememb-ering September 11” candlelight vigil ceremony had only one flaw: Michael Dukakis. The otherwise emotional vigil and remembrance service turned completely sour and political when Michael Dukakis spoke as the keynote speaker.

In a valiant attempt to mirror the non-partisan togetherness of September 2001’s Congress, Heidi Buchanan and Michael Murphy (College Democrats and Republicans, respectively) joined each other on stage to deliver a meaningful speech self-titled “Unity Beyond Politics.” The attempt to praise the non-partisan efforts of 2001’s Senate was well-received, only to be completely disrupted and contradicted in Dukakis’ politically-motivated keynote address.

Dukakis deviated from his reflection about Sept. 11, heroism and courage in a most abrupt fashion twice in his speech in order to further his political agenda by inserting his views on the war in Iraq and the administration’s response to Hurricane Katrina. Now, whe-ther you support the war in Iraq, or whether you agree with the administration’s response to Hurricane Katrina, I would hope you would be able to see past that for the purpose of respecting the victims of Sept. 11 as well as the purpose of the vigil.

Professor Dukakis, you were given a chance to speak at a ceremony that was otherwise very touching and emotional. Your decision to further your political agenda by deviating from the intent of the vigil was a terribly poor decision. You put the efforts of so many groups including SGA and various Greek organizations as well as the efforts of so many individuals in jeopardy by your unpatriotic comments. You truly showed yourself to be a poor example of an American, and ultimately a cold-hearted politician.

I would like to thank everybody who organized and helped out during the vigil, it was very touching and patriotic, and made me proud to be an American and a student at this university.

— Jim Edwards is a sophomore electrical engineering major