Students at St Andrews University in Scotland will reportedly write a letter of apology to President Obama after an incident last week in which they burned him in effigy.
The incident occurred the evening of Nov. 18, when members of the university’s conservative student association burned images of Obama on a beach bonfire, according to local news reports.
On Thursday, Matthew Marshall, president of St Andrews Conservative and Unionist Association, told the press that the incident was “undoubtedly stupid” and “deeply regretted.”
Marshall was reportedly made aware of the university’s concerns surrounding the matter, and pledged that the society would write to Obama to apologize.
“The U.S. and President Obama are important allies of the United Kingdom and, on behalf of the whole association, I apologize unreservedly,” he said, as reported by The Telegraph.
“This is undoubtedly a stupid act and it is deeply regretted by all of us in the St Andrews Conservative Association,” Marshall added. “I will make sure this never happens again.”
The university led an inquiry into the incident. While critical of the conservative association’s actions, St Andrews determined that they were not intentionally racist.
“The University of St Andrews holds a firm belief in the value of political debate and free expression but we expect our students to always treat others with respect,” a university spokesman told the press in Great Britain.
“The burning of any figure in effigy is an act of violence and intolerance and has no place in our modern, international university,” he added.
(Source: The Hill)
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6 Responses
Why did they burn him in effigy?
Ach, I’m sure it’s just a belated Guy Fawkes Night prank (Nov 5th) when bonfires are lit all over the UK (many in private gardens) to commemorate the attempt by Guy Fawkes to blow up the Houses of Parliament during the reign of King James. Traditionally, his effigy (known as “the Guy”) is burned on the bonfire.
It’s a kids’ holiday with fireworks & all kinds of traditional fare (including Parkin, a soft gingerbread), candy apples (or as the Brits call them, toffee apples), & roasted chestnuts from the bonfire. I have great memories of family get-togethers & spectacular fireworks for “Bonfire Night” when I was a kid.
Now that I’ve ended my trip down Memory Lane & my unofficial history lesson, I say that Obama needs to chill. Can’t anyone criticize or demonstrate their disapproval without being called a racist? What on earth has this country become? Did Obama comment on the blatant, deliberate insult directed at Michelle Bachman by Jimmy Fallon’s musicians (ergo, Fallon & NBC)? This act may be a little extreme, but if you can’t take it, you shouldn’t be in the public eye.
“The burning of any figure in effigy is an act of violence and intolerance and has no place in our modern, international university,” he added.
Does that include Guy Fawkes? Obama’s done far more damage to the world than Fawkes did. And he’s destroyed the special relationship that used to exist between the USA and UK. If anyone deserves burning in effigy, it’s him.
Waddaya know bestbubby is a Brit!! Who woulda thought
Ah…bestbubby – it is you who needs to chill.
President Obama didn’t do or say anything, and for all the article tells us may not even know about the incident. Thus, the jabs at his alleged oversensitivity are simply misplaced hostility on your part.
The article makes no mention of any American response at all. It simply says that the President of “…St Andrews Conservative and Unionist Association…was reportedly made aware of the university’s concerns surrounding the matter, and pledged that the society would write to Obama to apologize…” and that he “…told the press that the incident was “undoubtedly stupid” and “deeply regretted.”
Stick to the facts, girl.
More on Guy Fawkes Day, courtesy of Wikipedia…note the explanation of effigy burning:
“In Britain, 5 November has variously been called Guy Fawkes Night, Guy Fawkes Day, Plot Night and Bonfire Night; the latter can be traced directly back to the original celebration of 5 November 1605. Bonfires were accompanied by fireworks from the 1650s onwards, and it became the custom to burn an effigy (usually the Pope) after 1673, when the heir presumptive, James, Duke of York made his conversion to Catholicism public. Effigies of other notable figures who have become targets for the public’s ire, such as Paul Kruger and Margaret Thatcher, have also found their way onto the bonfires, although most modern effigies are of Fawkes. The “guy” is normally created by children, from old clothes, newspapers, and a mask. During the 19th century, “guy” came to mean an oddly dressed person, but in American English it lost any pejorative connotation, and was used to refer to any male person”