The Faculty Senate's Executive Committee has delivered a letter to members of the administration in protest of Saturday night's HBO boxing match.
The six-member committee addressed the memo to Chancellor Nick Zeppos, Vice Chancellors David Williams and Harry Jacobson, and Provost Richard McCarty. According to Bruce Barry, a member of the committee who first raised the issue, the prizefight at Memorial Gymnasium is "inconsistent with the university's values and mission."
"We are troubled that a university with an internationally renowned academic medical center is letting campus facilities be used for this purpose. Numerous distinguished medical organizations worldwide have condemned boxing and called for its prohibition," Barry said in an e-mail. "The World Medical Association, which represents physicians from dozens of countries, condemns boxing as an activity whose 'basic intent is to produce bodily harm in the opponent,' one that 'produces an alarming incidence of chronic brain injury.'"
"The WMA as well as national medical associations in the U.S., the U.K., and Canada have for years urged the abolition of boxing," Barry continued. "We understand that campus facilities are used for many purposes both internal and external to the university, but we would hope and expect that administrators evaluate how particular uses fit with the university's guiding principles and ideals. Vanderbilt University's mission statement says that we place paramount value on 'equality, compassion, and excellence in all endeavors.' As a blood 'sport' that glorifies violence and invites paying spectators to do likewise, boxing has no place in an institution that subscribes to these values."
The memo was presented to the Faculty Senate body Friday afternoon. Virginia Shepherd, chair of the faculty senate, reportedly indicated to the faculty members that the opinions expressed were representative of the Executive Committee only.
The Super Middleweight eliminator match will start at 9:15 p.m. this Saturday at Memorial Gym. Tickets are available at all Ticketmaster locations, including Sarratt Student Center.
