Jailed Former DePauw Professor in New York Times Magazine

June 18, 2001

June 18, 2001, Greencastle, Ind. - Saad Eddin Ibrahim, who taught sociology at DePauw University from 1967 to 1974 and is currently jailed in Egypt, is the subject of a lengthy story in the Sunday, June 17, 2001 edition of the New York Times Magazine. The piece by Mary Anne Weaver, entitled "Mubarak Regime Is Now on Trial in Egypt," profiles the professor, his work to bring democratic reform to Egypt, and how that work led to his arrest and conviction. He is currently serving a seven year prison sentence.

The article, which can be viewed here(free registration is required), mentions Saad Eddin Ibrahim's days in Greencastle. "It was at DePauw, at a Black Power meeting, that he met his future wife, Barbara" (Lethem) a member of DePauw's Class of 1971. Weaver writes that "their courtship consisted, to a large extent, of traveling to antiwar rallies and teach-ins across the Midwest. (Barbara Ibrahim is now the regional director for the New York-based Population Council in West Asia and North Africa.)"

Saad Eddin Ibrahim's former students and colleagues protested his imprisonment with a 'teach-in' earlier this month that filled a classroom in historic East College. DePauw President Robert G. Bottoms also sent a letter to Presidents Bush and Mubarak, asking that the United States and Egypt work together to bring about Ibrahim's release https://www.depauw.edu/pa/news/pres_letter.asp (at right: Dr. Ibrahim during his tenure as a DePauw professor)

Asked by the Times' Weaver why his trial had taken place, the professor said, "In a pyramid, which we perfected 4,000 years ago, when even one stone is removed, the structure faces the danger of collapse. So it is not so much that Saad Eddin Ibrahim is a threat per se, but rather, he is an example that could be emulated, one stone at a time."

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