Egyptian Presidential Candidate and Former DePauw Prof. Saad Eddin Ibrahim Speaks to Class Taught by Marvine (Cook) Stamatakis '72

March 18, 2005

March 18, 2005, Greencastle, Ind. - "As Middle Eastern countries move toward democracy, Egyptian human rights activist Saad Ibrahim said their citizens remain skeptical about the United States' sincerity in supporting their freedom," begins an account of Ibrahim's speech at Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan yesterday. Dr. Ibrahim taught sociology at DePauw University from 1967 to 1974 and is now a candidate for president of Egypt. The Traverse City Record-Eagle notes, "Marvine [Cook] Stamatakis ['72], who teaches the class, invited Ibrahim to speak. She studied sociology with him for four years at DePauw University."

"People have been struggling for democracy for a long time. But our struggle was ignored by American administrations," said Ibrahim, who was jailed for speaking out against Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak before his conviction was overturned. "People don't believe yet that Americans are sincere," he added. Tom Carr writes that Professor Ibrahim "spoke of how former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein was an American ally when he fought Iran. American leaders also were friendly with terrorist leader Osama bin Laden when he fought communists in Afghanistan, he said. 'Americans have a history of dumping democracies when it suited their purposes,' he added."

Read the complete story at the newspaper's Web site.

An article posted yesterday previewed Dr. Ibrahim's Michigan visit. Access it here.

An account of Saad Eddin Ibrahim's 2003 visit to DePauw, which includes video and audio clips, can be found here. In May 2004, he received an honorary degree from DePauw.

Back