Amid mixed reactions from faculty and students, on Jan. 23 the Boston College Law School announced that U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey will be speaking at the 2008 Law School commencement. With commencement just two months away, nearly two dozen faculty members have made a final plea to the administration and to the Attorney General's office that Mukasey not speak at the event.

"A commencement speaker is rather different than someone coming to speak on a matter of public interest - a commencement speaker is someone held up to the students and the world as an embodiment of the school," said James Rogers, a professor at BC Law School. "It strikes me as very problematic that the school has invited a commencement speaker who refuses to acknowledge that waterboarding is a form of torture."

On March 11, Rogers and 21 other faculty members sent a petition to Mukasey's office, respectfully requesting that he withdraw his offer to speak at the commencement on May 23. Copies of the signed letter were also forwarded to Dean of BC Law School John Garvey and University President Rev. William P. Leahy, S.J.'s office.

The petition read, "We realize that you face complex professional difficulties in your position as Attorney General. We are very concerned, however, that your role in the current controversy regarding the legality of waterboarding has made you a symbol of Administration policies that conflict with basic principles of international and domestic law, the ideals of Boston College Law School, and the Jesuit principles that underlie Boston College's educational mission."

Speaking on the controversial waterboarding technique that has been used as a method of interrogation by the U.S. government, Rogers said, "That's one

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