Ambassador David M. Satterfield, Franci Neely, Ann and Karl Stern, Sheridan and John Eddie Williams, Jr.,

As a collective of students, faculty, staff and alumni at Rice University and the University of Houston and members of Houston community at large, we reject the platforming of one of the world’s most heinous war criminals on our campus and in our city, and unanimously call for the immediate cancellation of the Rice University Baker Institute of Public Policy’s “30th Anniversary Gala”.

The “30th Anniversary Gala”, which celebrates international war criminal Henry Kissinger, normalizes and upholds the global imperialism that has been catastrophic for the Global South. As named by colonized peoples for decades, Henry Kissinger and the peoples and systems that have aided him, have sowed seeds of destruction that have ripped apart the homes of many students, faculty and alumni at Rice.

Henry Kissinger, a retired combat soldier and military intelligence officer:

• Greenlit war in foreign, sovereign nations; such as in the case of Indonesia’s invasion of East Timor, during which hundreds of thousands died

• Economically stifled the Global South in the interests of accruing U.S. capital

• Illegally overthrew democratically elected leaders of foreign sovereign nations; such as in the case of the 1973 violent overthrowing of Chile’s elected president, Salvador Allende, in favor of a brutal dictatorship

• Initiated militaristic violence abroad; such as in the case of the CIA’s Phoenix Program, which led to the torture and killing of over 20,000 people

• Oversaw the mass murder of civilians of the Global South; such as in the case of the United States and South Vietnamese aerial bombings, in which 350,000 Laotian civilians and 600,000 Cambodian civilians were massacred

• Acted as an advisor to former President Trump; who has now been indicted on four separate accounts    

These actions threaten the robust international community of Rice—a campus that prides itself on contributing to the “diverse, culturally rich” city that is Houston. It is because of the manifold experiences and identities of our student body that we cannot condone the university’s celebration of a man who has built his career off of oppression. Hosting Henry Kissinger directly undermines the tireless work of Rice University community members to create a welcoming and accepting environment with our lauded ‘culture of care’.

We refuse to allow Rice University to celebrate the crimes against humanity committed by Henry Kissinger and his imperial beneficiaries. We demand that Rice University:

1. Immediately cancel the “30th Anniversary Gala”.

2. In conjunction with the Baker Institute, issue a letter in recognition of Henry Kissinger's international war crimes against colonized and exploited peoples.

As a unified body of Rice, UH and Houston community members, we reject Rice University’s endorsement of the egregious acts carried out by Henry Kissinger in our university’s name, and we affirm our principled solidarity with all colonized and exploited peoples of the Global South.

Sincerely,

Rice University Students for Justice in Palestine (Rice SJP)

The Rice Marxists (TRM)

Rice Revolutionary Marxist Students (RMS)

Students for Justice in Palestine at the University of Houston (SJPHTX)

Palestinian Youth Movement Houston (PYM)

Houston Party for Socialism & Liberation (PSL)

Houston Democratic Socialists of America (DSA)

University of Houston Young Democratic Socialists of America (UH YDSA)