 "Photo: Marcus Brooks, The Volante, 2009")
Former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf spoke to a near-capacity crowd Friday as part of Augustana College’s 13th presentation of the Boe Forum on Public Affairs.
Musharraf, who came to power in 1999 following a military coup, was in power until 2008 when he was forced from office following mounting political pressure against him and his party. During his speech, Musharraf touched on the role the United States has played in the region and on the political and social climate of the South Asian country.
Eric Jepsen, assistant professor of political science at USD, said he and 22 USD students drove up to the speech at the Elmen Center in order to gain a deeper knowledge of world affairs.
“I wanted the chance to bring students to the lecture because South Asia is one of the most important areas of the world right now,” Jepsen said. “Pervez Musharraf, for better of for worse, is a pretty bright, well-spoken politician who has been at the center of Pakistani politics for much of the past 20 years.”
Although he was generally pleased with the contextual information Musharraf provided about Pakistan, Jepsen said he thought Musharraf could have been more candid in his response to Augustana college students’ questions.
“He was asked about any failures or mistakes he made along the way … he essentially said ‘My failures were that some of my successes just weren’t quite as successful as my really big successes,’” Jepsen said. “I think he could have been a little more honest and a little less self-serving and acknowledged some of the negative side effects of sacking the Supreme Court and placing restrictions on the media during his last years in power.”
Sophomore Meredith Wilsey said as an international studies major, she wanted to expand her horizons by engaging with people with other world views.
“It is always a good idea to hear other people’s points of view and opinions,” Wilsey said. “If you’re an international studies or political science major, you almost need to know how other people think and why they think it, and this is one way to accomplish that.”
Jepsen agreed.
“I think there’s a real need in our fast-paced, news-oriented world for students have access to more focused, more selective speeches and forums from people on the front lines of a particular topic,” Jepsen said. “It’s important for people to be exposed to something from outside their narrowed area of interest and to be exposed to someone from a completely different perspective.”
Past participants of the Boe Forum include former U.S. Vice President Al Gore, former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor and former President of the Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev.
Reach reporter Patrick Morrison at Patrick.Morrison@usd.edu.
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