The eighth United Nations Secretary General, Ban Ki-Moon, spoke gently this afternoon to around 1,000 people inside Seton Hall’s Walsh Gymnasium on the South Orange campus.
He seemed like a man with great patience, hope, and realistic expectations of our complex, rapidly-changing world, but his message of imperative change was very clear and without ambiguity. His statements, such as “there is only one way to eliminate the threat of nuclear weapons, and that is to eliminate nuclear weapons” leave no room for interpretation.
“We must be the voice of the voiceless, the defender of the defenseless and we must help the helpless,” he said. Ban Ki-Moon, 66 recalled the United Nations helping his country and his village after the Korean War, and knew from an early age that he wanted to be a diplomat. While the Honorable John C. Whitehead — namesake of Seton Hall’s Whitehead School of Diplomacy and International Relations (and a Montclair native) — stated in his introduction of Ban, that it’s “too early to pass judgement on his overall performance [as Secretary General], he has already had a big impact.”
Prior to sharing his mission for the future of the United Nations — which consists of three primary objectives; addressing climate change, fighting poverty and serving as the world’s first responders during global crisis — Ban received an honorary degree from the Seton Hall University Board of Regents. Receiving a standing ovation and looking pleased with the conferral, he wasted no time, however, in launching into the meat of his message.
“Climate change is not science fiction, but science fact,” he said, explaining that while many critics felt that the recent environmental summit in Copenhagen didn’t meet expectations, “we made good progress.”
“Let’s not misunderstand what it takes to bring about change in the world today. We need to go step by step,” he said, adding however, that “the more we delay, the more we will pay.”
Regarding combatting poverty, Ban said “We can never move fast enough.”
Ban called for the presence of women in world leadership roles. “We can’t fix the world without women,” he stated. “We need women to be healthy and educated, as is their right,” he said, and then proceeded to name the top ranked women he has appointed to the United Nations — more than at any previous time in the organization’s history.
One aspiring woman leader — one of four Seton Hall diplomacy students selected to ask the Secretary General a question — was Sagarika Gujar (right), an undergraduate international student from Mumbai, India. Gujar told Baristanet that her interest is in ethnic conflict, noting that it is two years to the week since the November 26, 2008 terrorist attack in her home city. “I want to know what new methods the United Nations has for dealing with ethnic conflict.”
Another student question came from Cavalry Officer Jon Martin (left), a graduate student in the Whitehead School of Diplomacy and International Relations who served 9 years in the United States Army — including time in Iraq — and sported a uniform full of military decorations. Martin wanted to know what role Ban sees for the United Nations in discussions regarding reconciliation with the Taliban.
Ban answered each question thoroughly and with the utmost respect for the young students of diplomacy, hinting at his ability to mentor rising leaders. “I liked the way he answered my question,” said Gujar. “I asked him about India’s terrorism, but he broadened his answer to include the whole world.” After all, as the world’s top ranked first responder, that’s how he operates.
Ban is the latest international policy maker to receive an honorary degree through Seton Hall’s World Leaders Forum. Organized by the university’s John C. Whitehead School of Diplomacy and International Relations, the program was created to promote discussion of global issues. Previous speakers include former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev, former Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres, former President of Poland Lech Walesa and former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan.
Boy, is this “account” a lump of gushy prose. And it’s long too! Erika, every time I think you can’t. uh, “outdo” yourself….
Honestly, too, who really cares about the UN? What truly effective role does it play in world politics? Anyway, this is Seton Hall we’re talking about here, folks, where basketball, rather than academics, always rules. Let us not overrate even the venue, in other words.
The UN is a high end jobs program.
If only the venue was Columbia U.
now that North and South Korea are taking pot shots at each other this morning, perhaps we’ll see the “first responder” UN spring into action.
They’ll respond after tea and crumpets on the Upper East Side.
I wish someone had asked him what he considered some successful examples of serving as the world’s first responders during a global crisis.
When Seton Hall’s School of Diplomacy and International Relations turns out half as many diplomats and international businessfolk as Harvard’s Kennedy Institute, PAZ, or even one-quarter as many aspiring consulate employees as Georgetown, then I will take the school completely seriously.
Until then, it remains, I humbly suggest, best known for its recent history of thuggish, non-graduating basketball team members. That is the current reality. (I’d even suggest that no university run by an archdiocese and an understandably conservative bishopric can ever aspire to genuine academic heights, but perhaps that’s just me.)
Just because you have a graduate school doesn’t perforce mean that it’s a good one. Indeed, it seems as if Ban-Ki himself was rather desperate to pick up an hoorary degree – any honorary degree! – with his appearance. Which seems to have occurred approximately at the same time North Korea was reopening hostilities with its southern neighbor. And we all remember how helpful the UN proved back in 50-53 over there, right?
hey cathar, you and John Bolton ougha hoist a few and share an evening’s worth of dark thoughts regarding mankind, God’s finest creation, or so the Bible says.