PR "Bomb" at Penn

In the boneheaded move of the week, Penn president Amy Gutmann poses with a student dressed as a Palestinian suicide bomber at a Halloween event. The party was thrown by the president, and the student in the photo is Saad Saadi. His website is here (H/T Malkin).















My problem is not so much with the student; he's probably just being dopey. What I can't understand is what the president of an Ivy League school would be doing posing for a shot like this. She should and probably will apologize, but this looks like a well-deserved PR nightmare. A real head-scratcher.

Update: Penn president Amy Gutmann has posted a response to the publication of the photo on Saadi's website and others:

Statement by President Amy Gutmann
November 03, 2006

Each year, the president hosts a Halloween party for Penn students. More than 700 students attend. They all crowd around to have their picture taken with me in costume. This year, one student who had a toy gun in hand had his picture taken with me before it was obvious to me that he was dressed as a suicide bomber. He posted the photo on a website and it was picked up on several other websites.

The costume is clearly offensive and I was offended by it. As soon as I realized what his costume was, I refused to take any more pictures with him, as he requested. The student had the right to wear the costume just as I, and others, have a right to criticize his wearing of it.

So, we should all hold hands again and sing kumbaya?