LINCOLN PARK — DePaul University students, faculty and local activists are calling for the resignation of the College of Health and Science dean for allegedly turning a blind eye to harsh interrogation techniques at the Guantanamo Bay detainment camp.
Jack O'Brien, a 24-year-old senior at DePaul, is leading the charge to remove Gerald Koocher, who served as president of the largest association of psychologists in the country, American Psychological Association, and a liaison for the Psychological Ethics and National Security task force prior to his job at DePaul.
In July, a detailed report of the activities conducted by the PENS task force was released. According to excerpts from the report, Koocher played a significant role in creating guidelines for enhanced interrogation methods used at detainment facilities.
Mina Bloom says activists see this as an ethics issue:
The Hoffman report did not find any evidence that the APA knew about the enhanced interrogation methods that were tantamount to torture, but suggested that the top officials in the organization “had strong reasons to suspect that abusive interrogations had occurred.”
A spokesman for DePaul University didn't respond to messages seeking comment.
O'Brien was joined by fellow students, Northwestern University professor Frank Summers, DePaul law professor M. Cherif Bassiouni and an attorney representing people detained at Guantanamo Bay, among other local activists, at a news conference Thursday morning, held on campus at Belden and Sheffield avenues.
"It's the responsibility of the university to hold a fact-finding mission on whether or not one of its faculty members was involved in this egregiously immoral act, which violates the ethical values of this university," Bassiouni said at the news conference.
A couple of weeks ago, O'Brien formalized his opposition to Koocher by launching an online petition, which has since gained more than 500 signatures. In it, he provides excerpts from the 542-page-report.
"Dr. Koocher twisted ethics through vague and obscure language, like third-party beneficence, to condone torture, bullied or belittled members who brought up valid ethical concerns on the PENS task force, obfuscated the truth in regards to information on enhanced integration practices in order to deny culpability after the fact, and aided in paving the way for one of the biggest scandals in psychology's history," O'Brien writes.
After the news conference, O'Brien told DNAinfo Chicago that it wasn't until he saw his friend's diploma on the wall this summer that he began to feel outraged. O'Brien is the president of DePaul Psi Chi, an honors society for psychology students.
"She looked at it and said, 'God I wish his name wasn't on there,' and I said 'You're right.' It's a moral stain on our young professionals' degrees. I don't believe he should be signing off on our young professionals in the world given what's alleged against him in the Hoffman Report ... it's unacceptable.
Since launching the petition, a number of students who are members of various organizations at the university have joined O'Brien's efforts.
Sana Malik, a senior at DePaul and biology major, pointed to the fact that she, along with many fellow students, believe in using science for good, not harm.
"I've worked so hard for four years trying to get a science degree. For us to be under a dean that has used science for harm and [to] manipulate and torture, I feel as though that shouldn't be the case," she said.
Another senior, Dylan Matthew, agreed, saying, "My conscience is always upset whenever we hear of these torture techniques being used. My conscience is even more upset when it's being used by someone at DePaul."
O'Brien said he'll be hosting more rallies and events in the coming weeks to continue to put pressure on the university to remove Koocher from his position.
"The social equality, the value system, honoring human dignity and doing no harm ... all of these values we hold dear at DePaul. It feels absolutely violated when Dr. Koocher continues as dean."
"This affects us as an institution permanently if we don't handle it correctly," he said.
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