By Victor Ordonez
Fordham alumni and former director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) John Brennan, FCRH ’77, has been appointed to be the Distinguished Fellow for Global Security at Fordham Law School’s Center on National Security.
Stephen Freedman, university provost, announced Sept. 4 that Brennan would be the first to hold such a title at the center. He listed Brennan’s experience as a contributing factor to the decision.
“Brennan will contribute his expertise and insights as a leading practitioner in national security to the Center on National Security’s mission of bringing to public attention issues of national security, foreign policy, governance, and the rule of law,” said Freedman.
Brennan was the class of 2012’s commencement speaker and received an honorary degree from the university. He also received the Brien McMahon Award for Distinguished Public Service from Rev. Joseph M. McShane, S.J., president of the university, in Sept. 2012.
Controversy followed Brennan at his recent appearances at the university due to the CIA’s policy on torture under his leadership.
Faculty and students demanded the university rescind Brennan’s honorary degrees in 2015. In a petition that received 180 signatures, signees said “Mr. Brennan is complicit with the war crimes and human rights abuses documented by the Senate.”
However, McShane announced that the Board of Trustees unanimously rejected the petition in May 2015.
“While the Board and I condemn torture and extrajudicial imprisonment in the strongest possible terms, as a public servant, Mr. Brennan does not set the policies that have led us to this place, but rather is responsible to the elected officials, including the President, who have,” read the university statement from McShane.
Brennan’s views on interrogation have been besieged with criticism for much of his career. In 2008 he was forced to withdraw his name from consideration for a top intelligence position within the Obama Administration whence his stance on controversial acts like waterboarding became public.
Brennan has 33 years of experience in government service and served as Director of the CIA under the Obama administration. During this time he served as Deputy National Security Advisor, Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism and founding Director of the National Counterterrorism Center.
In an interview with The New York Times John Brennan said that his primary focus as Fellow for Global Security would be issues surrounding the country’s foreign policy, including North Korea. “There is no easy or fast solution, but we cannot allow Kim Jong-un to continue on the path he is on,” Mr. Brennan said in the interview.
Although Brennan is the first person to be named Distinguished fellow for Global Security at the Center, he stands among many other prestigious fellows. These members include terrorism expert Peter Bergen, staff writer for the New Yorker Lawrence Wright and former Pentagon official Michael Sheehan.
