Robert B. Sklaroff, M.D., F.A.C.P.

Medical Oncology/Hematology  Telephone: (215) 333-4900

 Facsimile: (215) 333-2023
Smylie Times Building - Suite #500-C
8001 Roosevelt Boulevard  rsklaroff@gmail.com
Philadelphia, PA 19152
February 14, 2019

To: Patrick J. O’Connor, Esq., Chair, Temple University Board of Trustees – Plus Trustees
Re: Marc Lamont Hill, Ph.D. [D.O.B. 12/17/1978]
Cc: [https://tinyurl.com/y2dmrpgo]

The opinions published by Temple-News reflect failures of both education and journalism, illustrated by
noting three opinion pieces published during recent days. The manifestation of underlying
intersectionality has again been promulgated by perpetuating the claim of African-American enslavement
[https://temple-news.com/black-people-are-the-makers-of-modern-day-america-so-why-are-we-still-
enslaved/] and the combination of racism and homophobia was prematurely claimed to have motivated
“someone” to attack Jussie Smollett [https://temple-news.com/one-hate-crime-two-communities/].

Ignored, however, was the report that police are investigating whether Jussie Smollett staged this attack
with help of others and, thus, is allegedly being written off “Empire” [https://abc7chicago.com/sources-
smollett-staged-attack-with-help-of-others-allegedly-being-written-off-empire/5138497/]. Regardless,
the take-home message is that reflex-adoption of left-wing postures impugns the cred of this “watchdog.”
I submitted this information about Smollett—with a hyperlink—last night but, alas, it hasn’t emerged.
Ironically, a separate opinion-piece lamented the fundamental fact that “it’s a journalist’s duty to find the
whole story” [https://temple-news.com/haste-makes-waste-especially-in-journalism/].

The third problematic opinion-piece was manifest as an editorial attacking the Board of Trustees; it is
reprinted herein, followed by my rejoinder which hasn’t yet been submitted to the newspaper because,
based on what hasn’t happened with the Smollett scandal, it seems unlikely it will ever be uploaded.
Anyway, the editorial lambasting the thrust of Trustee policies AGAIN invoked incompletely and grossly
mischaracterizing the impact of MLH [https://temple-news.com/controversy-university/]. A typo has
been fixed [for “its” had constituted an “Elementary School Level” Grammatical Error due to the absence
of an apostrophe, for it denotes “it has”], but syntax hasn’t been altered, such as word-choice [“like”
instead of “as if”]. Emphasis has been placed upon assertions regarding the impact of MLH upon their
portrayal of challenges being faced by Temple, despite the fact that this constitutes a non sequitur:

Trustees: Take a hard look in the mirror

The Editorial Board wants the university to find ways to move forward from the barrage
of scandals its faced in the past years.

It seems like Temple University is becoming synonymous with controversy after a barrage
of incidents and scandals involving the university in the past few years.

Last semester, Temple’s trustees took aim at Marc Lamont Hill, whose comments on the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict stirred national outcry. Chairman Patrick O’Connor said
because of Hill the university could stand to lose significant funding from donors.

1
 But did he forget the $5.4 million-and-growing price tag on the Fox School of Business’
data reporting scandal? Or the two years of Bill Cosby’s trial, during which Temple —
unlike dozens of other schools — refused to take any action until a jury returned a guilty
verdict?

What about the ongoing conflict between Temple and our North Philadelphia neighbors
as the school pushes for an on-campus stadium? There was also that time former
president Neil Theobald fired former provost Hai-Lung Dai, the Board voted no confidence
in Theobald, and Dai then sued the president.

“One more headline risk or legal risk with Temple, I’m withdrawing my promise gift,”
alumna Ronnyjane Goldsmith told The Temple News. Goldsmith agreed to donate $2
million to the university at the time of her death, a hefty individual donation that could
be in jeopardy. She said liabilities before Hill’s speech, like Temple’s proposed stadium
and cuts to Temple Athletics in 2014, had already put her donation on shaky ground.

While Temple’s current controversies will have a lasting impact, it’s inaccurate for
O’Connor and the Board to claim Hill’s comments are the main reason for donors losing
confidence in the university. Internal missteps have been leading up to this moment for
years, and several donors’ testimonials are evidence of this.

Hill’s comments are simply one more challenge for the university added to an existing pile
of reputational problems. Instead of pointing fingers and laying the blame on one man,
the university should instead focus on improving and moving forward after each
controversy.

This comment regarding the editorial [supra] attacking the Trustees is “marinating”:

I am dismayed by both what is in this editorial—a broad-brush attack on the Trustees’

work—and what isn’t: recognition that Marc Lamont Hill should be fired ASAP because he
is a vile anarchist who incessantly demonstrates moral turpitude (by consistently
fomenting violence) and violates his contract (by inter alia failing to disclaim explicitly that
he is a Temple spokesperson).

While Trustees donating personal time and money to promote education and research
are besmirched, crass ignorance is championed by an Editorial Board that has FAILED to
perform due diligence scrutiny of Hill’s admittedly-“radical” speeches that overtly
undermine rule-of-law while advocating abolition of prisons and the policemen who
protect the citizenry. [https://tinyurl.com/y2dmrpgo]

Notwithstanding his support for Jew-hating Farrakhan, his advocacy for the destruction
of the State of Israel, and his devotion to a cop-killer fugitive … Hill conveyed disdain for
the need to optimize quality “communication” in the “media” regarding “urban” affairs—
undermining both the spirit and the letter of his departmental responsibilities—when he
led a “F*** CNN” chant on 1/17/2019 (which starts @ 2 minute mark).
[https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=marc+lamont+hill+youtube+2019&view=detai
l&mid=138F546FCA36F6B0E32E138F546FCA36F6B0E32E&FORM=VIRE]

2
 He claimed that Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. actually emulated the views of Malcolm
X WITHOUT citing a source, characteristic of promotion of the intersectionality of his self-
image, the Black Palestinian; he wants oppressed peoples around the world, particularly
fellow Muslims, to do MORE than to emulate the non-violence of MLK-Jr. and
Gandhi. [https://tinyurl.com/yd4m6np4]

Trustees can multitask, to wit, that they can be “pointing fingers and laying the blame on
one man” when condemnation is indicated AND can continue to “focus on improving and
moving forward after each controversy” pursuant to their duties as mandated by the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

{Documentation cited herein was provided personally by its author to two Temple-
News reporters at the NW corner of Broad St. and Cecil Bassett Moore Ave. at the
terminus of a pro-Hill march; he was not contacted thereafter and these trenchant data
were not conveyed in any subsequent article on this topic.}

Other opinion-pieces address oppressed “intersectional” minorities [https://temple-news.com/dont-

measure-my-blackness/ and https://temple-news.com/transgender-people-deserve-the-right-to-fight/]
uncritically, absent publication of alternative views; it is someone ironic that a lone piece recognized the
profound on-campus leftward political tilt [https://temple-news.com/healthy-political-debate-needs-a-
space-on-main-campus/]. In any case, the campus newspaper has demonstrated itself to be part of the
problem rather than a resource that could spearhead promotion of a solution to these concerns.

Of-interest are two self-depictions, noting that the publication used to emerge daily, MF→:

The Temple News has been the paper of record for the Temple University community
since it first printed as Temple University Weekly on Sept. 19, 1921. The award-winning
student publication, editorially independent of Temple, now publishes every Tuesday and
daily online. The Temple News distributes 5,000 printed copies, free of charge, to the
university’s primary locations in the Delaware Valley.

{and}

The Editorial Board is made up of The Temple News' Editor in Chief, Managing Editor,
Digital Managing Editor, Chief Copy Editor, News Editor and Opinion Editor. The views
expressed in editorials only reflect those of the Board, and not of the entire Temple News
staff. Follow The Temple News @TheTempleNews.