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Michael Bellesiles' Bancroft Award?
To Columbia University Officials

by Angel Shamaya
Director@KeepAndBearArms.com

December 10, 2002

From: "Angel Shamaya" <Director@KeepAndBearArms.com
To: bollinger@columbia.edu, rupp@theIRC.org, ab65@columbia.edu, sloan@columbia.edu  
Subject: Michael Bellesiles' Bancroft Award?
Date sent: Mon, 09 Dec 2002 23:50:31 -0700

To:
Lee C. Bollinger, President
bollinger@columbia.edu

George Rupp, Past President 
rupp@theIRC.org

Alan Brinkley, Allan Nevins Professor of History/Department Chair
ab65@columbia.edu

Elaine Sloan, Vice President for Information Services/University Librarian 
sloan@columbia.edu

RE: Michael Bellesiles' Bancroft Award

We understand you're considering the revocation of the Bancroft Award from debunked professor Michael Bellesiles for his fraudulent work in the fictional novel entitled Arming America.

The fact that you haven't already done so tarnishes the Bancroft's many winners who actually deserved the award.

We polled our website visitors and members at to whether or not they thought Mr. Bellesiles' unearned award should be revoked and thought we'd share the numbers with you.

The question we asked:  "Should Columbia University revoke the Bancroft prize awarded to Michael Bellesiles for his fraudulent book "Arming America"?"

1,456 people voted.

96.5% said yes.

That's 1,405 people who see clearly what you might consider seeing and acting upon -- that allowing a fraud to keep an award he won under false pretenses is wrong.

http://keepandbeararms.com/polls/pollmentorres.asp?id=81

FYI, we don't want you to revoke this novelist's award because he claimed firearms weren't owned by the people who defeated the greatest military power on the planet over two centuries ago. We want you to revoke his award because he lied through his teeth to achieve a political objective by asserting such an absurd notion -- and the national community of activist writers should not be allowed to think they can get away with such overt deception.

Respectfully,

Angel Shamaya
Founder/Executive Director
KeepAndBearArms.com