The Foreign Service Journal, April 2015

the Foreign Service journal | April 2015 11 as does her proposed rem- edy: that the judges “men- tor, guide and nominate for awards those who are not like us.” Who, then, in Ms. Schneller’s view, is “us”? To go in the direction she suggests would put all of us on a slippery slope that would distort both the ideal of diversity and the fundamental premises on which our country is based. Robert M. Beecroft Ambassador, retired Mette O. Beecroft Bethesda, Md. AFSA Support for Diversity I would like to publicly thank Rachel Schneller for her letter to the editor in the December 2014 issue, “More Diversity on FSJ Pages, Please.” AFSA enjoys a wide range of views on all kinds of issues, and Rachel’s letter sparked replies from other AFSA members, also published in the Journal . That diversity of views is a sign of healthy engagement. I want to let readers know that AFSA has taken action in response to Rachel’s concern over the lack of diversity among AFSA award winners, a concern I share. This concern does not impinge on the outstanding achievements of our dissent winners last year. As others have noted, the AFSA Awards Committee is depen- dent on award nominations. In January and February, AFSA reached out to the different affinity groups in the foreign affairs agencies to talk about the association and its programs, including the AFSA awards program. At a meeting at AFSA head- quarters attended by the affinity groups’ leaderships, I met one-on-one with several affinity group heads, to ask them to spread the word about AFSA’s award programs and encourage nomi- nations from their ranks. I ask all of you to think of your colleagues and nominate one or more of them for an AFSA performance or dissent award. There is amazing work being done everywhere by members of the Foreign Service. I want to encourage you to ensure all of this work is recognized. Bob Silverman AFSA President Washington, D.C. A Clarification In the January-February FSJ , retired FSO Carroll Brown chronicled challenges he faced while seeking consular services abroad in a letter to the editor. Mr. Brown wrote that the State Department’s Ben- elux desk was unresponsive to his queries. Unfortunately, while AFSA in good faith attempted to convey Mr. Brown’s queries to the desk on his behalf, an administrative error prevented their proper transmission, resulting in those concerns not being received by the Ben- elux desk. As AFSA executive director, I accept responsibility. AFSA has apologized to both Mr. Brown and the Benelux desk for the miscommunication and any incon- venience to those concerned. Ian Houston AFSA Executive Director Washington, D.C. Correction We regret an error in the obituary for Ambassador Robert V. Keeley in the March print edition of the Journal . Though Amb. Keeley was quoted in Sideshow: Kissinger, Nixon and the Destruction of Cambodia (1979), that book’s author is William Shawcross, not Keeley. n