Forget about their students not making it to graduation. Now colleges have to wonder whether their speakers will.
From former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to the head of the International Monetary Fund and the ex-chancellor of the University of California, Berkeley, the list of commencement speakers backing out following student and faculty protests continues to grow.
Former UC Berkeley Chancellor Robert Birgeneau, a champion of students in the country illegally, had been scheduled to speak at Haverford College’s ceremony in the suburbs of Philadelphia, but was opposed over the use of force by university police during the Occupy movement. He backed out of the speech on Monday.
Rice canceled her speech at Rutgers University earlier this month and International Monetary Fund Director Christine Lagarde pulled out of the Smith College Commencement, also on Monday.
Brandeis University, meanwhile, withdrew its offer of an honorary degree to Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a Muslim women’s advocate who has made comments critical of Islam.
“We refer to it as disinvitation season,” said Robert Shibley, senior vice president at the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, who sees the move toward getting ― or trying to get ― controversial speakers kicked off programs intensifying.
Even first lady Michelle Obama stayed away from a high school graduation in Topeka, Kansas, after a petition begun by parents and students worried about having enough seats for family.
