Everything is political these days. Even commencement speeches.

[Lead]

Everything is political these days. Even commencement speeches.

Lukianoff's organization, known as FIRE, has done preliminary research into how many speakers have withdrawn their names, had invitations revoked or been the subject of protests for commencement speeches during the school year. There have been at least 145 instances since 1987, with almost 100 of those coming in the last five years.

What do you all think? As much as you disagree with a politicians ideology or stances, isn't it far better to welcome those opposing views rather than shutting them out? It shocks me that universities have turned away people like Hilary Clinton, Mitt Romney, and Condeleeza Rice over a bunch of dick students protesting. I would be pretty happy to have any of those people take time to speak specifically to me and forward advice.

 

[ABACA]

When has anything not been political? How is having Hillary Clinton, Mitt Romney, or Condoleeza Rice as a commencement speaker not political?

 

[Lead]

When has anything not been political? How is having Hillary Clinton, Mitt Romney, or Condoleeza Rice as a commencement speaker not political?

The point is having them dismissed for a scheduled commencement speech. It use to be far less common in the past and now we are seeing it as a common theme in the past few years.

 

[Count Zero]

When has anything not been political? How is having Hillary Clinton, Mitt Romney, or Condoleeza Rice as a commencement speaker not political?

Is it impossible that it's not as much about their personal political beliefs as it is about their position in the political system and/or historical significance ?

 

[ABACA]

The point is having them dismissed for a scheduled commencement speech. It use to be far less common in the past and now we are seeing it as a common theme in the past few years.

How is that any more "political" than having party aligned politicians give commencement speeches?

You don't seem to have an issue with politics being injected into aspects of life, you just seem to have a problem with whose politics get injected. Are they the politics of the university administrators? No problem! Are they the politics of the students? "Oh no, teh politicizing!"

 

[CableandThanos]

When has anything not been political? How is having Hillary Clinton, Mitt Romney, or Condoleeza Rice as a commencement speaker not political?

You know it is possible for a political person to make a speech not about politics--RIGHT?

What is wrong with Hillary or Condy, getting on stage and congratulating these kids and telling them to work hard and put there degrees to good use? Giving them examples of how they used their degrees or how they worked hard to achieve a goal.

Hillary doesn't have to get on stage and tell the kids were the local planned parenthood is, and Condy doesn't have to try and get everyone to agree with why they went into Iraq.

Get on stage, congratulate the kids, give an example of you working hard and using your degree, tell them to try and work hard and be a good person. The end.

 

[Lead]

How is that any more "political" than having party aligned politicians give commencement speeches?

You don't seem to have an issue with politics being injected into aspects of life, you just seem to have a problem with whose politics get injected. Are they the politics of the university administrators? No problem! Are they the politics of the students? "Oh no, teh politicizing!"

I think you're missing the point of what the author was addressing and instead just reading the title (which I guess is a poor title to the content). The point is that it's disheartening to have some of the most experience people in government/private sector/etc be turned down over something a sector of the students disagree with, especially when a commencement speech is usually a fairly general speech about life and reflection.

 

[Lead]

You know it is possible for a political person to make a speech not about politics--RIGHT?

What is wrong with Hillary or Condy, getting on stage and congratulating these kids and telling them to work hard and put there degrees to good use? Giving them examples of how they used their degrees or how they worked hard to achieve a goal.

Hillary doesn't have to get on stage and tell the kids were the local planned parenthood is, and Condy doesn't have to try and get everyone to agree with why they went into Iraq.

Get on stage, congratulate the kids, give an example of you working hard and using your degree, tell them to try and work hard and be a good person. The end.

Yes, thank you. The point is to have a distinguished/successful speaker give some insight into how they got to their position and encourage the students to go out and succeed the same. The article is trying to point out that divisions are growing too hard between different viewpoints and it's leading to shunning, which ultimately is a sign that our education is becoming less open-minded and diverse.

Anyone can shun a person for one viewpoint or another but it takes a better person to be able to look at the bigger picture, set aside the disagreements, and try to learn what they can from that figure/event/ect.

 

[Higus]

How is that any more "political" than having party aligned politicians give commencement speeches?

You don't seem to have an issue with politics being injected into aspects of life, you just seem to have a problem with whose politics get injected. Are they the politics of the university administrators? No problem! Are they the politics of the students? "Oh no, teh politicizing!"

I get where you are coming from. I think we live in very divisive times, politically, and its difficult to escape an "us vs them" narrative no matter what your intentions are. Having a politician speak at a commencement is inviting a distraction from the students.
I also think we live at a time where politicians have become more celebrities than actual lawmakers and leaders. Universities would be better off having distinguished leaders in medicine, engineering, business, literature or some other fields give commencement speeches. We don't ask the Kardashians to give out speeches.

 

[ABACA]

You know it is possible for a political person to make a speech not about politics--RIGHT?

I'm guessing you don't understand this, but there is no such thing as an apolitical speech. A not explicitly political speech is still political in that it tacitly endorses the status quo it does not challenge. Just as a a sitcom featuring a stay at home mother is supporting conservative gender roles (and thus the political economics on which these gender roles are built) unless it explicitly examines the gender roles, so to does an "apolitical" speech tacitly support political and economic norms.

This is further exasperated when you have a politician as the speaker - does anyone think Rice was invited to give a commencement speech due to her accomplishments as a pianist? What makes Rice important as a person is her political career.

What is wrong with Hillary or Condy, getting on stage and congratulating these kids and telling them to work hard and put there degrees to good use? Giving them examples of how they used their degrees or how they worked hard to achieve a goal.

Hillary doesn't have to get on stage and tell the kids were the local planned parenthood is, and Condy doesn't have to try and get everyone to agree with why they went into Iraq.

Get on stage, congratulate the kids, give an example of you working hard and using your degree, tell them to try and work hard and be a good person. The end.

What is wrong with Hillary or Condy not getting on stage and congratulating these adults? If they're looking for someone to talk about hard work (of all things) there are plenty of people who haven't been key architects of the propaganda campaign behind the Iraq invasion or the assassination of American citizens that could give the commencement speech instead.

 

[CableandThanos]

I'm guessing you don't understand this, but there is no such thing as an apolitical speech. A not explicitly political speech is still political in that it tacitly endorses the status quo it does not challenge. Just as a a sitcom featuring a stay at home mother is supporting conservative gender roles (and thus the political economics on which these gender roles are built) unless it explicitly examines the gender roles, so to does an "apolitical" speech tacitly support political and economic norms.

This is further exasperated when you have a politician as the speaker - does anyone think Rice was invited to give a commencement speech due to her accomplishments as a pianist? What makes Rice important as a person is her political career.



What is wrong with Hillary or Condy not getting on stage and congratulating these adults? If they're looking for someone to talk about hard work (of all things) there are plenty of people who haven't been key architects of the propaganda campaign behind the Iraq invasion or the assassination of American citizens that could give the commencement speech instead.

You must live a sad and pathetic life. A speech can never just be a speech, there always has to be some underlying, hidden agenda, political valuation, social meaning. Why does a speech have to challenge or endorse anything. Why can't the speech also mean that there will be people in life that you don't agree with and that you will still have to work with them in life. In most peoples life, we can't pick and choose our co-workers. I know these college brats are use to picking and choosing who they hang out with and spend time with, but guess what, when they get into the real world, they are not going to be able to do that. It's pitiful that You and these kids can't separate a person from a choice they made or a choice that was made in the administration they work for.

You can celebrate Rice or Hillary and their rise to high ranking government positions without endorsing the decisions they made. Just like you can celebrate a CEO even though she had an abortion in the past or laid off people to keep the companys profits up.

It really is sad that you go through life thinking like this.

If you get a CEO of a company to come and talk, are you going to deny him because his company had layoffs at one point?

 

[MicroBrew]

You must live a sad and pathetic life. A speech can never just be a speech, there always has to be some underlying, hidden agenda, political valuation, social meaning. Why does a speech have to challenge or endorse anything. Why can't the speech also mean that there will be people in life that you don't agree with and that you will still have to work with them in life. In most peoples life, we can't pick and choose our co-workers. I know these college brats are use to picking and choosing who they hang out with and spend time with, but guess what, when they get into the real world, they are not going to be able to do that. It's pitiful that You and these kids can't separate a person from a choice they made or a choice that was made in the administration they work for.

You can celebrate Rice or Hillary and their rise to high ranking government positions without endorsing the decisions they made. Just like you can celebrate a CEO even though she had an abortion in the past or laid off people to keep the companys profits up.

It really is sad that you go through life thinking like this.

If you get a CEO of a company to come and talk, are you going to deny him because his company had layoffs at one point?

Anytime Rice gets up on a podium people are reminded of how she supported the Cheney/Rummy NeoCon agenda, and this rubs a lot of people the wrong way.

So when Rice or Hillary or Albright or some other major political figure who has had a major impact on our domestic and foreign policy is afforded a very public platform, it is perceived as tacit support of the person.

 

[CableandThanos]

Anytime Rice gets up on a podium people are reminded of how she supported the Cheney/Rummy NeoCon agenda, and this rubs a lot of people the wrong way.

So when Rice or Hillary or Albright or some other major political figure who has had a major impact on our domestic and foreign policy is afforded a very public platform, it is perceived as tacit support of the person.

So if a person who has had a DUI gets to speak, does that mean the university supports drunk driving?

What about a person that has had an abortion? Does that mean the university supports abortion?

So basically no one political, or anyone who has ever had any criminal history, or any CEO, no movie stars that have spoke out politically, etc.

So basically No one that anyone has heard of because there will be a certain percentage of students who don't agree with a choice they have made or their thoughts?

I guess maybe we can get MR. Johnson, the baker from down the street, as long as we vet him and make sure he has never voted, never donated to a political campaign, never said anything bad on facebook or any other forum, and make sure no one has ever heard him say something controversial in public!!!

BUT NO WE CAN'T GET MR JOHNSON, HE IS A MALE, THIS MEANS THAT UNIVERSITIES SUPPORT THE PATRIARCHAL SOCIETY!!!!!


I'm good at this, I should go back to college and protest everything!!!!!!

 

[ABACA]

You must live a sad and pathetic life.

That's great brah, maybe I can tie up a woman for you to bunch and we can all feel better.

A speech can never just be a speech, there always has to be some underlying, hidden agenda, political valuation, social meaning.

There's nothing hidden about it. You are just too poorly educated to understand that society is dynamic and all aspects of it have changed based on material conditions. Speeches that don't acknowledge this, that is - speeches, research, anything that doesn't acknowledge the historical context of the current situation - are inherently biased and blinded by their own prejudices.

Why does a speech have to challenge or endorse anything.

I already explained, clearly and concisely, why there is no such thing as apolitical speech.

Why can't the speech also mean that there will be people in life that you don't agree with and that you will still have to work with them in life. In most peoples life, we can't pick and choose our co-workers. I know these college brats are use to picking and choosing who they hang out with and spend time with, but guess what, when they get into the real world, they are not going to be able to do that. It's pitiful that You and these kids can't separate a person from a choice they made or a choice that was made in the administration they work for.

What the fuck does this have to do with anything? Once again, you are upset that the students' and/or faculty's choice is different than the administration's. Why can't the administration deal with the fact that they have to deal with people they disagree with (trick question, the school administrations seem to understand this - just conservatards who can't).

You can celebrate Rice or Hillary and their rise to high ranking government positions without endorsing the decisions they made. Just like you can celebrate a CEO even though she had an abortion in the past or laid off people to keep the companys profits up.

Great, so we are now using college commencements to celebrate the exercise of authority? How does that align with the educational role of universities?

It really is sad that you go through life thinking like this.

Very sad, if only I had more subdued women to beat.

If you get a CEO of a company to come and talk, are you going to deny him because his company had layoffs at one point?

I'm not going to do shit because I'm not a college student or faculty member. But apparently you think college students and faculties should not have a voice in the matter.

 

[Lead]

What is wrong with Hillary or Condy not getting on stage and congratulating these adults? If they're looking for someone to talk about hard work (of all things) there are plenty of people who haven't been key architects of the propaganda campaign behind the Iraq invasion or the assassination of American citizens that could give the commencement speech instead.

Please tell me a list of good candidates you have and we can take time to take an extreme position on how evil they are.

 

[ABACA]

Please tell me a list of good candidates you have and we can take time to take an extreme position on how evil they are.

Good question, but like I said to CandT, its not up to me since I have no actual involvement in the graduation process.

If I had to do it over again, I'd opt for no commencement speaker (and no silly graduation ceremony in general).

 

[Uchi Mata]

Everything is political these days. Even commencement speeches.



What do you all think? As much as you disagree with a politicians ideology or stances, isn't it far better to welcome those opposing views rather than shutting them out? It shocks me that universities have turned away people like Hilary Clinton, Mitt Romney, and Condeleeza Rice over a bunch of dick students protesting. I would be pretty happy to have any of those people take time to speak specifically to me and forward advice.

It's elite private school PC BS. Anyone who's attained any level of prominence in public life will have made decisions that turn out to be misguided or are unpopular by the standards of academia, you can't hold that against them or you won't have any speakers. You don't want Rice because of Iraq? Okay, that's a pretty big deal. But then rejecting someone because they once served on the board of Goldman Sachs? Come on.

 

[CableandThanos]

That's great brah, maybe I can tie up a woman for you to bunch and we can all feel better.



I appreciate the offer of you tying up women and then bunching them??? Do you have a lot of experience in tying up women?? I guess since I'm politically stupid, can you tell me what bunching is? Since every speech or conversation has a hidden underlying meaning, I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say you have issues with women and you feel impotent around them. The only way you can feel like a man is to have them in submissive position. Then you get off on the power instead of the actual please a woman may bring you.

Man, I guess you were right, every speech/conversation does have an underlying meaning, Thanks for helping to shed some light.



There's nothing hidden about it. You are just too poorly educated to understand that society is dynamic and all aspects of it have changed based on material conditions. Speeches that don't acknowledge this, that is - speeches, research, anything that doesn't acknowledge the historical context of the current situation - are inherently biased and blinded by their own prejudices.


Society is dynamic and all aspects have changed based on material conditions???

What the funk does that gotta do with a person getting up on stage and saying good job, congrats on the degree.





Very sad, if only I had more subdued women to beat.



I guess we don't need to think of the underlying meaning of this. We get it, you like to subdue women and take advantage of them. Why you are admitting this on the internet I have no idea.




I'm not going to do shit because I'm not a college student or faculty member. But apparently you think college students and faculties should not have a voice in the matter.



They can have a voice, but eventually they can be told to shut up. if they don't like it don't attend. Amazing how liberals say that about everything else. If you don't want to see gays kissing on tv, change the channel.

Well if you don't wanna listen to Hillary speak, don't show up!!

Responses to your somewhat scary reply highlighted in the above post.

 

[MicroBrew]

So if a person who has had a DUI gets to speak, does that mean the university supports drunk driving?

What about a person that has had an abortion? Does that mean the university supports abortion?

So basically no one political, or anyone who has ever had any criminal history, or any CEO, no movie stars that have spoke out politically, etc.

So basically No one that anyone has heard of because there will be a certain percentage of students who don't agree with a choice they have made or their thoughts?

I guess maybe we can get MR. Johnson, the baker from down the street, as long as we vet him and make sure he has never voted, never donated to a political campaign, never said anything bad on facebook or any other forum, and make sure no one has ever heard him say something controversial in public!!!

BUT NO WE CAN'T GET MR JOHNSON, HE IS A MALE, THIS MEANS THAT UNIVERSITIES SUPPORT THE PATRIARCHAL SOCIETY!!!!!


I'm good at this, I should go back to college and protest everything!!!!!!

How can you compare an individual DUI or Abortion to major foreign and or domestic policy that has negatively impacted millions.

The other thing is that a commoner with a DUI is still a commoner; how many people would even know said person had a DUI . Not so with Condi or Albright or Hillary; everyone knows them . Don't you think people would disapprove of Donald Sterling if he was asked to give a commencement speech; Sterling after all is a successfull business man.

 

[CableandThanos]

How can you compare an individual DUI or Abortion to major foreign and or domestic policy that has negatively impacted millions.

The other thing is that a commoner with a DUI is still a commoner; how many people would even know said person had a DUI . Not so with Condi or Albright or Hillary; everyone knows them . Don't you think people would disapprove of Donald Sterling if he was asked to give a commencement speech; Sterling after all is a successfull business man.

Sorry I should have put an emoticon or something, I was being playful by basically saying that if we judge everyone by decisions or decisions that were made by their bosses, then the list would be slim of who to get to come and speak.