I have an idea. How about having the president of Liberty University announce that he’s invited HBO comedian Bill Maher to give the commencement address next year and that he will pay Mr. Maher $30,000 for the privilege and bestow him an honorary degree. Does Kirsten Powers think that maybe the students and faculty at Liberty University might issue a petition protesting that decision? Does she think that it would be appropriate to invite someone to Liberty to speak to the graduates who thinks that God is a “psychotic mass murderer”? Does she think an honorary degree for Richard Dawkins would go down any better?
I’m not going to defend every example of college faculty and student bodies protesting commencement speakers, but inviting Condi Rice to do the commencement at Rutgers and giving her an honorary degree is roughly equivalent to sending Madalyn Murray O’Hare to do the commencement at Bob Jones University. It’s poor judgment, bad taste, and completely inconsiderate. An apologist for torture and an architect of George W. Bush’s foreign policy is in no way consistent with the values that Rutgers tries to instill in its students. Honoring Dr. Rice with a degree diminishes to a great extent the degrees the graduates have earned and are receiving.
This isn’t about intolerance. It’s about morality. It’s about common sense. It’s about protocol. It’s about manners.
If Dr. Rice wants to come to Rutgers during the school year and explain why she told us that Saddam Hussein was going to surprise us with a radioactive mushroom cloud, I am sure the students would hear her out. But she doesn’t belong within a country mile of a commencement speech, and she sure as hell doesn’t deserve to be honored. Not her. Not in Jersey.
