Here is the latest example of “tolerance” from academia…and the left wing zealots who appear, more and more, to be in complete charge of it.
Excerpted from an article at nationalreview.com:
Former Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice is withdrawing from the Rutgers commencement ceremony.
Her invitation by the school\’s board of governors had sparked protests from faculty and students, and now Rice has decided not to speak to avoid creating a distraction.
In a statement to be released this morning, Rice says,
Commencement should be a time of joyous celebration for the graduates and their families. Rutgers\’ invitation to me to speak has become a distraction for the university community at this very special time. I am honored to have served my country. I have defended America\’s belief in free speech and the exchange of ideas. These values are essential to the health of our democracy. But that is not what is at issue here. As a Professor for thirty years at Stanford University and as it\’s former Provost and Chief academic officer, I understand and embrace the purpose of the commencement ceremony and I am simply unwilling to detract from it in any way.
Good luck to the graduates and congratulations to the families, friends and loved ones who will gather to honor them.
Opposition to Rice had focused on her support for the Iraq war and Bush policies in the war on terror. Rutgers faculty at the New Brunswick campus approved a resolution calling for Rice to be disinvited, citing her role in the Bush administration’s alleged “effort to mislead the American people about the presence of weapons of mass destruction.”
Protesting students had occupied the office of the president the other day, with signs reading “No honors for war criminals” and “War criminals out.”
My congratulations to the school administration for its cowardice. And to the protestors for, among other things, being ignorant of the fact that virtually every leading Democrat is on record as stating that Iraq had WMD\’s, no less than President Bush and the people in his administration.
What a proud moment for Rutgers.
On a more general note, how many times has this happened over recent years that a conservative speaker, or anyone at all who was appointed by a conservative President, is forced not to speak at a university? Not just commencement addresses, but speaking at all?
I\’ve lost count.
This is academic “tolerance”? This is the academic ideal of hearing all points of view and discussing them?
Little wonder so many students leave college as left wing robots……until, in at least some cases (not enough), the real world breaks through to them? Maybe it will happen for some of the brownshirt wannabes at Rutgers. I hope so, for their sake.
