Condoleeza Rice, Former Secretary of State, Drops $35,000 Rutgers Commencement Speech Amid Backlash: Students and Professors Sit-in Protested Her Involvement in Iraq War
Commencement speeches given every year at college graduations and they tend not to garner much attention unless the speaker is famous. However, infamy has proven just as resourceful. It is the latter that made former Secretary of State Rice back away from Rutgers University's commencement speech.
Condoleezza Rice was the United States' Secretary of State during the presidency of George W. Bush, between 2005 and 2009. Before then, she was the National Security Advisor to the president. She was invited to give the commencement speech at the Rutgers University's New Brunswick campus; however, students began protesting the decision to have her speak, according to USA Today.
Around 150 students and professors protested the decision by staging a sit-in at Rutgers President Robert Barchi's office this past Wednesday. The protestors, many of whom were Muslim, argued that Rice should not be given such an honor because of her role in the beginning of the Iraq War.
"I think the commitment to having her speak has been made, and she lacks the dignity to withdraw. And so her commencement speech will go ahead," said Rudolph Bell, a history professor who organized a teach-in protest of Rice, according to USA Today. "We will be going forward with our teaching. We hope the educational process will result in continual ripples in the fall where students and faculty take back their rightful role of selecting the commencement speaker."
Rice would be paid $35,000 for giving her speech and the university administration did not make a comment on the protest but rather lauded Rice's work as "one of the most influential intellectual and political figures of the last 50 years."
However, on Saturday, Rice announced that she would not be giving the commencement speech at Rutgers. The Star-Ledger reports that Rice decided to decline the invitation due to the backlash and will not be speaking at the May 18 ceremony.
"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," Rice said in a statement. She then added she was proud of her service to her country. Two hours later, Rutgers' administration released a statement of their own.
"While Rutgers University stands fully behind the invitation to Dr. Rice to be our commencement speaker and receive an honorary degree, we respect the decision she made and clearly articulated in her statement this morning," said Barchi. "Now is the time to focus on our commencement, a day to celebrate the accomplishments and promising futures of our graduates. We look forward to joining them and their families on May 18, 2014."
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