May 20, 2014
Three cheers for former Princeton President William Bowen who went to Haverford after their original commencement speaker, former chancellor of the University of California at Berekely, Robert Birgeneau, dropped out in the face of a campus protest because of his actions to forcibly remove Occupy protesters at the Berkeley campus.
Bowen took on the self-appointed jury and reminded them that at a college campus, of all places, there is room for a variety of opinions. The Washington Post has a fine editorial on the subject here.
I must say, of all the ways I wish secular universities would ape our Catholic schools, these fights over commencement speakers would not be at the top of the list.
