Students Oppose Giuliani As Speaker

AP via NYTimes.com ^ | 5/1/02

[GeneD]

Filed at 3:17 p.m. ET

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) -- Former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani's treatment of minorities and homeless people led some Syracuse University students to oppose him as commencement speaker, but the school refused to rescind the invitation.

Chancellor Kenneth Shaw met Tuesday night with about 40 students upset over Giuliani's record as mayor.

Giuliani, who gained widespread attention for his resolve following the Sept. 11 attacks, was the top choice of student body representatives on a selection panel that helped choose a speaker for the May 12 commencement, school spokesman Kevin Morrow said.

Student Association President Colin Seale, a sophomore, said ``the fact that the university didn't take into consideration the feelings of hundreds of students is an atrocity.''

Giuliani's relationship with the city's minority communities was strained, particularly after the police killing of one black man, Amadou Diallo, and a brutal attack by police on another, Abner Louima. He also drew criticism when he initiated a crackdown on homeless people sleeping on public sidewalks.

Giuliani spokeswoman Sunny Mindel had no comment about the student reaction.

Shaw told the students he had appointed a committee to review the process used to select commencement speakers, Morrow said.

Bobby Ferringo, a senior, said that even if he is controversial, Giuliani is an important figure.

``I'm interested in seeing what he has to say,'' Ferringo said.

[Michael2001]

Bobby Ferringo, a senior, said that even if he is controversial, Giuliani is an important figure.

Controversial only to the super PC. 90% of Americans like the guy

[anniegetyourgun]

ROFL! Betcha not one of those 40 "students" who took up "the cause" have ever done a thing for a single homeless person in their puny little lives.

[let freedom sing]

How does 40 students translate to the feelings of hundreds of students not being considered?

[Lucius Cornelius Sulla]

Student Association President Colin Seale, a sophomore, said ``the fact that the university didn't take into consideration the feelings of hundreds of students is an atrocity.''

This guy must be some kind of idiot. Syracuse is an enormous University, you could probably find hundreds of students to oppose anybody. Since we are talking about atrocities, what do you suppose this nimrod considers 9/11 to be?

[areafiftyone]

Alread posted HERE with an update

[Rome2000]

``I'm interested in seeing what he has to say,''

Hearing

[OldFriend]

Let them eat hilary!

[GeneD]

I always seem to do this. Grrrrrr! Thank you for pointing it out.

[areafiftyone]

Two different titles. Makes it harder to do a search. :-)

[jpl]

No sane, law-abiding person of any color would want to go back to what New York City was like before Rudy cleaned it up. I know because I lived there at the time. To see what things were like back then, go to San Francisco today and take a good look around.

[Steve_Seattle]

"the feelings of hundreds of students"

If those hundreds of students happened to be conservatives or Christians, Colin Seale would say, "We can't let free speech be infringed by a small minority of right-wingers who aren't representative of the student body as a whole. I think it's important for people hear things that they don't want to hear, especially on a college campus. That's what an education is all about."

[maxwellp]

Some years ago, and I think it was when Matt Drudge was still on TV, we saw a commencement that Bill Clinton attended. Their was some sort of a receiving line and Clinton was sticking out his hand to shake with the graduates. We were stunned to see so many of them ignore his hand and walk right past. I remember thinking, "There's hope for America yet". We only saw this once and never heard about it again. I'll always remember these students.

[onedoug]

Homeless is perjorative for bum.

[Physicist]

As an alumnus of SU ('86), I'm glad to hear that the Chancellor didn't cave to the demands of a relative few (there are probably at least 2500-3000 graduating seniors).

I'm sure that the majority of the students are excited about having Giuliani as their speaker, as SU has always had a large portion of it's student population come from the NYC/Long Island/North Jersey area.

I wasn't too impressed with the commencement speaker we had in 1986--Mario Cuomo.

MrsPhysicist

[RobbyS]

Just another example of the radical left on campus. You can be sure he is parroting what his professors have said.

[NCDoc]

My recently graduated daughter had the misfortune of having Maya Angelou as her commencement speaker. The woman is a mental turd, and we unfortunately had to sit through her speech, which bordered on the incomprehensible.