Leftist Ideas and Segregation Dominate Commencement Exercises

HERNDON, VA – The preponderance of commencement speakers at our nation's top colleges and universities were Democratic Party officials, leftist activists, and members of the old media, according to a survey released by Young America’s Foundation. The survey also uncovers separate graduation ceremonies for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgendered (LGBT) students as well as Black students.

Using U.S. News & World Report’s ranking of the nation’s top 100 colleges and universities, Young America’s Foundation found—for the thirteenth consecutive year—that commencement organizers chose the Tom Brokaws over the Sean Hannitys, the Marian Wright Edelmans over the Thomas Sowells, and the Desmond Tutus over the Antonin Scalias. That’s the bad news. The good news is that the Left’s stronghold is beginning to crack, as more conservatives and moderate Republicans are speaking at commencement ceremonies than in previous years.

Commenting on the study, Young America’s Foundation Spokesman Jason Mattera says, “It’s not surprising that the Left uses its stronghold on campus to give one last blast of the same old big government, multiculturalist, and anti-military message. This year’s commencement addresses disclose, however, that campus officials cannot completely ignore conservatives. The thousands of students packing rooms on campuses across America to hear Ben Stein, Dinesh D’Souza, and John Ashcroft reveal that young people want to hear conservative ideas, and that trend will only increase!”

The long parade of liberal figures delivering commencement addresses at top schools include former President Bill Clinton at Princeton University, Archbishop Desmond Tutu at the College of William and Mary, Illinois Senator Barack Obama at Northwestern University, California State Assemblyman Fabian Nunez at the University of California-Berkeley, General Wesley Clark at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, former Florida Senator Bob Graham at the University of Florida, Connecticut Congressman Rosa DeLauro at the University of Connecticut, Maryland Congressman Elijah E. Cummings at the University of Maryland, Virginia Governor Timothy Kaine at Virginia Tech, former Virginia Governor Mark Warner at Wake Forrest University, Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano at the University of Arizona, Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen at the University of Tennessee, Al Gore’s daughter Karenna Gore-Schiff at Columbia University, President of the National Urban League Marc Morial at the University of Pennsylvania, and Los Angeles Mayor Antonio R. Villaraigosa at the University of California-Los Angeles.

The old media was also profusely represented. This year’s cast includes NBC’s Tom Brokaw at Stanford University,CNN’s Anderson Cooper at Yale University,PBS’s Jim Lehrer at Harvard University,his wife Kate Lehrer at Texas Christian University,editorial page editor for The Atlanta Journal Constitution Cynthia Tuckerat the University of Florida, MSNBC’s Chris Matthews at Fordham University, former Los Angeles Times editor John S. Carroll at Penn State University, TIME’s editorial director John Huey at the University of Georgia, and The New York Times writer Paul Krugman at Clark University.

The commencement roster also included self-described Marxist Gustavo Esteva at the University of Vermont, global warming adherent Ralph Cicerone at North Carolina State University, poet Barbara Reyes at the University of California-Berkeley, Rockefeller Foundation President Judith Rodin at the University of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Corporation President Vartan Gregorian at Stanford University, embryonic stem-cell research proponent Robert Klein at the University of California-Berkeley, racial preferences champion and anti-Western civilization professor John Hope Franklin at Duke University, and leftist activist Harriet Mayor Fulbright at Stevens Institute of Technology.

Although Brown vs. the Board of Education held the practice of “separate but equal” as constitutionally prohibited, schools including Vanderbilt University, University of California-Berkeley, University of Michigan, and University of Minnesota are conducting “separate” graduation ceremonies for black students.

Instead of donning the traditional black gowns for graduation, many schools will hold separate recognition ceremonies for LGBT students. The schools holding “Lavender” graduations include the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, Duke University, Georgetown University, Princeton University, the University of California-Santa Barbara, Iowa State University, the University of California-Berkeley, the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, the University of California-Davis, and even the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Successful conservative media personalities such as Bill O’Reilly, Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter, and Matt Drudge are absent from the list of commencement speakers despite The Fox News Channel’s dominance in cable news and the success of talk radio. Miss Coulter, for instance, authored four books, each of which has been a New York Times bestseller. She frequently appears on television and is the most requested speaker on college campuses. Miss Coulter has never received an invitation to be a commencement speaker. Also missing from the list are conservative intellectuals such as Milton Friedman, William F. Buckley, Justice Clarence Thomas, and Chief Justice John Roberts. Schools, such as Yale, have a history of shunning conservatives on commencement day. For instance, Yale University hosted actress Jodie Foster in 1993, activist Sargent Shriver in 1994, former Baltimore Mayor Kurt Schmoke in 1995, actor Henry Winkler in 1996, author David McCullough in 1997, NBC’s Tom Brokaw in 1998, journalist Bob Woodward in 2000, Sen. Hillary Clinton in 2001, New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman in 2003, filmmaker Ken Burns in 2004, Democratic Congressman Eleanor Holmes Norton in 2005, and CNN’s Anderson Cooper in 2006.

On the bright side, this year’s complete list—found at www.yaf.org—features more conservatives than in previous years. For example, the roster includes Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice at Boston College, author Peggy Noonan at Miami University-Oxford, former New Jersey Governor Thomas H. Kean at Rutgers University, and Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao at MarquetteUniversity Not surprisingly, however, leftist professors at these schools are vocally protesting the appearance of these few conservatives addressing this year’s graduates.

For further information or to schedule an interview call Jason Mattera at (800) USA-1776 or (917) 754-3425

The good news is that the Left’s stronghold is beginning to crack, as more conservatives and moderate Republicans are speaking at commencement ceremonies than in previous years.

America is conservative at it's core. The efforts by the left to pull the nation in their direction is focused on the youth. It is the responsibility of the parents to teach their children how to resist this pull, and to teach their children how to defend their beliefs. Passively sending your children to public schools and universities is a dangerous business. Yes, I say dangerous.

Well, with the issue of public schools, there is a choice, it's called private school. The problem is though, America is moving towards the point where no one without at least an associates degree will be middle class, and I do suspect that limit will increase to 4 years. I basically have told each one of my children, no matter what their undergraduate major is, they will all be recieving at least Master's or an equivalent degree.

For instance, Yale University hosted actress Jodie Foster in 1993, activist Sargent Shriver in 1994, former Baltimore Mayor Kurt Schmoke in 1995, actor Henry Winkler in 1996, author David McCullough in 1997, NBC’s Tom Brokaw in 1998, journalist Bob Woodward in 2000, Sen. Hillary Clinton in 2001, New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman in 2003, filmmaker Ken Burns in 2004, Democratic Congressman Eleanor Holmes Norton in 2005, and CNN’s Anderson Cooper in 2006.

This is more than a little dishonest. Hillary Clinton was the "Class Day" speaker at Yale in 2001 (the day before graduation). President Bush was Yale's commencement speaker that year.

"This is more than a little dishonest"

Calling it 'dishonest' is more than a little bit harsh - 'careless' would be a more accurate term for conflating commencement with "Class Day" speeches, though citing a liberal "Class Day" speaker in a list of liberal 'commencement' speakers to show how many liberals are invited to speak to the new graduates is not even really misleading. Look, few in the public or even among the graduates distinguish between the different occasions surrounding commencement such as "Class Day" at Yale and Harvard, and the commencement speaker. At both Yale and Harvard (places with which I have a great deal of personal experience) the "Class Day" speakers are publicized with about as much fanfare and emphasis as the "Commencement Ceremony" speakers. True, not every graduate (and certainly not most of the families) will hear the "Class Day" speaker, but it is still a big deal and is a prominent part of the commencement festivities. The article's main point still stands, that liberal to far left speakers fill nearly all of the slots around commencement time.........

I disagree. This was not carelessness or confusion as to whether a Class Day speaker is the same thing as a commencement speaker. This was deliberate misrepresentation by the author, who listed Hillary as the speaker and omitted any mention of Bush participating because it didn't fit his argument.

I don't dispute the premise, incidentally, that liberals are overrepresented at commencement ceremonies or other college events. I am simply calling BS on this example.

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