President D. Trump spoke at the LU graduation on 13 May. I just looked at a long list of famous people speaking at Universities around the country. The U of AL was NOT on this list.
I know who spoke at UA the weekend before, without asking. NO one!
YES! In one of the smartest moves in the history of Higher Education, the U of AL decided many years back to invite NO ONE to speak at commencement. Great call.
Why?
Why do people GO to graduation? They do NOT go to hear a great speech by a great speaker. They go to receive a diploma or cheer on someone receiving said diploma. NOT rocket science here.
Several years back the U of A president, Dr. Bob Whitt, invited some famous person who happened to hold quite liberal political views. The speaker was standing up in front a very large crowd, enjoying the attention. Feeling a bit full of himself, I guess, he decided to tell folks what THEY should think about some political issue. This is the deep South, mind you.
The audience booed, and booed loudly. This is bad for the speaker, for Pres. Whitt, for the graduates and even for the booing crowd. But it is resolved fairly easy in the future- NO SPEAKERS.
Again, no one, interested in graduation, comes for the speaker- so WHY have one?
See, some problems are not so hard to solve!
I know who spoke at UA the weekend before, without asking. NO one!
YES! In one of the smartest moves in the history of Higher Education, the U of AL decided many years back to invite NO ONE to speak at commencement. Great call.
Why?
Why do people GO to graduation? They do NOT go to hear a great speech by a great speaker. They go to receive a diploma or cheer on someone receiving said diploma. NOT rocket science here.
Several years back the U of A president, Dr. Bob Whitt, invited some famous person who happened to hold quite liberal political views. The speaker was standing up in front a very large crowd, enjoying the attention. Feeling a bit full of himself, I guess, he decided to tell folks what THEY should think about some political issue. This is the deep South, mind you.
The audience booed, and booed loudly. This is bad for the speaker, for Pres. Whitt, for the graduates and even for the booing crowd. But it is resolved fairly easy in the future- NO SPEAKERS.
Again, no one, interested in graduation, comes for the speaker- so WHY have one?
See, some problems are not so hard to solve!
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