Education Secretary Betsy Devos Booed at Bethune Cookman Graduation
The Secretary of Education Betsy Devos attempted to give the commencement speech at Bethune-Cookman University earlier this week, lets just say it didn’t go well. Bethune-Cookman is a Historically Black College, which Devos previously stated that HBCU’s were the “pioneers of school choice”. I can honestly say I wouldn’t want here giving my commencement speech either, but the students showed poor taste and no class in their response to her presence at the ceremony. The University also loses some credibility here since they did award here with an honorary doctorate… but they don’t have a P.h.D. program.
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Boos, catcalls and the turning of backs welcomed the commencement speaker at Wednesday’s Bethune-Cookman University graduation ceremony.
For 20 minutes, Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, President Trump’s most opposed cabinet secretary nominee during confirmation hearings, endured jeers from the graduates and interruptions from the university president to calm down the crowd.
At one point, President Edison Jackson even threatened to “send your diplomas in the mail” if the noise didn’t stop.
For most of her speech, and during her receipt of an honorary degree in Human Letters, the students continued the past 10 days of contention that, of all people, she won the invite for the keynote address.
In her speech, DeVos directly addressed the controversy.
“As I said, I’m grateful to be with you today,” said DeVos. “While we will undoubtedly disagree, let us do so respectfully, and let us here each other out.”
When the historically black university announced May 1 that DeVos would be the speaker, the local NAACP, National Federation of Teachers and Florida Education Association immediately voiced outrage, arguing she’s an enemy of public education, a champion of school choice, favors using tax dollars to pay for kids to attend religious, private schools and is ignorant about the origins of historically black colleges and universities.
That opinion comes from a statement DeVos released in February, referring to historically black colleges and universities:
“HBCUs are real pioneers when it comes to school choice. They are living proof that when more options are provided to students, they are afforded greater access and greater quality.”
Steve
Steve is an affordable multifamily housing professional that is also the co-founder of Whiskey Congress. Steve has written for national publications such as The National Marijuana News and other outlets as a guest blogger on topics covering sports, politics, and cannabis. Steve loves whiskey, cigars, and uses powerlifting as an outlet to deal with the fact that no one listens to his brilliant ideas.
