Here’s a good topic for college commencement addresses this year: the closed mindedness and triviality that prevail on American campuses campuses today.
First, Brandeis University withdrew an invitation to Ayaan Hirsi Ali, who has dared to criticize the treatment of women in Muslim societies, to speak at commencement and receive an honorary degree. Brandeis caved to the combined forces of Islamic extremists and political correctness.
Now, Condoleezza Rice, who served as secretary of state in George W. Bush's administration, has declined to deliver the commencement address at Rutgers University after anti-Iraq War protests erupted on the Rutgers campus. Rice’s statement in the matter has the kind of grace we associate with her.
Here's a selection of 2014 commencement speakers whose invitations to address graduates this spring have not drawn protests:
Sean “Puff Daddy” Combs—Howard University
Jay Leno—Emerson College
Tory Burch—Babson College
“Frozen” screenwriter Jennifer Lee—University of New Hampshire
Former secretary of state Madeleine Albright—Dickinson College
Katie Couric—Trinity College
Former Obama speechwriter Jon Favreau—Holy Cross College
Actor Ed Helms (“The Office”)—Cornell
Shonda Rhimes (TV producer who brought us “Grey’s Anatomy”)—Dartmouth
Chris Matthews—Ohio State