Media Personalities and Clinton Officials Dominate at Commencement Ceremonies -- 05/27/1999

Media Personalities and Clinton Officials Dominate at Commencement Ceremonies

27 May, 1999

By Young America's Foundation
CNS Information Services

News Release

In a survey released today, Young America's Foundation revealed that colleges and universities across the nation are using commencement ceremonies to give students one last dose of liberal indoctrination before they send them off into the real world.

"College graduation ceremonies are called 'commencements' because they mark the beginning of post-college life," said Young America's Foundation President Ron Robinson. "But recent years show a trend in which college administrators use the commencement ceremonies to give students one more predictable leftist lecture. Again in 1999, commencement exercises are dominated by liberal activists, media personalities, and Clinton Administration officials."

The survey sample was taken from U.S. News and World Report's ranking of the top 50 colleges and universities in the nation. For the sixth consecutive year, Young America's Foundation polled the country's elite schools and found commencement speakers to be heavily weighted to the Left. In fact, the majority of speakers at the top 50 universities are either Clinton Administration officials, liberal media personalities or entertainers. Only three universities hosted speakers who might be considered conservative.

Some universities clung to their tradition of hosting a left-leaning speaker on commencement day. The following schools have had a parade of liberal speakers, media personalities, or entertainers in recent years:

Yale University hosted Jodie Foster in 1993, Sergeant Shriver in 1994, Baltimore Democrat Mayor Curt Schmoke in 1995, Henry Winkler in 1996, author David McCollough in 1997, NBC News anchor Tom Brokaw in 1998, and Clinton advisor David Gergen in 1999.

The University of Pennsylvania hosted Hillary Clinton in 1993, HUD Secretary Henry Cisneros in 1994, NEA Chairman Jane Alexander in 1995, Tom Brokaw in 1996, Bill Cosby in 1997, President Jimmy Carter in 1998, and recent Clinton Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin this year.

Dartmouth chose Bill Moyers in 1993, Robert Reich in 1994, Bill Clinton in 1995, author David Halberstam in 1996, Finnish PM Paavo Lipponen in 1997, Democrat historian Doris Kearns Goodwin in 1998, and now former senator George Mitchell in 1999.

Tulane included Carter Administration official Andrew Young in 1995, cancer researcher Andrea Martin in 1996, Mohammed Ali trainer Ferdie Pancheco in 1997, Donna Shalala in 1998, and Cokie Roberts in 1999.

Northwestern hosted Robert Redford in 1996, Bill Cosby in 1997, Ruth Bader Ginsburg in 1998, and Madeline Albright in 1999.

College administrators seem enthralled with the idea of having a celebrity or media personality speak at their commencement ceremony. Cokie Roberts, daughter of two Democratic congressmen and ABC commentator, is speaking at both Duke and Tulane this year; Tom Brokaw is speaking at Cal Tech; Katie Couric is scheduled at Lehigh; CNN President Rick Kaplan will speak at the University of Illinois; Raymond and Thomas Magliozzi, hosts of NPR's "Car Talk" will both speak at MIT; "Waiting to Exhale" author Terri McMillan will appear at Berkeley; and television personality Bill Nye "the Science Guy," will deliver the keynote address at Rensselear Polytechnic. None of the top universities are hosting more popular, conservative media personalities like Rush Limbaugh, George Will, Oliver North, Dr. Laura Schlessinger, or G. Gordon Liddy.

Just as popular with college administrators are current or recent Clinton Administration officials. Robert Rubin will be seen at the University of Pennsylvania and NYU; Madeline Albright speaks this year at Northwestern; President Clinton at the University of Chicago; former Labor Secretary Robert Reich at Emory; Bill Richardson at Boston College; and Warren Christopher at USC. In contrast, commencements during the Reagan and Bush Administrations overwhelmingly featured critics of the government over its participants.

These officials lead a parade of other leftist speakers or Democrat politicians onto campuses including Marian Wright Edelman (Princeton), Bill Bradley (University of North Carolina), Kofi Annan (University of Michigan), John Glenn (Brandeis and Case Western Reserve), Roy Barnes (Georgia Tech) and Charles Schumer (Syracuse).

All of the above speakers were chosen over the likes of Nobel laureate Milton Friedman, Stanford scholar Thomas Sowell, Ambassador Jeane Kirkpatrick, General Norman Schwarzkopf, media commentators George Will, William F. Buckley, Jr., and Rush Limbaugh, Supreme Court Justices Antonin Scalia, Sandra Day O'Connor, and Clarence Thomas, Chief Justice William Rehnquist and congressional leaders Trent Lott and Denny Hastert. In fact, the only right-of-center speakers that appear on this year's top 50 list are moderates like Elizabeth Dole (Notre Dame), Howard Baker (University of Virginia) and Senator John Warner (William & Mary).

This imbalance seems especially discriminatory in a time when students demonstrate a strong desire to see more conservatives on campus. Pat Buchanan, Ralph Reed, James Dobson, Norman Schwarzkopf, and Dan Quayle all drew standing- room-only crowds at several colleges and universities this past year. In virtually every case, they drew larger crowds than their liberal counterparts. And yet, none of these leaders appear at any major commencements.

Once again, commencements look like another dose of leftist indoctrination rather than a fresh start for the class of 1999.

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