Hedges was wrong. (Letters to the Editor).As an undergraduate student, I expect my graduation day Graduation Day refers to:
New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of Times used my graduation as a platform for his own political agenda, I would be greatly offended. Chris Hedges says he is "heartbroken"? If he had said what he did at my school, he would have ended up nose-broken. Gregory Kerr Edinburg, Texas
Edinburg is a city in Hidalgo County, Texas, United States. I am an opponent of almost everything this current Administration stands for, domestically and internationally. That said, I found Chris Hedges's commencement speech A commencement speech or commencement address is a speech given to graduating students, generally at a university, although the term is also used for secondary education institutions. at Rockford College Rockford College is a private American liberal arts college in Rockford, Illinois. It was founded in 1847 as Rockford Female Seminary and changed its name in 1892. The college is known as the alma mater of Nobel Peace Prize winner Jane Addams, who was a member of the class of 1931. to be inappropriate to the occasion. Not once did Hedges indicate he knew or cared that he was speaking at a graduation ceremony. In all his talk about peace and justice he did not even bother to exhort the grads to go into the world and work for such. He did not speak to the graduates; he pontificated pompously at them. As for Hedges's excuse--What did they expect? "Climb Every Mountain"?--well, yes, to some extent. It was, after all, a graduation ceremony, not a political forum. Would he do the same thing if invited to deliver a toast at a wedding or a eulogy at a funeral? It would not have been difficult to incorporate those same thoughts in a stirring graduation address. He might have won some hearts and minds instead of alienating an entire class from his point of view. There is indeed some serious suppression of free speech occurring in this country and we should pick our battles carefully. Making a martyr out of someone who showed not only a pitiful lack of common sense but a lack of basic courtesy for his audience--he couldn't even spare a sentence for their accomplishments--is not going to help anyone but the anti-free speech crowd. And as far as free speech and heckling goes, the Constitution does not assure one a complacent audience. While I consider booing to be rude and uncalled for in most situations, isn't it in reality just another form of free speech? Robin L. Berenbaum St. Johnsbury, Vermont St. Johnsbury is the seat[1] of Caledonia County, Vermont, United States. The population was 7,571 at the 2000 census. St. Johnsbury is located approximately 10 miles northwest of the Connecticut River and 40 miles south of the Canadian border. St. |
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