Bethune-Cookman Graduates Greet Betsy DeVos With Turned Backs
By ERICA L. GREEN
MAY 10, 2017
New York Times
Education Secretary Betsy DeVos delivered the commencement address at Bethune-Cookman University in Daytona Beach, Fla., on Wednesday. Credit John Raoux/Associated Press
Betsy DeVos went to Bethune-Cookman University on Wednesday, knowing her first commencement address as secretary of education could get ugly at the historically black institute of higher education.
It did — fast. Over sporadic heckling, and at some points to the backs of gown-clad graduates refusing to face her, Ms. DeVos implored: “One of the hallmarks of higher education, and of democracy, is the ability to converse with and learn from those with whom we disagree. And while we will undoubtedly disagree at times, I hope we can do so respectfully. Let’s choose to hear each other out.”
The crowd obliged only a handful of times during her roughly 20-minute-speech.
Since squeaking through Senate confirmation on the tiebreaking vote of Vice President Mike Pence, Ms. DeVos has appeared at times to carry the weight of every Trump administration controversy on her shoulders. She was turned away by a handful of protesters at her first school visit as secretary. She was goaded into an Ohio public school visit by an antagonist, the president of the American Federation of Teachers, Randi Weingarten.
And in the days before her address at Bethune-Cookman, in Daytona Beach, Fla., opponents made it clear with petitions and protests that she would not be all that welcome.
The school’s president, Edison O. Jackson, had to pause the ceremony about one minute into Ms. DeVos’s address to tell the crowd of students, “If this behavior continues, your degrees will be mailed to you.”
Above the jeers, Ms. DeVos delivered the standard exhortation to graduates to live a life of service, with courage and grace in the spirit of their school’s namesake.
It was a message that thousands believed Ms. DeVos — who many contend represents an administration that has shown only superficial knowledge of and support for historically black colleges and universities — was in no position to deliver to the 380 graduates of the school, which was founded by the educator and civil rights activist Mary McLeod Bethune.
Critics of Ms. DeVos pointed to missteps from the outset of her tenure: from her office’s misspelling the name of W.E.B. DuBois in an attempted tribute, to a statement she issued calling segregation-era historically black colleges and universities “pioneers of school choice.” The gaffes, coupled with President Trump’s seemingly wavering support for black higher education and a strained relationship with African-Americans, made Ms. DeVos an especially prickly choice.
“Even though she apologized, she has shown how tone deaf she is, and how disconnected she is from our community,” said Dominik Whitehead, a 2010 graduate of Bethune-Cookman, who generated the first petition calling for Ms. DeVos to be replaced as this year’s graduation speaker.
Activists dropped off boxes of petitions, which they said had more than 50,000 signatures, to the school’s administration on Tuesday night in a last-ditch effort to stop Ms. DeVos from speaking.
In a letter to the community defending the choice of Ms. DeVos, Mr. Jackson wrote, “I am of the belief that it does not benefit our students to suppress voices that we disagree with, or to limit students to only those perspectives that are broadly sanctioned by a specific community.”
Other prominent black leaders also defended the university’s decision to invite Ms. DeVos. Michael Lomax, president and chief executive of the United Negro College Fund, wrote on Twitter shortly after Ms. DeVos was named speaker, “I believe we should hear Secretary DeVos at @bethunecookman, just as we want her and President Trump to hear the voices of #HBCUs.”
The jeers crescendoed when Ms. DeVos said that she would visit the childhood home and grave site of Ms. Bethune.
“Her commitment to service is what has brought us together today. This inspired daughter of slaves refused to accept repulsive and systemic racism,” Ms. DeVos said. “She moved mountains, changing the lives and futures of countless students and families across generations.”
But Ms. DeVos drew cheers when she highlighted individual Bethune-Cookman graduates by name and described the challenges they overcame to graduate, and when she praised graduates who were pursuing a career in teaching.
She also used the opportunity to reiterate her support for historically black higher education. Last week, after Mr. Trump questioned the constitutionality of a 25-year-old program that helps black colleges finance, renovate and replace their buildings, Ms. DeVos swiftly issued a statement saying she would fight for the colleges and universities. A backlash forced Mr. Trump to pledge his “unwavering support” for African-American higher education.
In her speech, Ms. DeVos said she wanted to reaffirm the administration’s commitment and cited its decision to restore year-round Pell Grants, which many low-income students use to finance their college educations.
“I am at the table fighting on your behalf, and on behalf of all students across this great nation,” she said.
But Jasmine Smith, 21, a rising junior at Bethune-Cookman, said she was worried about other measures Ms. DeVos’s department had taken that could affect the next two years at Bethune-Cookman. Her biggest worry was Ms. DeVos’s decision to roll back protections for student loan borrowers.
Ms. Smith was among about 100 protesters who gathered at Bethune-Cookman several hours before Ms. DeVos was to deliver her address Wednesday morning.
“I’m protesting because she will continue to directly affect me after this and make it harder for me to get to graduation,” she said.
Mr. Whitehead said he did not believe that Ms. DeVos’s speech contained any promises of substance, and called the graduates’ demonstration of contempt for her “an amazing moment.”
“I’m proud of what happened,” Mr. Whitehead said. “I hope for the sake of the institution, the sake of the students and the graduates, that regardless of the protests and the petitions, she really wants to build this relationship — that this is the real thing.”
Ms. DeVos ended her speech by encouraging the students to maintain grace as they face adversity and dissent.
“The natural instinct is to join in the chorus of conflict, to make your voice louder, your point bigger and your position stronger,” she said. “But we will not solve the significant and real problems our country faces if we cannot bring ourselves to embrace a mind-set of grace.”
MAY 10, 2017
New York Times
Education Secretary Betsy DeVos delivered the commencement address at Bethune-Cookman University in Daytona Beach, Fla., on Wednesday. Credit John Raoux/Associated Press
Betsy DeVos went to Bethune-Cookman University on Wednesday, knowing her first commencement address as secretary of education could get ugly at the historically black institute of higher education.
It did — fast. Over sporadic heckling, and at some points to the backs of gown-clad graduates refusing to face her, Ms. DeVos implored: “One of the hallmarks of higher education, and of democracy, is the ability to converse with and learn from those with whom we disagree. And while we will undoubtedly disagree at times, I hope we can do so respectfully. Let’s choose to hear each other out.”
The crowd obliged only a handful of times during her roughly 20-minute-speech.
Since squeaking through Senate confirmation on the tiebreaking vote of Vice President Mike Pence, Ms. DeVos has appeared at times to carry the weight of every Trump administration controversy on her shoulders. She was turned away by a handful of protesters at her first school visit as secretary. She was goaded into an Ohio public school visit by an antagonist, the president of the American Federation of Teachers, Randi Weingarten.
And in the days before her address at Bethune-Cookman, in Daytona Beach, Fla., opponents made it clear with petitions and protests that she would not be all that welcome.
The school’s president, Edison O. Jackson, had to pause the ceremony about one minute into Ms. DeVos’s address to tell the crowd of students, “If this behavior continues, your degrees will be mailed to you.”
Above the jeers, Ms. DeVos delivered the standard exhortation to graduates to live a life of service, with courage and grace in the spirit of their school’s namesake.
It was a message that thousands believed Ms. DeVos — who many contend represents an administration that has shown only superficial knowledge of and support for historically black colleges and universities — was in no position to deliver to the 380 graduates of the school, which was founded by the educator and civil rights activist Mary McLeod Bethune.
Critics of Ms. DeVos pointed to missteps from the outset of her tenure: from her office’s misspelling the name of W.E.B. DuBois in an attempted tribute, to a statement she issued calling segregation-era historically black colleges and universities “pioneers of school choice.” The gaffes, coupled with President Trump’s seemingly wavering support for black higher education and a strained relationship with African-Americans, made Ms. DeVos an especially prickly choice.
“Even though she apologized, she has shown how tone deaf she is, and how disconnected she is from our community,” said Dominik Whitehead, a 2010 graduate of Bethune-Cookman, who generated the first petition calling for Ms. DeVos to be replaced as this year’s graduation speaker.
Activists dropped off boxes of petitions, which they said had more than 50,000 signatures, to the school’s administration on Tuesday night in a last-ditch effort to stop Ms. DeVos from speaking.
In a letter to the community defending the choice of Ms. DeVos, Mr. Jackson wrote, “I am of the belief that it does not benefit our students to suppress voices that we disagree with, or to limit students to only those perspectives that are broadly sanctioned by a specific community.”
Other prominent black leaders also defended the university’s decision to invite Ms. DeVos. Michael Lomax, president and chief executive of the United Negro College Fund, wrote on Twitter shortly after Ms. DeVos was named speaker, “I believe we should hear Secretary DeVos at @bethunecookman, just as we want her and President Trump to hear the voices of #HBCUs.”
The jeers crescendoed when Ms. DeVos said that she would visit the childhood home and grave site of Ms. Bethune.
“Her commitment to service is what has brought us together today. This inspired daughter of slaves refused to accept repulsive and systemic racism,” Ms. DeVos said. “She moved mountains, changing the lives and futures of countless students and families across generations.”
But Ms. DeVos drew cheers when she highlighted individual Bethune-Cookman graduates by name and described the challenges they overcame to graduate, and when she praised graduates who were pursuing a career in teaching.
She also used the opportunity to reiterate her support for historically black higher education. Last week, after Mr. Trump questioned the constitutionality of a 25-year-old program that helps black colleges finance, renovate and replace their buildings, Ms. DeVos swiftly issued a statement saying she would fight for the colleges and universities. A backlash forced Mr. Trump to pledge his “unwavering support” for African-American higher education.
In her speech, Ms. DeVos said she wanted to reaffirm the administration’s commitment and cited its decision to restore year-round Pell Grants, which many low-income students use to finance their college educations.
“I am at the table fighting on your behalf, and on behalf of all students across this great nation,” she said.
But Jasmine Smith, 21, a rising junior at Bethune-Cookman, said she was worried about other measures Ms. DeVos’s department had taken that could affect the next two years at Bethune-Cookman. Her biggest worry was Ms. DeVos’s decision to roll back protections for student loan borrowers.
Ms. Smith was among about 100 protesters who gathered at Bethune-Cookman several hours before Ms. DeVos was to deliver her address Wednesday morning.
“I’m protesting because she will continue to directly affect me after this and make it harder for me to get to graduation,” she said.
Mr. Whitehead said he did not believe that Ms. DeVos’s speech contained any promises of substance, and called the graduates’ demonstration of contempt for her “an amazing moment.”
“I’m proud of what happened,” Mr. Whitehead said. “I hope for the sake of the institution, the sake of the students and the graduates, that regardless of the protests and the petitions, she really wants to build this relationship — that this is the real thing.”
Ms. DeVos ended her speech by encouraging the students to maintain grace as they face adversity and dissent.
“The natural instinct is to join in the chorus of conflict, to make your voice louder, your point bigger and your position stronger,” she said. “But we will not solve the significant and real problems our country faces if we cannot bring ourselves to embrace a mind-set of grace.”
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