First Lady Declines
UCLA Commencement Invitation
Laura Bush has declined an offer to speak at the University of California/Los Angeles Graduate School of Education and Information Studies commencement ceremony. White House spokeswoman Ashleigh Adams told school officials that the first lady had prior commitments and that “Mrs. Bush has declined all commencement invitations she has received,” according to the February 26 Daily Bruin student newspaper.
The Daily Bruin received hundreds of e-mails from across the country after it reported that graduate students had met with Dean Aimee Dorr to request that the school rescind the invitation. Many of the letters criticized the students as “elitist,” “arrogant,” and “closed-minded,” while the university came under fire for being “Marxist” and “Left Coast.”
Dorr told Reuters news service February 26 that she had consulted with student representatives over the choice of a speaker, but that there had been no consideration of withdrawing the invitation to Bush. “This is a university,” Dorr said. “Particularly with people who are on one side or another of the political spectrum you tend to get expressions of support or non-support.”
The school is now considering five alternate speakers, according to the Daily Bruin.
Posted March 4, 2002.
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