Graduation Speakers
My latest editorial on Ka Leo
http://www.kaleo.org/vnews/display.v/ART/2004/08/12/411af58193e96
Commencement speakers should encourage, not rant
By Pablo Wegesend
Ka Leo Staff Columnist
August 12, 2004
love to attend graduation ceremonies.
I love them because they celebrate a happy occasion. The graduates are proud about their recent accomplishments! Their families and friends are proud!
I love to attend graduation ceremonies, because I get a chance to say goodbye to someone I might not see again for a while.
I love graduation ceremonies because they promote school pride for its new alumni, old alumni, current students and future students in attendance.
I love graduation ceremonies because sometimes in the audience I see someone who I haven't seen in a long time.
However, there is a negative trend at college graduation ceremonies. That trend is having guest speakers talking about things which are off-topic.
You see, graduation ceremonies are supposed to be about praising the new graduates and giving them some advice for the future. But what some past UH graduation guest speakers have done is talk about topics unrelated to graduation.
In the most recent graduation ceremony--Spring 2004, the guest speakers spent a minute or two denouncing America's "arrogant foreign policy".
In a graduation ceremony last year, a guest speaker criticized the military use of Hawai'i lands for training. And in another ceremony, a guest speaker criticized the "with us or against us" rhetoric of the Bush Administration.
And President Bush himself talked in some mainland universities about his faith-based programs, economic policy and the war on Iraq.
Graduation ceremonies are NOT times to talk about foreign policy, military policy, economic policy or anything else political. Want to talk about politics or foreign policy? Do it somewhere else!
So those political rants were only for a minute or two. I say that's a few minutes too long. There should ZERO political rants. Not for one second.
Some say that politics and foreign policy are too important to ignore at graduation ceremonies. Nonsense.
What else is next? Spend time in political science talking about auto mechanics? Talk about agriculture during an accounting class? Or discuss ocean ecology in fashion design?
Do you want your waiter to talk about abortion policy? No, you want the waiter to get your food and drinks. The waiter's view on abortion is irrelevant when I'm waiting for my food. Do you want the firefighters to talk about the war on Iraq when your house is burning? No, you want them to put an end to the fire. I could care less about their views on the war on Iraq, as long as my home is saved from the fire.
So, my take on political rants during graduation speeches has nothing to do with importance. It has to do with appropriateness. And while politics, agriculture, ecology, auto mechanics, foreign policy and birth control are important, discussions about them should take place in the appropriate forum.
