Students turn their back on US education secretary
US Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos has been shunned by students during a speech at a university in Florida, as she struggles to gain popularity after narrowly escaping Congress' confirmation process.
DeVos, a billionaire businesswoman who was elected to the position after much debate in Congress, went to Bethune-Cookman University on Wednesday to give her first commencement speech before hundreds of graduates at the historically black institute of higher education.
Upon her arrival at the venue, the large crowd welcomed her by turning their backs to the podium.
“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,” DeVos said in reaction, trying to control the situation.
The audience, however, remained unruly and kept heckling and booing her throughout the 20-minute speech.
“I’m protesting because she will continue to directly affect me after this and make it harder for me to get to graduation,” said one of the protesters.
The jeers became so heavy at one point that the school’s president, Edison O. Jackson, had to intervene.
“If this behavior continues, your degrees will be mailed to you,” he said, interrupting DeVos after only a minute into her speech.
The education secretary ended her speech by encouraging the students “to make your voice louder, your point bigger and your position stronger.”
Earlier this year, the students had tried to prevent DeVos from giving the speech by signing petitions that called for another speaker.
In a last-ditch effort, activists delivered several boxes of petition letters to the school’s administration on Tuesday night, claiming that over 50,000 people had signed them.
Jackson dismissed the petitions and defended his decision to invite DeVos.
“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,” he argued.
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