Condoleezza Rice Cancels Rutgers University Speech After Students Protest

Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice cancelled a planned speech at Rutgers University on Saturday in the wake of student protests.

Rice had been scheduled to speak at Rutgers’ commencement ceremony for $35,000 on May 18th and was to receive an honorary doctoral degree at that that time

Rice announced the cancellation on her Facebook page, writing, in part: “I understand and embrace the purpose of the commencement ceremony and I am simply unwilling to detract from it in any way.”

Star Ledger reports that last week “about 50 Rutgers students staged a sit-in inside the campus administration building to protest the selection of Rice to speak. She was scheduled to receive $35,000 for her speech and an honorary Rutgers doctoral degree.”

The students called for Rutgers to disinvite Rice, echoing the sentiments of several campus faculty organizations that said the former U.S. Secretary of State was an inappropriate choice because of her involvement in the Bush administration’s support of the Iraq War, waterboarding and other controversies.

CNN reported that “In an open letter to the president of the school, printed in the student paper The Daily Targum on April 30th, ‘Rutgers Student Protestors’ cited ‘destruction’ in Iraq ‘at the hands of the Bush administration.'”

“Rice signed off to give the CIA authority to conduct their torture tactics for gathering information from detainees as well,” the letter continues. “These are clearly human rights issues. By inviting her to speak and awarding her an honorary degree, we are encouraging and perpetuating a world that justifies torture and debases humanity.”

Rutgers faculty members were set to meet on Tuesday to discuss their opposition to her speech at a “teach-in” open to students and the public.

According to Star Ledger,

“Attending the teach-in will be a strong signal that we will not sit quietly while a small group of irresponsible people dishonor our beloved university,” said Rudolph Bell, a veteran history professor and one of the faculty members organizing the opposition, in a letter to the campus earlier this week.

University officials had refused to rescind their offer for Rice to speak, saying the school welcomed debate on a variety of controversial issues.

Rice submitted a statement, stating that she had informed Rutgers President Robert Barchi of her intention to cancel her appearance, the same statement posted on Facebook. The statement reads:

Commencement should be a time of joyous celebration for the graduates and their families. Rutgers’ invitation to me to speak has become a distraction for the university community at this very special time.

I am honored to have served my country. I have defended America’s belief in free speech and the exchange of ideas. These values are essential to the health of our democracy. But that is not what is at issue here. As a Professor for thirty years at Stanford University and as it’s former Provost and Chief academic officer, I understand and embrace the purpose of the commencement ceremony and I am simply unwilling to detract from it in any way.

Good luck to the graduates and congratulations to the families, friends and loved ones who will gather to honor them.

A couple of hours later, Rutgers officials issued their own statement, according to Star Ledger.

“While Rutgers University stands fully behind the invitation to Dr. Rice to be our commencement speaker and receive an honorary degree, we respect the decision she made and clearly articulated in her statement this morning,” Barchi said. “Now is the time to focus on our commencement, a day to celebrate the accomplishments and promising futures of our graduates. We look forward to joining them and their families on May 18, 2014.”

You can watch a clip on the student protests last week, below.

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