05.22.05
Posted in education at 2:26 pm by
My alma mater welcomed their most high profile graduation speaker yet yesterday. Calvin played host to President Bush as their commencement speaker. I’ve kept pretty quiet about this matter, mostly because I have mixed feelings about it. I mean, it’s great for Calvin to have such a high profile graduation speaker. The admissions representative in me thinks, “What a great profile raising event!”
On the other hand, I’m frustrated because of the message that Calvin sends to the world. The message runs parallel to the ‘look what a high profile and excellent school we are.’ The other message that they sent was, ‘we’re just like EVERY other Christian college out there–republican Bush worshippers…it’s just that we have the influence to nab the attention of the President from time to time.’
So, for me, having a strong opinion was difficult. I saw benefits and detriments to having the President give the commencement speech. Lately, though, I’ve been leaning toward viewing this occurance as a bad thing. Not for the reasons that you’re thinking, though. My reasons for not having President Bush speak at graduation are not political. I just think Calvin graduates deserve more.
Calvin students spend 4 of the hardest years of their life enduring the rigors of one of the most challenging traditionally Christian higher educations one can find anywhere in the world. Each semester, there is a convocation. And, at the end of the year, there is a giant celebration: Commencement. At Calvin, due to its historically reformed roots, and the influence of turn of the century reformers like Kuyper and others, commencement is a celebration of a community of future scholars and practitioners who are being celebrated as they enter the workforce of the Kingdom of God; they’ve been prepared and will continue to prepare to be agents of renewal.
It seems fitting, then, that a commencement speaker would be able to clearly articulate and understand the mission and vision of the institution whose commencement was being celebrated. A person, oh, say, like Nicholas Wolterstorff, who would be able, arguably, to embody the spirit of excellence and renewal–and who, by the way, was bumped as this year’s commencement speaker by the President.
Calvin invited President Bush for commencement. But, that’s not the biggest problem, to me. The biggest problem, I feel, is that the focus was taken off of the graduates. You know, those folks who worked their asses of for four or so years. The focus became president Bush. Note, here, that had the president been John Kerry, there still would have been a problem–though I subscribe to his politics. Jen and I, on our way to the mall yesterday noticed that when Calvin invited the President to campus, they invited a lot of things to happen.
They invited news crews, and their telescoping satellite dishes.
They invited 50 or 60 police officers patrolling the campus on the day of graduation.
They invited a street full of protesters to litter the streetside with ‘fuck bush’ signs
They invited the guy with a football helmet and underware outside of his shorts to walk on the roadway outside of campus with his protest sign.
They invited wackos and left wing nut jobs alike to stand along the side of campus.
They put faculty into a position of needing to be able to express their disapproval of the President’s politics (lest the world perceive Calvin as ‘just another evangelical Christian College’–something that Calvin faculty take as the most personal of insults) rather than being able to celebrate the accomplishments of their students.
They then told the faculty not to protest. Thus inviting that very personal insult onto the faculty.
They invited dissention in their own ranks.
They invited the focus to be taken off the graduates and on to the President.
All of this to host a dubious political figure that has caused as much derision in the American populous as he has cooperation, and to ‘raise the public appearance of Calvin College.’
A fine job that did, in my opinion. People were forced into either a role of excitment about the president or disgust about the president. Either you were disgusted at his presence, or you were elated. You were either for him or against him. That’s just not fair to anyone–least of all to Calvin’s graduates.
I do hope that the majority of Calvin’s graduates were able to enjoy their commencement, the celebration of their becoming ‘full time’ agents of renewal. Hopefully, in the future Calvin remembers who commencement is for.
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Posted in education at 2:26 pm by
My alma mater welcomed their most high profile graduation speaker yet yesterday. Calvin played host to President Bush as their commencement speaker. I’ve kept pretty quiet about this matter, mostly because I have mixed feelings about it. I mean, it’s great for Calvin to have such a high profile graduation speaker. The admissions representative in me thinks, “What a great profile raising event!”
On the other hand, I’m frustrated because of the message that Calvin sends to the world. The message runs parallel to the ‘look what a high profile and excellent school we are.’ The other message that they sent was, ‘we’re just like EVERY other Christian college out there–republican Bush worshippers…it’s just that we have the influence to nab the attention of the President from time to time.’
So, for me, having a strong opinion was difficult. I saw benefits and detriments to having the President give the commencement speech. Lately, though, I’ve been leaning toward viewing this occurance as a bad thing. Not for the reasons that you’re thinking, though. My reasons for not having President Bush speak at graduation are not political. I just think Calvin graduates deserve more.
Calvin students spend 4 of the hardest years of their life enduring the rigors of one of the most challenging traditionally Christian higher educations one can find anywhere in the world. Each semester, there is a convocation. And, at the end of the year, there is a giant celebration: Commencement. At Calvin, due to its historically reformed roots, and the influence of turn of the century reformers like Kuyper and others, commencement is a celebration of a community of future scholars and practitioners who are being celebrated as they enter the workforce of the Kingdom of God; they’ve been prepared and will continue to prepare to be agents of renewal.
It seems fitting, then, that a commencement speaker would be able to clearly articulate and understand the mission and vision of the institution whose commencement was being celebrated. A person, oh, say, like Nicholas Wolterstorff, who would be able, arguably, to embody the spirit of excellence and renewal–and who, by the way, was bumped as this year’s commencement speaker by the President.
Calvin invited President Bush for commencement. But, that’s not the biggest problem, to me. The biggest problem, I feel, is that the focus was taken off of the graduates. You know, those folks who worked their asses of for four or so years. The focus became president Bush. Note, here, that had the president been John Kerry, there still would have been a problem–though I subscribe to his politics. Jen and I, on our way to the mall yesterday noticed that when Calvin invited the President to campus, they invited a lot of things to happen.
They invited news crews, and their telescoping satellite dishes.
They invited 50 or 60 police officers patrolling the campus on the day of graduation.
They invited a street full of protesters to litter the streetside with ‘fuck bush’ signs
They invited the guy with a football helmet and underware outside of his shorts to walk on the roadway outside of campus with his protest sign.
They invited wackos and left wing nut jobs alike to stand along the side of campus.
They put faculty into a position of needing to be able to express their disapproval of the President’s politics (lest the world perceive Calvin as ‘just another evangelical Christian College’–something that Calvin faculty take as the most personal of insults) rather than being able to celebrate the accomplishments of their students.
They then told the faculty not to protest. Thus inviting that very personal insult onto the faculty.
They invited dissention in their own ranks.
They invited the focus to be taken off the graduates and on to the President.
All of this to host a dubious political figure that has caused as much derision in the American populous as he has cooperation, and to ‘raise the public appearance of Calvin College.’
A fine job that did, in my opinion. People were forced into either a role of excitment about the president or disgust about the president. Either you were disgusted at his presence, or you were elated. You were either for him or against him. That’s just not fair to anyone–least of all to Calvin’s graduates.
I do hope that the majority of Calvin’s graduates were able to enjoy their commencement, the celebration of their becoming ‘full time’ agents of renewal. Hopefully, in the future Calvin remembers who commencement is for.
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Resident Atheist said,
May 22, 2005 at 3:13 pm
I tend to think that if academic institutions want to reward their graduates for four (or however many) years of hard work, the best way to do it would be to not make them sit through commencement ceremonies at all, no matter who’s speaking. But then, I’ve always had a certain distaste for this sort of thing.
Lara said,
May 22, 2005 at 7:41 pm
I hear they also got air conditioning in the field house. I’m sure future graduates will be thankful for that, if it’s true.
Brandon said,
May 22, 2005 at 8:20 pm
Well, when you’re required to be in your seat in the only un-air-conditioned building on campus up to 2 hours before the event because of security…they’d damn sure better be piping in some air for the day!
Lara said,
May 23, 2005 at 5:05 am
I didn’t go to my grad school graduation…mostly because it was in June 2002, only 9 months after 9/11, GWB was speaking and security was insane. They wanted the grads to line up at 5am, which just didn’t seem worth it to me.
So I watched it on TV.
Karl Swedberg said,
May 23, 2005 at 3:28 pm
Apparently, the air conditioning was a temporary setup. The Grand Rapids Press reported that a handful of donors paid $30,000 to have the fieldhouse air conditioned for the event. In exchange, the donors got VIP seating.
E said,
May 24, 2005 at 3:12 pm
Brandon - what are your thoughts now that the commencement is over? Did the content of Bush’s speech change your mind at all?
Is it even possible for a person such as the President to deliver a message that rises above the issues you articulated and take the focus off himself?
Good points (as usual). In general, commencement addresses have become more about who delivers the message than the actual message itself.
Audrey said,
May 24, 2005 at 5:54 pm
RA,
Graduation is for parents and families, not for the graduates. I had no intention of attending graduation for my BSc until I informed my parents I had no intention of attending. I was straightened out very quickly: not only would I be at graduation, they’d be there and there would be hell to pay if I wasn’t.
The one graduation I did willingly attend was when I got my doctorate. I worked my ass off for that hood, and I wanted the whole world to see it. The fact that my advisor hadn’t been at graduation in almost 15 years was icing on the cake …
One thing that I’ve noted on the occasions I’ve attended graduation as a faculty member representing my department is how appreciative the family of the graduates I’ve met are. Generally, they are family of students I’ve had in class at one time or another, but a couple of times I’ve had people just thank me for teaching here and for being there at graduation in the May heat of the Southwest. I generally try to hide the paperback I had tucked up the sleeve of my gown when that happens. Now you know why doctoral gowns have those big poofy sleeves and the deep hood…
That said, I don’t think political figures should be invited to give the commencement address. Especially not meretricious idiots savants like Dubya.
Audrey