FU one time...
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So, if you were a
lame duck
president that had driven the country into a ditch with your agenda and
you had
to pick one college or university in all of Or, put another way,
where
could you possibly go where you might stand a decent chance of not
being
heckled? Yep, that’s right… Maybe he just
couldn’t resist
returning to the scene of the crime of the character assassination of
John
McCain back in the 2000 primary season (after all, how would you feel
about the
father of an illegitimate black child being president?).
Or maybe he just confused Furman with that
other esteemed institution of higher learning in I’m not entirely sure
how to
feel about this. On the one hand, the
guy is the president, and
even if he’s a serious contender for Worst President
Ever, it’s still an honor to have him speak at your school’s graduation
ceremony. Isn’t it? Well, some of the
students
and faculty didn’t think so, and wrote a letter of objection that was
posted on
Furman’s web site. Predictably, this set
off a firestorm of controversy on campus, which, reading between the
lines of
the article in the alumni magazine, sounds like it got pretty ugly. Apparently Furman’s long Southern Baptist
legacy still lingers. I have to admit to
experiencing a certain thrill when I recognized one of my favorite old
physics
professors among those in the photo wearing “We Object” t-shirts in the
rear of
the faculty section at graduation. But
mostly I think it would have been better all around if some other lucky
school
had been the recipient of this particular honor. From
a
publicity standpoint, this was pretty
much a no-win situation; there’s no way the controversy was ever going
to be
the second story to the event itself. And
of course, can you imagine trying to turn down the
offer once it was
extended? “Um, thanks, but we’re going
to go with the lieutenant governor again this year, if that’s ok with
you. Thanks all the same.” But
at least it’s still a beautiful campus. |