Haverford Speaker Slams Student for Protests

Controversy doesn't end with grad speaker's withdrawal.

“Haverford College graduates got an earful today from former Princeton University President William Bowen, who spoke as a speaker at the school’s commencement. One of the original speakers, former UC-Berkeley Chancellor Robert Birgeneau, withdrew after student protests,” The Wire reports. “Calling the students both ‘immature’ and ‘arrogant,’ Bowen received a standing ovation from the crowd.”

Birgenau withdrew because some Haverford  students protested his handling of the Occupy protests while he was at Berkeley. (Some students there were pepper sprayed.) But the case became notable during an increasingly contentious graduation season. Birgenau’s withdrawal followed Condi Rice‘s abdication of a graduate speaking slot at Rutgers following an outcry there, as well as a petition at Rowan to keep Gov. Chris Christie from speaking there.