Will anyone be left standing at the Brandeis commencement?
They’re dropping like flies.
First, Hirsi Ali’s invitation to receive an honorary degree was withdrawn.
Now, Jill Abramson has voluntarily pulled out:
The Justice student newspaper reports that Abramson told the university’s president she won’t be present Sunday to get an honorary degree she had been scheduled to receive.
A Brandeis spokesman confirms that Abramson informed the Boston-area university that it was “not my year to be there.”
If Brandeis doesn’t watch out, it’s going to be awfully empty on that podium. Fortunately, commencement speaker Geoffrey Canada, president and CEO of Harlem Children’s Zone, is still on, even though he will be resigning from the group in July. Two more are still standing, although I’d feel a little shaky if I were they: Eric Lander, one of the leaders of the Human Genome Project, and Brandeis University Trustee Malcolm L. Sherman.
In a strange move, although she canceled at Brandeis for Sunday, Abramson is still scheduled to be commencement speaker at Wake Forest on Monday. Go figure.
[NOTE: Elsewhere, Yale law professor Stephen L. Carter thanks the Class of 2014 for not disinviting him. Funny stuff, and he makes some serious points, too. Carter (whom I’ve never heard of before) seems like an interesting and accomplished guy.]
That article by Stephen Carter is funny precisely because his points ARE valid points.
I suspect, however, that those who most need to heed his advice will be those who miss his points entirely; and more likely calling him an “Uncle Tom” or something.
When did the role of commencement speaker change from someone to recognize the graduates and act as a model/inspiration to a celebrity act? Now Hirsi Ali would be perfect inspirational speaker having undergone hardships unthinkable to the average student, but the legion of politicians, actors, and others are not. Neo’s label of the “New Red Guards” is spot on and something I didn’t think of before. There used to be a group of University Presidents who had greater reputations than any of the faculty. I have a feeling Harvard president James Conant would not have crumbled to a few radicals.
Stephen L. Carter is a law professor at Yale and also a great novelist. He wrote The Emperor of Ocean Park.
Maybe women just aren’t good enough for the charming folks at Brandeis. I bet there would be no objections to that bearded EU drag queen (Conchita Wurst) beauty contest winner though. That sounds just about right for the charming folks at Brandeis.
Yeah, I’m a bit surprised you’re unfamiliar with him. He’s been “on the scene”, in one way or another, for many years.
This must be a great way to improve morale. If you don’t fight, you’ll get shot in the back. The Left demands absolute obedience from their soldiers.
One thing people like Vox or John C. Wright http://www.scifiwright.com/ noticed is that:
The greater benefit to the 2 minute hate isn’t so much the targeting and isolation of the target, but the enforced obedience of the masses in spouting off whatever the REgime tells them to espouse. The control is thus less about making the target feel bad in the 2 minute hate, and more about making the soldiers of the Left do whatever the Left tells them, no matter how ridiculous, anti human, or anti rational it is.
Translating that into modern non fiction, the Nazis had their cult fiction regarding Aryans and Jews because they wanted to see how far the true believers and zealots of the faith would go, to test their loyalty. The NKVD went from calling Hitler pigs of capitalism, to a faithful ally of the communist cause, to a fascist pig during the stages of WWII alliances. And not only did they believe it, they made everyone else in Russia believe it too, or they would get a bullet in the back of the head. Thus whether Germany was an ally of Russia, wasn’t something for humans at the bottom to decide, but for Stalin and thus the NKVD to decide.
Mind control, heart and soul.
Ymarsakar, don’t forget about what came immediately after the 2 minute hate, the appearance of Big Brother and the adulation thereof.
The demonization of Bush followed by the presentation of Obama.
That link to Carter’s comments at Bloomberg was delightful.
I’m so thankful to Obama for his leadership in encouraging the intolerance he represents to show itself so openly. Lance the boil. Sooner the better.
Charles has it right I think. Very clever article by Mr. Carter. But his time could have been as profitably spent addressing a fence post. No critical thought will be given by the intended audience. None of their fragile little minds will be changed one whit.
The only solace to take from the looming tyranny and violence brewing in the Left is that history also shows that they eat and destroy their own. Usually, the worst is saved for their own inter-Hades rivals.
If you get a good seat far enough away from the guillotines it could get entertaining.
ymsarker:
The person to read on that issue is Rene Girard and the cycle of mimetic contagion.
Carter gets major props on that article. The Class of ’14 will forever live in shame for being what it is.
kcom:
I hardly ever read novels or even short fiction these days. Perhaps that’s why I hadn’t heard of Carter before.
My experience with Brandeis is with its admissions. I applied to but did not get admitted to Brandeis. Several years before, a friend got admitted to Brandeis. I had better grades and Board scores than him- student activities were about the same. He also got an F in an AP course his senior fall semester- the grade that got sent to colleges. He got admitted to Brandeis, because of a family connection to the school.
All the same, my friend didn’t waste his gift admission to Brandeis, as he turned his academic career around and graduated Magna Cum Laude.
I don’t have any regrets about not going to Brandeis. I was better off getting my STEM degree from flagship state U.
Neo Neo, American or Western fiction is pretty sparse in original ideas.
Japanese fiction, fantasy, science fiction is really vibrant though.