DeVos jeered during speech
Bethune- Cookman students turn backs on education chief during her address
The content of Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos’ commencement speech at Bethune-Cookman University, a historically black college, was pretty standard: Listen to people who disagree with you, serve your country and give back.
But the reception was raucous. Students booed and turned their back while President Donald Trump’s education chief spoke.
The speech came after students used social media and online petitions to try to prevent the appearance.
From the beginning of her time in office, DeVos has sought out historically black colleges. Some felt the White House’s outreach, which included an infamous photo op, was meaningless.
Early on, DeVos messed up on the subject of the schools. She gave a speech that made it sound as if she was attributing the genesis of these schools to school choice. In reality, they were born out of segregation and inequitable access to education.
The boos made it hard for DeVos to get her words out.
According to The Washington Post, half of the Bethune-Cookman graduates turned their backs on her.
In her speech, DeVos acknowledge the history of HBCUs, and devoted significant time to the story of Bethune’s founder. The school’s president defended her.
DeVos’ final piece of advice, “a call to grace,” included a quote from the New Testament.
Education historian Jonathan Zimmerman, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania’s graduate school of education, said the protests didn’t help the students get their points of view across.
“This is a Trumpian reply to Trump’s secretary of education,” he said in a statement. “As president, he has flouted norms of civic exchange and democracy at every turn. Now his enemies are imitating him.”