B in my Bonnet

Or should I say a W?

Buried within my local paper today was a delightful tidbit about my beloved alma mater—Furman University. Apparently, somewhere around 2002, the University stopped using outside speakers for the commencement address, instead having seniors submit a paper and then the graduating class picked their fave.

This year things will be a bit different. George W. Bush is slated to speak as a result of the efforts of South Carolina's governor who contacted the White House. Then the White House contacted the University's president, David Shi. The possibility of Bush speaking was put toward whatever board at Furman approves this sort of thing and it was agreed that they didn't want to pass up the chance to have a sitting president speak (the University's first ever).

Of course, many of the students and faculty do not see it that way. A petition with more than 200 signatures was created by the student body and faculty to protest W's presence. You can read the petition here. 

The petition states that "Under ordinary circumstances, it would be an honor for Furman University to be visited by the President of the United States. However, these are not ordinary circumstances." Indeed.

So far the petition has not led to the university canceling Bush's speech and something tells me it won't, but I made sure to contact the alumni office and express my disapproval of the decision to have him speak and my decision to not honor the donation pledge I had made as a result. I will be also contacting the alumni I keep in touch with to urge them to do the same. I hate to penalize the University, but my only power here is with money.