I live a few miles away from Rutgers’ main campus, so this has been in the local news for months. The professors were also protesting, not just the students. My son is the same age as most who are graduating college this year, and while he might recognize her name, I doubt he is much aware of what went on politically when he was a young child, just as I didn’t know much about the war in Viet Nam when I was growing up, or when I was in college or grad school. I’d bet that some of the kids at Rutgers only researched who she was after the controversy was stirred up, and some protested just because it’s cool to be an ‘activist’ at that age.
As for Ms. Rice herself, I have mixed feelings. I came of age in the Reagan years and have never liked Republicans of this era. For me, a Republican who is anything other than a white male is a an oxymoron. I respect that she certainly had to overcome a lot in order to get as far as she did within the party, but the flip side of that same coin is that she has been used by the party as a puppet to try to appeal to females and non-whites. I know people who have met her and say that she is warm and gracious as well as intelligent, and I am sure that I would like her in a one-on-one situation.
I did not have a side when it came to this issue. I did like Ms. Rice’s statement explaining her reasons for bowing-out, but I bet those kids will hardly hear a word that is said during the ceremony regardless of whom is speaking. I didn’t pay any attention to the speaker at my commencement, and I’m not sure if the name I remember is even correct – and this was before mobile technology.