"At Boston College’s 130th Commencement exercises on May 22, 2006, University President William P. Leahy, SJ (left), and Patrick Stokes, chair of the Board of Trustees, presented U.S Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice with an honorary Doctor of Laws degree before she addressed the Class of 2006. Some 30,000 attended the ceremony in Alumni Stadium and 3,234 men and women, including graduate and professional students, received diplomas."
Where there protests? Perhaps on the south side of the stadium, where the commencement marshals gathered. Many were wearing "no war" armbands or "not in my name" tags; several grad students not involved in the exercises did so as well. (Including one in my program.) During the conferral of the honorary degree on Dr. Rice, some students turned their back to the platform. This was caught on BCTV. I do not think anyone turned their backs on Dr. Rice while she was giving her address. No signs of protests among the faculty; I wonder if they would say anything to her if the secret service were not in the way and they were given the opportunity to voice their opinion.
What irritates me the most is not that they are opposed to the war; but because they see this as political activism, divorced from Catholic teaching and spirituality, and true politics. How many of the BC faculty act for a more just economic order, curb their consumption, or work for the protection of local communities? How many of them have no problems working for an institution that charges students $33,000 (tuition!) for an education that is neither liberal nor Catholic for the most part, and of limited advantage for securing a job in the contemporary economy? While students are putting themselves in debt they will have to carry for a long time, these professors are living the high life and content to "appear to be good" by having the "right opinion" on certain questions.
As for Boston College, as I told a friend today--I'd rather have one or two small Jesuit colleges with only 1000 students but doing their work well, in accordance with the vision of the Ratio Studiorum, than 28 mediocre institutions that endanger the souls of students, faculty, and administrators.
On a lighter note...
Later in the day I attended the individual ceremony for the school of business, since one of my former students was graduating today. Once the ceremony was over, parents and students departed slowly. I hung around in the back rows, waiting to see if she and her family would walk over to the tables with water. No sign of her, so I decided to go home. I found her off to the left side, and said hi. I was going to shake her hand, she wanted to hug--hugs apparently are becoming the typical greeting for Americans. I prefer some measure of restraint, but after shaking hands we hugged. I had bumped into her on campus last month, and we talked a little bit today, after I met her parents. We took some pictures, and then when I left, she gave me another hug, and a peck on the cheek! A bit of a shock, though I put it out of my mind afterwards, until I told my friend about it. In the age of sexual harassment and the like, one is cautious about receiving affection from female students--under the old rules showing that kind of affection would be improper. But even if I were to receive such affection, I would have some worry. Misunderstandings and worse could arise.
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