For reasons bureaucratic, I never walked for college graduation. By the time my graduation was official, both graduates from both the fall and spring had already walked. It seemed pointless to walk the summer after my graduation. It's unfortunate that I didn't walk or attend any commencement because the day I got that degree is the proudest day of my life, bar none. When Ora graduated from UHD, they had Drayton McLane as their commencement speaker. She said that he was very uninspiring, but that's better than at least one alternative:

Doctorow, who spent virtually all of his 20-minute address in Hempstead criticizing Bush, told the crowd that like himself the president is a storyteller. But "sadly they are not good stories this president tells," he said. "They are not good stories because they are not true." That line provoked the first boos, along with scattered cheers.

"One story he told was that the country of Iraq had nuclear and biological and chemical weapons of mass destruction and was intending shortly to use them on us," he said. "That was an exciting story all right, it was designed to send shivers up our spines. But it was not true.

"Another story was that the Iraqi dictator, Saddam Hussein, was in league with the terrorists of al-Qaida," he said. "And that turned out to be not true. But anyway we went off to war on the basis of these stories."

Those lines provoked an outburst of boos so loud the "Ragtime" author stopped the speech. Rabinowitz approached the podium and called for calm. "We value open discussion and debate," he said. "For the sake of your graduates, please let him finish."

Some students and most of the faculty responded with a standing ovation, and Doctorow resumed speaking. He attacked Bush for giving the rich tax breaks, doing "a very poor job of combating terrorism" and allowing the government to subpoena libraries "to see what books you've been taking out."

Many parents and relatives of the more than 1,300 undergraduates were livid over the address, saying afterward that a college graduation was not the place for a political speech. "If this would have happened in Florida, we would have taken him out" of the stadium, said Frank Mallafre, who traveled from Miami for his granddaughter's graduation.

Bill Schmidt, 51, of North Bellmore, shared the outrage. "To ruin my daughter's graduation with politics is pathetic," the retired New York Police Department captain said. "I think the president is doing the best he can" in the war against terrorism.

Many students also called Doctorow's speech inappropriate. Peter Hulse, 24, of Manchester, England, said, "He's a bit like Michael Moore," the documentary director who provoked booing at last year's Oscars' ceremony by criticizing the war in Iraq.

I can honestly say that I would oppose someone as important as the President of the United States giving the commencement address at my graduation if it was going to be a policy speech. If a writer is giving the address, I want to hear his or her thoughts on the human experience or his craft. I don't really want to hear what he or she thinks about the war in Iraq whether he's for it or against it. If it's a politician giving the address, I want to hear his or her thoughts on public service or thoughts of government vague enough that those who oppose his agenda can still relate. Even if they're saying what I agree with, I don't like the thought that he or she is upsetting other people on what is supposed to be their day as well as mine. Talk about standing up for what we believe in, sure, but don't tell us what we should believe in.

Freedom of speech is a great thing. It's necessary to function as a democracy. Universities should be a place of free expression of ideas and college administration ought to promote debate, but not at occasions where we should be uniting in celebration instead of picking the same old fights we can have any of the other 364 days of the year.

[via Michael Williams]