HAVERFORD, Pa. (AP) - Haverford College has lost one of its commencement speakers.
Robert Birgeneau (BUR’-zheh-noe), the former chancellor of the University of California, has declined to attend Sunday’s ceremony at the liberal arts school near Philadelphia.
Students and some faculty opposed his selection because of violence that occurred on his watch at UC Berkeley in 2011. Campus police beat protesters with the Occupy movement.
Birgeneau was traveling in Asia when the clashes occurred. He wrote in a letter to Haverford that he is a “longtime civil rights activist and firm supporter of nonviolence.”
Student objections also led former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to back out of speaking at Rutgers University in New Jersey.
Three other speakers are slated for Haverford’s graduation. A college spokesman says Birgeneau won’t be replaced.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.