Princeton nabs Beast Mode as their Class Day speaker... but the students try to give him the stiff arm
Is it possible to be crustier and more uptight than this?
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In “we swear it’s not from The Onion” news, Ivy League school Princeton University announced that their 2020 Class Day speaker will be Oakland’s own Marshawn Lynch.
Class Day is a senior-led event that is planned in celebration of the seniors… it basically sounds like a morning circlejerk followed by lunch.
Although it varies from year to year, the event traditionally gives seniors an opportunity to acknowledge publicly achievements and contributions of members of the class and University community.
The program includes the awarding of various prizes to classmates, student speeches, honorary class member inductions, a guest speaker selected by the class, and remarks by President Christopher L. Eisgruber.
I may be an eensy bit biased, but Lynch seems like a great choice as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to hear from someone who was successful at the highest level of his industry, started a clothing line with two retail locations, and is a co-founder of a philanthropic foundation that educates and empowers underprivileged youth. Lynch is also a charismatic orator with a unique life perspective who would probably be far more memorable than some rando alum businessowner; it also ties in thematically with this year marking 150 years of college football, with Princeton being one of the participants in that game. The student co-chairs said the following about their selection while extolling Lynch’s community service:
“Mr. Lynch’s sustained professional excellence is not the only reason we are excited to have him serve as our Class Day speaker. His substantive work in communities stands alongside his on-field success,” the students said. “Our goal was to invite a speaker who embodies the various experiences we have shared as a community during our Princeton tenure; someone whose professional and personal passions speak to the service-focused and intellectually rigorous interests core to the University.”
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“Before we began the selection process, the Class Day Committee reflected deeply on shared values and variety of experiences of the Class of 2020 and our time at Princeton,” [Jonathan] Haynes said. “We ultimately wanted to prioritize a speaker that moved beyond rhetoric in their personal and professional lives, but actively integrated their values into their practice. With those considerations, I could not think of a better speaker than Marshawn Lynch.”
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“We wanted a Class Day speaker who unapologetically embodied and advocated for our own identities and values,” [Jaylin] Lugardo said. “Being a first-generation, low-income student was the source of my greatest challenges and successes at Princeton, and it’s an identity I can’t imagine disappears after graduating. So, I’m grateful to have Marshawn Lynch, having completed his journey as a first-gen student-athlete at [Berkeley], speaking at Class Day.”
Ignoring the fact they inexplicably used a semicolon in place of an em dash, they have an apt understanding of Lynch’s accomplishments and all that he embodies, relating it to the Princeton experience and justifying this unusual pairing.
In response, four named Princeton seniors and an unstated number of anonymous seniors wrote an open letter to complain about the lack of transparency in the selection process and to express their “disappoint[ment]” after anxiously awaiting this selection for months.
First of all, who really sits around for months wondering who will give a speech to their graduating class? Aside from that, their complaints focus on the fact that Lynch has no connection to the school and from press conferences and interviews when he does not answer media questions, which they feel somehow contradicts the criteria for speaker selection.
Having not attending Princeton—which the open letter states is something they value as it allows for shared experiences—I have never actually been a member of their Class Day. But from other graduation and commencement ceremonies, I think these students are overvaluing the speaker’s influence on their ceremony. They’re also missing out on the lesson that you can—and should—take something away from any person from any walk of life and that they can have shared experiences and philosophies despite superficial differences.
Graduating from college is tough and I commend these students for being smart enough to accomplish that, but it sounds like some of them need to approach this with an open mind for the unique opportunity and take care of their mentals.
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So I read the complaint, and it seems like they're complaining more about not having input - rather than Money in specific - HOWEVER - I was on the Cal Senior Class committee, and only the 15 people that volunteered and interviewed and chosen and HAD TO DO ALL THE WORK ALL YEAR for the graduation speaker were part of the speaker choice. Let me tell you, it's not just as simple as "Here's a list: let's get Michelle Obama!" - you have a big wishlist, then you need to start contacting people and arranging schedules and it was a process from fall semester all the way to May to get the speaker lined-up. If you're not joining the committee in the fall, then it's hard to just get a voice in the end - it was a lot of work that we spent 2-5 hours a week in meetings (yeah, there was plenty of other stuff too - but grad speaker was brought up in almost every single meeting that year). It's never just as easy as "we want speaker A" . . . and Marshawn is a good get.
I wrote a comment earlier this morning on this thread that was in response to the original subtitle of the thread, which was "is it possible to whiter and more uptight than this?". I asked why the subtitle suggested this was a race issue, which it does not seem to be at all.
I come back this afternoon and notice that my comment has been deleted and the subtitle changed. While I appreciate the subtitle change, I don't understand why my comment was deleted.
Is this an example of how this new website will be policed? My comment was not meant to be inflammatory yet I can only assume it was in order for it to be removed.