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Former Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice will give the commencement address at Rutgers University this spring, a decision that has come under fire from a Rutgers New Brunswick faculty committee.

(File Photo)

TRENTON — Republican state Assemblywoman Mary Pat Angelini blasted a Rutgers University faculty group today for its opposition to Condoleezza Rice's selection as this year's commencement speaker.

Angelini (R-Monmouth) issued a statement calling the faculty vote protesting Rice's selection "appalling and an embarrassment to our state."

"This is nothing more than a political firestorm fueled by their hatred of an opposing ideology, and President George W. Bush in particular. Dr. Rice and the people of New Jersey deserve better," Angelini said.

Last week, Rutgers' New Brunswick Faculty Council passed a resolution calling on the university’s board of governors to rescind its invitation to Rice. The former U.S. Secretary of State is scheduled to receive $35,000 and an honorary doctorate for her speech.

The faculty resolution said Rutgers should not honor Rice because of her role in the war in Iraq and the Bush administration's adoption of waterboarding and other controversial interrogation techniques.

"Condoleezza Rice ... played a prominent role in the administration’s effort to mislead the American people about the presence of weapons of mass destruction," the resolution said.

In her statement, Angelini praised Rice.

“Condoleezza Rice is a trailblazer and a woman of extraordinary intelligence and diverse talents who has spent most of her career in academia," Angelini said. "She was the first woman and first African-American to serve as provost of Stanford University and has served as a Stanford professor for more than three decades. That alone makes her beyond qualified to deliver the commencement speech at Rutgers or at any university."

Rice is scheduled to speak at the May 18 university-wide commencement ceremony in the Rutgers football stadium in Piscataway. The Rutgers Board of Governors unanimously approved Rice's nomination for the honorary degree last month.

Other honorary degrees will go to Gerald C. Harvey, outgoing chair of the university’s Board of Governors, and Richard Leakey, the renowned paleoanthropologist and environmentalist.

Donald Katz, founder and CEO of Audible Inc. and an award-winning journalist, will receive an honorary doctorate and serve as Rutgers-Newark’s commencement speaker.

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