Graduating seniors boo Betsy DeVos at commencement in Florida

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Hundreds of graduating seniors of a historically black university here booed and turned their backs on Education Secretary Betsy DeVos as she struggled to deliver her commencement address over the raucous crowd.

"Let's choose to hear each other out," DeVos said, straining to be heard at Bethune-Cookman University's graduation. "We can choose to listen, be respectful and continue to learn from each other's experience."


But most of the students at the private university remained with their backs turned as the crowd applauded. A man pumped his fist in the air while he was escorted out by security, soliciting more cheers.

University President Edison O. Jackson took back the lectern and tried to quiet the crowd, threatening to end the graduation. "Your degrees will be mailed to you. Choose which way you want to go."

Many — although not all of the students — eventually took their seats. DeVos stressed she was eager to engage especially with those who disagreed with her. She pledged the Trump administration's commitment to historically black colleges and universities, citing a recent proposal to restore funding for year-round Pell grants as one example.

“I am at the table fighting on your behalf, and on behalf of all students across this great nation,” she said.

DeVos also noted she planned to visit the home and grave of the university's revered founder, Mary McLeod Bethune, to pay her respects — a comment that drew especially loud boos.

Before DeVos spoke, Jackson had recognized another Trump administration attendee, senior policy director Omarosa Manigault, who also got catcalls. Jackson warned attendees: “Ladies and gentleman, please, you don’t know her, nor do you know her story."

But few relented.

The university's invitation to DeVos has snowballed into a major controversy for the college administration, with the NAACP in Florida calling on Jackson to resign and teachers unions gathering thousands of signatures in opposition.

It didn't help that the ceremony came just days after the Trump administration seemed to question the constitutionality of a federal financing program for HBCUs in his signing statement on the budget.

Trump on Sunday walked back that challenge and restated his “unwavering support” for the colleges.

While the NAACP and unions organized a small protest outside the downtown convention center ahead of the noon graduation, it was the students and their families inside the venue who made the biggest statements.

Students and alumni returned over and over to their sense that DeVos had little understanding of their life experiences. Several said they believed she would make it harder for them and other students to get financial aid or to pay back their college loans. Some stressed they had attended traditional public schools, which they feared would be undermined by DeVos’ promotion of charter schools and vouchers.

“I just feel like she cannot relate," said Jasmine Smith, a 21-year-old incoming junior from Fort Lauderdale.

Brent Franklin, who traveled from Los Angeles to attend his daughter’s graduation, said DeVos “knows nothing about HBCUs and how they were founded.”

For their part, university officials defended their invitation to her, saying their intention was to endear HBCUs to her in hopes of generating greater understanding and financial support.

Answering the NAACP's criticisms during a news conference, Trustee Chairman Joe Petrock said, “I challenge them to do what we’re doing: Raise dollars. Make a difference in the lives of students. Help them accomplish their dreams and their goals.”

Asked how courting DeVos helped the school “raise dollars,” Jackson interjected: “We are always about the business of making new friends, and if you don’t have friends, it’s very difficult to raise money,” he said, adding that DeVos’ agency is in charge of billions in federal grants.

Jackson said he met DeVos during a gathering of HBCU leaders in February — the same event at which she alienated the HBCU community by characterizing the institutions as “pioneers” of school choice. Leaders and advocates of the schools accused her of whitewashing the country’s history of racial segregation, during which black students’ options for higher education were few or nonexistent.

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Albert Mosley, the school’s chief operating officer, said the school’s invitation should be seen as an attempt to enlighten her, rather than endorse her comments.

“We are very aware of the statement — the misstatement — that was made several months ago, and this is for Bethune-Cookman University an opportunity to engage the secretary, to engage and to educate the secretary about historically black institutions,” he said.

Administrators worked hard to control the message. Reporters were asked to arrive early, and then sequestered in a room within the convention center and instructed to wait briefly for the president to arrive at a news conference. He didn’t come for an hour and a half.

As POLITICO attempted to interview a man wearing academic garb, a university staff member interrupted, asking the professor if he preferred to go into a private breakfast. He said no. The staff member then asserted, “faculty aren’t being interviewed,” before signaling to another staffer, who insisted the reporter stay inside the room designated for media.

DeVos held her own, stressing the importance of listening as she sometimes struggled to project over the noisy, hostile crowd.

“The natural instinct is to join in the chorus of conflict, to make your voice louder, your point bigger and your position stronger,” she said.

“We must first listen, then speak — with humility — to genuinely hear the perspectives of those with whom we don’t immediately or instinctively agree.”

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