Coble Won't Speak At Guilford Graduation
Congressman Howard Coble has withdrawn as commencement speaker at his alma mater, Guilford College. The N&R reports that "about a third of the graduating class of about 160 students presented him with a petition Wednesday asking him not to speak at graduation." Students were dismayed by Coble's rationalization of the internment of Japanese-Americans during WWII, and also by his support of the war in Iraq, which some complain is at odds with Guilford's Quaker traditions.
Coble, a member of the class of 1953, said seniors should enjoy next month's commencement, and that he is still a supporter of the school. "Guilford College has been an important part of my life for 50 years. I have been and continue to be a loyal alumnus," he said in a statement issued by the college.
Hmm. I think he should have gone and said something thoughtful. He could have disagreed in a Quakerly way, too--I've seen it done.
In the mid-80s, my own Quaker alma mater tried to give an honorary degree to an alum, Drew Lewis. But a lot of people were against honoring the guy who as Reagan's Transportation Secretary had fired all those air traffic controllers. Lewis took the stage and in a dignified way said that he believed in the Quaker tradition of consensus, and that he saw no consensus on the issue of his honorary degree, and so he would not accept it. And he gave it back.
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Josh Marshall: "See the game Safire has been playing? What sort of weird combination of disingenuousness and projection is this?"
11:32:08 AM 
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