...but a couple of the graduates at last Saturday's CSUB commencement wanted to share their displeasure with Dolores Huerta's speech there. I edited them down a tad:

My graduation on Saturday was the culmination of 5 years worth of hard work. Family and friends from all over the U.S. to witness my huge achievement. The ceremony began with an excited crowd of eager students anxious to listen to the final lecture of most of their lives. I, for one, was extraordinarily excited to have someone announce my accomplishments, sing my praises, and tell the world that this was my day. Instead, I sat there and listened to a speech that more closely resembled a eulogy than a commencement. I was constantly reminded of our countries on-going economic failures and layoffs.I was told that society was progressively getting worse and worse. More importantly I was asked to repeat political statements which I do not agree with.

I am not an obtuse indiviual and I recognize that there are economic, political, and ethnic issues within America. I do not, however, need to be reminded of our countries perceived failures, and I emphasize perceived because these are her political views, on my date of graduation. As a Sociology major I am more than familiar with the inequality and problems our country faces. I do not need someone expressing them on a day when I am supposed to leave feeling hopeful and confident that the education I just received will help me get ahead in life.

I for one plan to write a letter to Dr. Mitchell discussing my outrage at this speech. I know many of my fellow graduates within my department, many of whom share a Latin heritage with Ms. Huerta, were as equally offended as I was.

Josh Webb
Sociology graduate
 

Going into Saturday morning, us graduates felt a sense of pride being recognized for the previous four years of hard work and perseverance. It was our day, nobody else’s. When we took the long walk together from DDH to the amphitheatre, I saw people arm and arm, smiling faces, picture flashes and waves to the crowd; the typical stuff you would expect to see during a commencement. The event started off awesome, that was until Dolores Huerta distastefully took the podium. As her speech progressed, I couldn't help but feel our sense of accomplishment was quickly becoming overshadowed by biased political Jargon. This lady single handedly robbed us of our moment.

The positive mood that I just described was quickly overcome by tension, disgust and negative attitudes. Where I previously felt happy to share this moment with hundreds of fellow candidates, I soon experienced what can best be described as "division". We became separated as we all felt differently about her speech. Some graduates began using racial slurs when she spoke of  "KKK, Arian brotherhood and White supremacy", other graduates started yelling at her to get off the stage when she brought up "pro-choice", some started to argue among each other as the tension grew thicker as she spoke about the troubled economy. I had no option but to hang my head in disappointment.

When the ceremony was officially over my friends asked me to take pictures but I couldn't, I wanted to see my family so I agreed to meet them later. I ventured through the crowd of several thousand and couldn't help but overhear constant talks of Huerta's speech, it was the only thing on people's minds. While I was spending time with my family, my father just looked at me and shook his head and said "Son, I'm sorry that had to happen", enough said.

Dolores Huerta, you had no business doing what you did at our graduation. You did not only ruin our moment and the atmosphere of the venue, but you diverted the attention from the other speakers who did an amazing job. You should never be allowed to speak again at a graduation ceremony. As to the response you gave the Californian about "I was trying to open them up to new topics", don't worry, we are well aware of ALL of them, we've heard about them on Limbaugh and read it in the New York Times. This is just a lame excuse to divert the attention away from yourself and not take responsibility for your actions.

Gary Simmons