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http://www.democracycellproject.net/blog/archives/2007/05/discard.html 26 May 2007 Dis-Card This time of the year, right around Memorial Day, is not only a time to remember our lost brave men and women, but also to celebrate our young, aspiring best and brightest, as they graduate from college with their various degrees. We send them off into the world, not only full of knowledge, but we hope full of hope, and the desire to do good works and make the world a brighter place. We hope they've had inspiring role models in whose footsteps they will follow, keep pace with, or exceed. The University of Massachusetts, in some moment of infinite stupidity, decided to award Andrew Card an honorary degree this year. You remember him, he's the former White House Chief of Staff for George W. Bush, the leader of the Iraq Study Group tasked with marketing the lies that got us into the war in Iraq, and even the guy who joined Alberto Gonzales in a late night visit to the ICU hospital room of a very ill John Ashcroft, to take advantage of his tenuous condition and attempt to get him to re-authorize the domestic surveillance program which had recently been determined to be illegal by the justice department. By UMass Trustee policy, "only persons of great accomplishment and high ethical standards who exemplify the ideals of the University of Massachusetts" are eligible for an honorary degree. Any student who misrepresented facts in the ways that Andy Card and his group did could be charged with a violation of the university's Academic Honesty Policy. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that the Board of Trustees of UMass was mostly put in place by former Governor Mitt Romney (hence, they are Republicans), and maybe they're trying to prove that some people in Massachusetts really do like Romney as he bids for the presidency. The trustees deny involvement in the choice, but they did nothing to change the course once the decision was made, despite this protest and the signatures of thousands of students, staff, faculty and alumni who signed a petition asking the university to rescind its offer. Universities are about learning, about integrity, about honor and honesty. To offer an honorary degree to someone like Card who many consider a war criminal, is a slap in the face to the graduates who have worked for years to attain their degrees -- a slap to the hard work and integrity they have shown in their tremendous accomplishments. And to have to sit through the ceremony knowing that Andy Card would be receiving an honor for his crimes did dishonor to the real graduates - including my husband, who was there to receive his doctorate in education. The Raging Grannies were outside the arena in the 90 degree heat - doing their thing. Folks were handing out yellow posters with the reason we should protest on one side, and a sign to hold up on the other. Stickers were distributed for folks to wear on the cap or gown. There were folks in orange jumpsuits with hoods over their heads, and many people holding signs (see photos at above address). Everyone was orderly. The goal was, as it should be, to honor the hard work of the grads, while dishonoring Card. And that is exactly how the entire ceremony went. It was a typical graduation ceremony, with pomp and circumstance, caps and gowns, trumpeters and the like. But true to the plan, when it was time for Card to receive his "honor" the place erupted in boos, and you could not hear a word the presenter said. The hundreds of faculty were impressive - on the stage behind Card, they shouted, boo'd, waved their signs (some quite large) and made their feelings crystal clear. The students and crowd did the same. The boos continued throughout the presentation, until it was done and Card had gone back to his seat. You MUST watch this four minute clip to feel the power of this protest: http://www.youtube.com/v/dp4MYii7MqA (And while you're there, you'll find a lot more related videos from the same event. YouTube is turning out to be a great tool for promoting small-d democracy. The revolution will be televised after all -- just not necessarily broadcast over the airwaves.) The protesters were telling the truth -- Andrew Card is not the kind of man who should be honored by anyone. Across town at Amherst College, in stark contrast, the honorary degree recipient was Patrick Fitzgerald, Special Prosecutor in the case against Scooter Libby. He gave an address titled "What I Didn't Know About Public Service When I Graduated." He talked about thinking when he graduated 25 years ago that public service meant sacrifice, and that he¹d wanted to get rich. But when he came around to public service, it grabbed him, and he has never felt for a moment that he was sacrificing anything. He avoided questions about anything involving an ongoing case. He was entirely apolitical in his remarks. His humor was dry and quick. He spoke about integrity. He spoke about people needing to earn the respect of others, rather than just expecting to be respected because of the position they hold. He was one of the most straight up and real speakers I've ever listened to. And when you hear him talk you just know that this is an honest man. This is a man who deserves an honorary degree. This is the kind of person we want our young people to emulate. This is the kind of example we want held up for our graduates. Patrick Fitzgerald and Amherst should be proud. Andrew Card and UMass should be ashamed. _____________________________ Note: This message comes from the peace-justice-news e-mail mailing list of articles and commentaries about peace and social justice issues, activism, etc. If you do not regularly receive mailings from this list or have received this message as a forward from someone else and would like to be added to the list, send a blank e-mail with the subject "subscribe" to [EMAIL PROTECTED] or you can visit: http://lists.enabled.com/mailman/listinfo/peace-justice-news Go to that same web address to view the list's archives or to unsubscribe. E-mail accounts that become full, inactive or out of order for more than a few days will become disabled or deleted from this list. FAIR USE NOTICE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. 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