Education Secretary Betsy DeVos was invited by Bethune-Cookman University's president to deliver this year's commencement speech, but students had a different plan. As DeVos began her speech, graduating students stood up and turned their backs to her while the crowd showered her with boos.
According to a CNN report, DeVos quickly wrapped up her scheduled one hour long address in twenty minutes, while some students ignored the university president's threats,"If this behavior continues, your degrees will be mailed to you." One student was removed for simply raising his fist in support of the protest.
Students had circulated a petition for DeVos to be removed as a speaker in advance for her racially charged comments concerning historically black colleges and universities as being "pioneers of school choice." She recanted her comments once it was pointed out to her that black universities were founded because African Americans were not allowed by law to attend white colleges. There was no "choice" about it.
This was not the first DeVos protest as many parents are showing up at her engagements to protest her use of taxpayer dollars for religious private schools and for-profit charter schools. With any luck, the awesome Bethune-Cookman protest won't be the last.
