Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, will no longer give the commencement speech at Texas Southern University, the college announced Friday.
Cornyn had been slated to speak at the Saturday event in Houston, but the university said it made the change to keep the focus of the day on students, not a politician who some do not support because of his vote to confirm Education Secretary Betsy DeVos.
“We asked Senator Cornyn to instead visit with our students again at a future date in order to keep the focus on graduates and their families,” the school wrote in a Facebook post. “We, along with Senator Cornyn, agree that the primary focus of commencement should be a celebration of academic achievement.”
The move comes days after DeVos was booed during her speech at a historically black college in Florida. Texas Southern University is also a historically black school. School officials may be concerned Cornyn could see the same response from response after a petition circulated around campus this week opposing Cornyn’s appearance.
Cornyn’s spokesman told Politico the senator was “honored to be invited to address TSU’s graduates, but he respects the administration’s decision and looks forward to continuing to engage with the university in the future.”
