Barnard College has announced that its commencement speaker will be none other than controversial Planned Parenthood Federation of America and Planned Parent Action Fund President, Cecile Richards.
The students at the women’s liberal arts college in Manhattan’s Upper West Side received an email last Thursday relaying the news. In addition to the speaking duties May 18, Richards will receive the college’s highest honor, the Barnard Medal of Distinction.
“Richards is a nationally respected leader in the field of women’s health and reproductive rights, and her unwavering dedication in the fight for access and education is a true inspiration,” Barnard President Deborah Spar and Dean Avis Hinkson said in the email.
Richards is a controversial figure in America today, and the announcement unsurprisingly divided students. Some students support the decision, such as former Planned Parenthood volunteer Mia Shapiro.
“I think that what she represents — women’s health — is something everyone at Barnard can get behind,” Shapiro said to the Columbia Spectator. (Columbia University is affiliated with Barnard.)
On the other hand, Kate Christensen, president of Columbia’s College Republicans, questioned in an op-ed for the Spectator why the school’s administration would choose such a divisive speaker on a day that should be celebratory and uniting.
“For some, her speech will be an inspiring moment from an admired hero. For others, it will be an experience of profound alienation,” Christensen wrote.
“By choosing such a controversial figure, Barnard implies that students who take deep offense to this choice do not have valid concerns, and their beliefs do not matter.”
Spar looked past the controversy of Richards’ views on abortion, citing Richards’ place “at the center of the ongoing national dialogue on women’s rights and health.”
“Her extraordinary insight and experience will inspire our graduates, whose own lives and careers will contribute to the future of these critically important issues for women everywhere,” Spar added in her announcement on the school’s website.
Richards has had some polarizing takes on abortion in recent weeks. Richards posted a Vine that said birth control, abortions and Planned Parenthood were what women needed for Valentine’s Day. She also said last month that she believes life does not begin until the baby is actually born. As The Weekly Standard’s John McCormack observed, however, polling indicates that significant majorities of American voters think abortion should be outlawed after the first three months of pregnancy.
