The Rutgers University New Brunswick Faculty Council sent a strong message to Condoleezza Rice last week, passing and adopting a resolution that calls for the school’s Board of Governors to withdraw its commencement speaking invitation to the former Secretary of State.
As The Star-Ledger reported, the council condemned Rice for her service under President George W. Bush and her involvement in foreign conflicts, accusing her of misleading the American people with regard to Iraq.
During her time in the Bush administration, Rice “played a prominent role in his administration’s efforts to mislead the American people about the presence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and the existence of links between al Qaeda and the Iraqi regime,” according to the resolution.
The resolution blames the “lies” promoted by the Bush administration for the war in Iraq and the deaths of more than 100,000 people. The university “as a public institution of higher learning, should educate its students about past historical events, not pretend they never took place,” the resolution also states.
Rice, who also served under Bush as national security adviser, was chosen as commencement speaker “unanimously” by the Rutgers Board of Governors on Feb. 4. The board agreed to pay Rice $35,000 for the speaking engagement and granted her an honorary Doctor of Laws degree.
The student newspaper, The Daily Targum, also condemned Rice’s selection as commencement speaker, calling it “questionable.”
After praising the school’s “prestige” in securing Rice as a speaker and the diversity of inviting a Republican, the editorial notes that Rice’s tenure in the Bush administration was “controversial.”
“But Rice is a former politician, and we can’t really ignore her controversial career,” the editorial reads. “Do the positive aspects of her personal accomplishments really outweigh the destruction of war she contributed to during her political career? She was a major proponent of the 2003 invasion of Iraq, which has been arguably the worst and most destructive decision in the history of U.S. foreign policy.”
University spokesman Greg Trevor defended the selection of Rice.
“Dr. Rice is a highly accomplished and respected diplomat, scholar and author, and we are excited that she has agreed to address our graduates and guests at Commencement,” Trevor told Red Alert Politics via email.
Trevor didn’t provide any additional details about whether or not the invitation to Rice would be rescinded.
(h/t The Daily Caller)
