ASU Obamacizes
Political correctness claimed another victim Saturday when Arizona State University caved into pressure and decided to honor commencement speaker President Obama after all.
The initial controversy arose last week when the school announced that the president would not be receiving an honorary degree. As a matter of fact the university wasn’t awarding any honorary degrees at this year’s commencement. The school defended their decision by saying that there were separate committees for the speakers and the degrees and they are normally awarded for “lifetime achievement.” Considering the fact that Obama is a one-term U.S. Senator and had been in office less than two months when he was invited it would be hard to argue that he qualifies under the lifetime achievement requirement.
But that didn’t deter Obama supporters and others on the left from mercilessly attacking ASU president Michael Crow for the decision accusing the school of racism for their decision.
Stung by the criticism and fearing political fallout the university announced that rather than give Obama an honorary degree that they will rename one of their most important scholarships in his honor. The scholarships will now be known as the President Barack Obama Scholars and will help students in need attend the school.
Frankly this move is far worse than giving Obama an honorary degree. With the degree it would have been a one time deal and quickly forgotten over time. With the scholarship his name will live on in perpetuity at a school where he has zero relationship and all because of the desire to be politically correct.
The university has now bet heavily that the Obama presidency will be successful and if it isn’t they will be left with an embarrassing mess.
Don Irvine is the chairman of both Accuracy in Media and Accuracy in Academia. This column originally appeared on the AIM website.
Don Irvine
Donald Irvine is the chairman of of Accuracy in Academia (AIA), a non-profit research group reporting on bias in education. Irvine follows his father’s legacy, Reed Irvine, to critically analyze the liberal media’s bias and brings over thirty years of media analysis experience. He has published countless blog posts and articles on media bias, in context of current events, and he has been interviewed by many news media outlets during his professional career. He currently hosts a livestream weekly show on AIA’s Facebook page which discusses current events.
Irvine graduated from the University of Maryland and rose up the ranks to become chairman of Accuracy in Media until his transition to AIA.
He resides in the suburbs around the nation’s capital and is a proud father and grandfather.
