As the spring semester concludes and many collegians near their graduation, current and former politicians will deliver speeches at some ceremonies. One of those slated to speak this spring is liberal California Senator Kamala Harris who will deliver the commencement speech at UC Berkley’s ceremony.
Harris has proposed alternative ways she believes the nation should spend the funds that the construction of a border barrier would consume:
“Trump’s border wall is a waste of money,” she declared in one tweet. “We should be using that money for infrastructure, Medicare for All, and tuition-free college.”
In another tweet she referred to “Donald Trump’s stupid border wall”:
“Instead of wasting money on Donald Trump’s stupid border wall, we should invest in domestic priorities like:”—her checklist that followed included: “rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure,” “making college tuition-free,” “making healthcare a right” and “guaranteeing paid family and sick leave.”
Free college tuition is one of the policies repeatedly advocated by the California Senator:
“Almost all students understand the struggle of student loans. Enough. It’s time we make college tuition-free once and for all,” she stated in one tweet.
“I remain committed to fight to raise the minimum wage, make public colleges and universities tuition-free, and guarantee access to health care for everyone,” she has also tweeted.
In another tweet she specifically calls for a $15 minimum wage—a rate that would more than double the current $7.25 an hour federal minimum.
On the issue of healthcare, she said in a tweet: “Make no mistake — access to affordable and meaningful health care should be thought of as a human right and civil right. #MedicareforAll”
The Senator staunchly supports abortion, referring to it as an aspect of “reproductive health care”:
“Equal opportunity is only possible when women have safe, affordable access to reproductive health care — including abortion,” she has tweeted.
In the aftermath of the Parkland shooting massacre, Harris posted a tweet that said, “We cannot tolerate a society and live in a country with pride when our babies are being slaughtered.” The tweet contained a video clip in which Harris had expressed this idea, saying almost exactly the same words included in the text of the tweet. Yet on the issue of legalized abortion—which is literally the government-sanctioned slaughter of unborn babies—Harris remains a supporter.
Tweeting a link to a HuffPost article about a speech Vice President Mike Pence delivered at a pro-life event, Harris said, “I am sick and tired of Republican politicians playing politics with our health care and going out of their way to target women’s constitutional right to choose. We deserve better.”
The Hill reported that during his speech Pence said: “If all of us do all we can, we can once again, in our time, restore the sanctity of life to the center of American law.”
“The Californians, a group of UC Berkeley students responsible for planning parts of the commencement exercises, nominated Harris to speak to an audience of about 40,000 — graduates, proud parents and guests.
‘She embodies a lot of the ideals that the UC Berkeley campus embodies,’ said Jessica Li-Jo, a graduating cognitive science major and president of the group’s Senior Class Council. ‘She is very fearless and vocal, and she shares her opinions about issues in the news. And at UC and UC Berkeley, we are usually like that as well. We fight against any injustices that we see.’”
A post on the “UC Berkley Senior Class Council 2018” Facebook page says: “Attention Class of 2018, we have a very exciting announcement to make. After you have voted on our class speaker, we listened. We are honored and excited to announce that Senator Kamala Harris will be our Keynote speaker to Spring 2018 Commencement Ceremony, which marks UC Berkeley’s 150th anniversary.”
But the Golden State senator is not the only liberal political figure slated to deliver a speech at a college at the conclusion of the semester.
A Yale Law School graduate herself, Hillary Clinton will speak at Yale as “the featured speaker at the 2018 Senior Class Day ceremony, part of Commencement weekend.”
“By tradition, Yale does not have a Commencement speaker, although an exception is made when a sitting president is awarded an honorary degree, as was the case in 2001,” according to Yale. “Class Day, which takes place the Sunday before Commencement, features a notable speaker chosen with suggestions from the Yale College senior class. Recent Class Day speakers have included U.S. Senator Cory Booker, Barbara Walters, Tom Hanks, Bill Clinton, John Kerry, Joe Biden, and Samantha Power.”
The Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard plans to award Hillary Clinton the “Radcliffe Medal,” an award previously bestowed upon “U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen, Supreme Court Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, former U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole, and former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright.”
Democrat Rep. John Lewis will speak at Harvard as “the principal speaker at the Afternoon Program of Harvard’s 367th Commencement on May 24” and he will also speak at UC San Diego.
In the state of Virginia, Hillary Clinton’s 2016 running mate Senator Tim Kaine will speak at Radford University, Governor Ralph Northam will speak at Virginia Tech and former President Jimmy Carter will speak at Liberty University.
Prominent conservatives who will address 2018 graduates include HUD Secretary Ben Carson who will speak at Divine Mercy University and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos who will speak at Ave Maria University.
