The Associated Press LAURA BUSH
By Robert Salonga
Daily Bruin Staff
Laura Bush declined an invitation from UCLA to speak at the
education department’s commencement, the White House
announced late last week.
White House officials cited Bush’s preexisting commitments
and tight schedule as the reason for turning down the
invitation.
“Mrs. Bush has declined all commencement invitations she
has received,” said Ashleigh Adams, a spokeswoman for Bush.
“She has other events on schedule that have been in the
making for a while.”
Administrators in the 900-student Graduate School of Education
and Information Studies said that Bush’s declination was not
unexpected.
“I’m not surprised; we regarded it as a long shot
always,” said Aimee Dorr, dean for GSE&IS.
Dorr said she is now considering five possible candidates to
speak at commencement, but declined to name them.
“We’re going to wait a couple of weeks, to give all
of this and us time to put ourselves back together,” Dorr
said.
The invitation sparked debate when about 30 graduate students
met with Dorr on Feb. 15 to express their disappointment with both
Bush’s invitation and what they considered lack of student
input in the selection process.
Dissenting students said that Bush was invited for her political
celebrity and did not believe her credentials made her an
appropriate speaker for their commencement. Dorr promised to
increase student involvement when selecting future commencement
speakers.
The Daily Bruin received
hundreds of e-mails from across the nation responding to the
students’ claims that Bush was unqualified as a commencement
speaker.
Many of the letters heavily criticized both the university and
opposing students, accusing them of being “elitist,”
and “arrogant,” and calling UCLA a “Left
Coast” institution.
Some students said parts of the conflict could be solved by
clarifying their expectations for graduation.
“(The speaker) doesn’t necessarily have to fall in
line with what the general student body does,” said Tracy
Davis, a doctoral student in education and UC student regent.
“We need to clarify what we want out of our commencement
experience.”