Bill Clinton to Deliver Commencement Address at Loyola Marymount

The press release:

President Bill Clinton will deliver the keynote address at Loyola Marymount University’s undergraduate commencement ceremony on May 7, LMU President Timothy Law Snyder, Ph.D., announced today. “President Clinton is one of the great statesmen of our time, and he will address our students as they embark on the next stage of their lives,” Snyder said. “His commitment to improving the lives of other people, during and beyond his career in U.S. politics, embodies the ethos of becoming women and men with and for others. President Clinton will inspire our graduates as they seek to lead lives of meaning, purpose, and global impact.” William Jefferson Clinton was elected the 42nd president of the United States in 1992, and won re-election in 1996. During his eight years in office, Clinton presided over the longest peacetime economic expansion in American history, initiated the most significant college opportunity programs since the GI Bill, expanded the federal work-study program, as well as developed new tax credits and scholarships to make education more accessible. Clinton signed major legislation including the Family and Medical Leave Act and the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act. He won approval of the North American Free Trade Agreement and pursued policies that led to the decommissioning of over 1,700 nuclear missiles in the Soviet Union. Upon leaving office, he founded the Clinton Foundation, a nonprofit focused on improving global health, education, and economic opportunity. The Foundation sponsors several projects around the world, including the Clinton Global Initiative, which brings international thought leaders together to find solutions for worldwide challenges. President Clinton’s nephew, an undergraduate student, is participating in the commencement ceremony on Saturday, May 7, when more than 1,400 Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Arts degrees will be conferred; 700 graduate degrees will be conferred on Sunday, May 8. Both commencement ceremonies will be streamed live at www.lmu.edu.

One alumnae group is circulating an online petition to have President Clinton “disinvited”:

If LMU cares about sexual harassment, it should not honor someone repeatedly and credibly accused of such activity.  Moreover, it is inappropriate in an election year to honor the spouse of a leading candidate thereby politicizing an event that should be unifying.  Finally, President Clinton’s steadfast support of abortion on demand, including even partial birth abortion, is incompatible with LMU’s Jesuit emphasis on social justice for all human beings.

We urge you to withdraw your invitation to President Clinton.

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