Group Sees Graduation Day Bias for Left

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Washington Times:


Group sees Graduation Day bias for left
Survey: Comme

By Hillary May 8:07 p.m., Monday, May 24, 2010

The Obamaites are proving a much bigger hit than the Bushies ever were on the cap-and-gown circuit.

A survey by the conservative Young America's Foundation found that nine officials from the Obama administration have been invited to speak at commencement exercises at the nation's 100 top-ranked universities this spring alone — compared with 14 officials from the administration during President George W. Bush's eight years in office.

Foundation officials say the results, part of an annual survey conducted for the past 17 years, show that the liberal dominance of graduation day has only increased under President Obama.

Despite disclaimers from university officials, Evan Gassman, program officer at the Young America's Foundation, said there is no denying that a bias exists.

"You can see there is a trend," he said. "Every single year for the past 17 years, these commencement speeches have contained over 50 percent of liberal ideologies, where conservatives are left out of the conversation."

He added, "You'd think that the officials at the Obama administration would be dealing with the war in Iraq or the 9.5 percent unemployment rate, but it seems they're all tied up. You think they're busy but they're not."

The survey also found that members of the press and actors are among those scheduled to speak at graduation ceremonies at the nation's top 100 universities, as ranked by U.S. News & World Report. The schools surveyed include Harvard, Princeton, Cornell and Boston University.

The invitations to administration figures is "only the tip of the iceberg," according to the survey. "This year's research found that a myriad of speakers were not only White House officials, but also liberal ideologues, newsmakers, authors and entrenched Washington insiders, while conservative best-selling authors, business leaders and free-market Nobel laureates were once again absent from our list."

Top Obama administration officials and Cabinet officers were the featured speakers at a number of top universities this spring. They included Energy Secretary Stephen Chu (Washington University in St. Louis and Georgia Tech); Office of Management and Budget Director Peter R. Orszag (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute); U.N. Ambassador Susan E. Rice (Stanford University); Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. (Boston University); Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki (University of Vermont at Burlington); Council of Economic Advisers Chairman Christina Romer (College of William & Mary); and U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk (Southern Methodist University).

Cornell has invited House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to be the "speaker of choice" for its ceremony Saturday, and former President Bill Clinton will do the honors for Yale. Mr. Obama addressed graduates of the University of Michigan and the cadets at West Point, while first lady Michelle Obama was invited to address George Washington University in the District of Columbia.