Commencement Ceremonies at Top 100 Universities Dominated by Obama Officials and Liberal Commentators

Ideological Balance Lacking Among Top Universities' Selections for Commencement Speakers

HERNDON, Va. May 18, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Young America's Foundation's 18th annual commencement speaker survey has revealed that the nation's top 100 universities, as determined by U.S. News & World Report, have once again chosen to use their commencement ceremonies as platforms to showcase one final effort to indoctrinate a captive audience of students with yet another predictable leftist lecture.

Last year's results counted only three recognizable conservatives and included a wide array of Obama administration officials. This year's list counts only 13 conservatives out of 51 ideologically identifiable speakers. Seven Obama officials will make their standard high number of appearances – only down two from last year's nine appearances. That's a total of 16 appearances in just two years. Meanwhile, our research indicates that Bush administration officials spoke at the top 100 universities a total of 14 times throughout the entire eight years of his presidency. The imbalance in ideological exposure that students receive at these universities is obvious just in those numbers.

Obama's White House officials, including Janet Napolitano (secretary of Homeland Security), Kathleen Sebelius (secretary of Health and Human Services), Ray LaHood (secretary of Transportation), Bill Daley (chief of staff), Ray Mabus (secretary of Navy), Robert Gates (secretary of Defense), and Regina M. Benjamin (surgeon general of the United States) have, once again, been welcomed by liberal administrators to speak at top universities.

Moreover, the expected lineup of liberal entertainment and media personalities, including Tom Hanks at Yale University and Katie Couric at Boston University, will still make their fair share of appearances.  

This year, the only difference is that several schools look to successful business executives and leaders to inspire and offer guidance to their students, as many graduating seniors have one thing on their minds: jobs. At a time when unemployment is at record highs, particularly for this age group, graduates can better benefit from hearing speakers who have successfully started companies or worked their way to the top. The decision by several schools to invite business executives is a tacit nod to the fact that the same old liberal philosophy that professors spew is not helping students with the reality of finding jobs upon graduation.

Some of these successful executives, including John Chambers, CEO of Cisco, account for the marginal increase in the number of conservative commencement speakers this year.

Given the electoral sweep in 2010, it is no surprise that a few conservative officials are slotted to give commencement remarks this year, including Virginia Governor Robert McDonnell at the University of Virginia, Speaker of the House John Boehner at the Ohio State University, and Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson at the University of Texas - Austin.  

Conservative speakers are still overwhelmingly in the minority, and even when they are invited, they are met with disdain by the Left on campus. The choice of Rick Snyder, governor of Michigan, who is set to address the University of Michigan where he is a triple alumni (B.A., J.D., and M.B.A.), has come under attack by leftists on campus. They claim the decision to invite an elected official to speak is divisive, even though they had no such complaints when President Obama and former President Clinton spoke in 2010 and 2007, respectively.

Commenting on this year's survey, commencement speaker researcher and recent graduate of UC Berkeley Jiesi Zhao remarked, "After four years of indoctrinating students with liberal ideologies in the classroom, most of our nation's top universities choose to do no different at graduation."

Precious few schools are looking to successful entrepreneurs and business leaders to offer advice to graduating seniors. There is no doubt that the permeating liberal bias of administrators once again shines through in this year's selection of commencement speakers.

To view an executive summary of our report, please visit our website.

Young America's Foundation is an educational organization promoting conservative ideas on our nation's campuses through lectures, publications, and conferences.  During the last year, the Foundation sponsored more than 600 lectures, including addresses by Governor Sarah Palin, Ann Coulter, Karl Rove, Ben Stein, and Steve Forbes.  In 1998, Young America's Foundation saved the Reagan Ranch, and with the Reagan Ranch Center in downtown Santa Barbara, uses it to educate young people about Reagan's ideas. To learn more, visit www.yaf.org.

SOURCE Young America's Foundation