On Monday, NYU got quite the brow-raising graduation message.
Guest speaker for the university’s Graduate School of Arts and Sciences — Steven William Thrasher — served up a big “Fight on!” to his fellow revolutionaries. And in the process, he attacked the President of the United States:
“Many of us have been together at Occupy Wall Street, and at Black Lives Matter protests, and against that fascist in the White House.”
Why would anyone offer something brazenly political — and from an extreme side, at that — to an audience whose only common bond is graduate school in the arts and sciences?
#FAIL
There was, however, some applause. Once it quelled, he went after — I kid you not — Israel.
What the heck does this have to do with a college graduation?
“I am so proud, so proud, of NYU’s chapters of Students for Justice in Palestine and Jewish Voices for Peace, for supporting the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement against the apartheid state government in Israel.”
What in the world is going on?
Steven took his personal politics, and in addition to shoving them up the gowns of graduates, he attached them to the school:
“This is what we are called to do. This is our NYU legacy, that we are connected in radical love.”
Strange how many times “love” refers to something unrelated to love.
Is this really who NYU wants as a representative?
It seems so. In April, the college gave a Presidential Service Aware to the Students for Justice in Palestine.
As per The Washington Free Beacon:
SJP members around the country have engaged in physical violence, apologized for anti-semitic activity, and praised terrorists. Its funding comes heavily from organizations like American Muslims for Palestine (AMP), which has ties to Palestinian terror.
In 2018, Steven was named Northwestern University’s Daniel H. Renberg Chair. At the time, the school said he’d be focusing “on social justice in reporting, with an emphasis on issues relevant to the LGBTQ community.”
Doctoral candidate Thrasher received his bachelor’s degree at NYU in dramatic writing and film/TV production. Before working as a journalist, he was employed at Saturday Night Live.
The first rule of public speaking is “consider your audience.” Does Steven William Thrasher consider everyone at NYU a far left-winger?
Either way, one thing’s for sure: On Monday night at NYU, for anyone with a tassled cap not on board with an anti-Israel, anti-Trump point of view, graduation was really, really goofy.
-ALEX
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