Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos gave a commencement address at historically black college Bethune-Cookman University in Daytona Beach that did not go the way she planned.
A student at the college, Jasmine Smith, told CNN, "I believe [graduates] deserve a speaker who could relate to them as far as the struggle we go through within the education system, and I feel like she cannot relate in that aspect".
Her speech-as well as her introduction by university officials-was interrupted multiple times by thunderous objection from the crowd of graduates, many of whom also voiced their anger on the university's Facebook page in the days prior.
But given her reception at the commencement address on Wednesday, DeVos may have a lot more work ahead of her to make amends. "The legacy of Dr. Bethune is that she was not constrained by political ideology, but worked across all parties to support B-CU", university president Edison O. Jackson said, as reported by the Huffington Post.
Sean P. Jackson, chairman of the Black Republican Caucus of Florida, said DeVos had always been a champion of providing strong education opportunities for minority students.
This is published unedited from the IANS feed.
Some cited what they described as a troubling approach to historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) from DeVos and the Trump administration.
Students and alumni also have taken issue with the university's perceived comparison of DeVos to their school's founder, Mary McLeod Bethune, an educator, humanitarian and civil rights activist.
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"I am at the table fighting on your behalf", DeVos told the students.
"We have not and will not seek to chill the free speech of our students and faculty, as we support the free exchange of alternative ideas in all academic efforts", the university administration said in a statement.
DeVos' was heckled throughout her speech with students booing and chanting in protest.
"One of the lasting hallmarks of higher education is its willingness to engage, explore, and experience that which we deem as 'other, ' " Jackson said in an open letter to the school community the same day as the announcement.
According to the Change.org site, the online petition had collected more than 8,000 signatures.
The decision of Florida's Bethune-Cookman University to have Ms DeVos speak at their commencement originally led to protests on campus. "Secretary DeVos has no understanding of the importance, contributions, and significance of HBCUs", it continues.
The school's opposition to DeVos is particularly warranted as the Education Secretary once referred to HBCU's as the "pioneers of school choice".
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