CARLISLE, Pa. (WHP) — UPDATE | Dickinson College released the following statement Saturday morning:
We are committed to making sure that Dickinson College’s upcoming Commencement is focused on celebrating the achievements of the Class of 2024. Many of our seniors already missed their 2020 high school graduations due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and it’s our intention to make sure they have a ceremony that is positive, inspiring, and reflects their resilience. Over the past week, it was clear that there is overwhelming opposition from the Dickinson community to Mr. Smerconish’s involvement in Commencement, which was becoming a distraction. For those reasons, we made the decision to rescind our invitation.Dickinson College President John E. Jones III ’77, P’11 also released this statement to the community Saturday morning:
Dickinson’s mission is to prepare young people for engaged lives of global citizenship and leadership. We encourage students to listen and discuss ideas and perspectives that are challenging and force them out of their comfort zone. That is the role of a liberal-arts campus. We hold humility, reflection, engagement and dialogue as the most important values to build understanding of complex issues. As the controversy related to our Commencement speaker, who I have known for many years, developed, I found myself defending concepts that are inconsistent with those values. It has become clear that our selected speaker, Michael Smerconish, faced overwhelming opposition from our faculty and students, particularly after recent comments he made. As a result, with the support of our Board of Trustees, I have decided to rescind the honorary degree and invitation to speak at Commencement. I said previously that Commencement would not be canceled. Commencement is a celebration of our class of 2024 graduates and their families, of a journey successfully completed, and a new one set to begin. It is important to remember that this particular class lost their high school graduations in 2020 due to COVID-19 and had the start of their college experience interrupted. We want this Commencement to be the most uplifting, memorable, and student-centered event for those graduating and for our community. These are difficult days across the globe. I look forward to coming together and celebrating our seniors who are resilient beyond measure.PREVIOUS COVERAGE | A pro-Palestine protest is currently underway at Dickinson College.
Students are gathering in support of Palestine, and are asking the college to get rid of planned commencement speaker Michael Smerconish. They're upset over a book he wrote in 2004 called "Flying Blind."
We spoke with a student at the protest who chose to stay anonymous. She said that in the book he argues "that anyone who is Arab American or Muslim should be racially profiled."
The protesters have pitched tents on campus and they say they're not leaving until their demands are met on paper.
Alongside Smerconish being removed as the commencement speaker, they want a scholarship for Palestinian students to be implemented, as well as financial transparency about whether or not the school is investing in the Israeli government.
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Students say they understand that some of the demands may be more long term, but that it won't be enough for the college to just agree with the demands in good faith.
Protesters started camping last Thursday and will continue until further notice.
Dickinson College issued this statement in response:
Dickinson College is proud of our tradition of fostering free speech and dissent through engaging in the liberal arts and sciences. Our mission is to educate students who go on to live meaningful lives of engaged global citizenship. As long as demonstrations do not interfere with the educational mission of the college, or place the safety of our community at risk, we welcome peaceful dialogue and respectfully expressed differences of opinion. The college is having productive conversations with our students regarding this demonstration.CBS 21 reached out to Smerconish, and he responded in an email.
The quote relayed from your reporter is a gross distortion of my post 9/11 whistleblowing on a then DOT policy that would've precluded the airport screening of the 9/11 terrorists I might add that the book in question had a Foreward written by then US Senator Arlen Specter and a jacket blurb by John Lehman, former Sec of Navy and 911 Commission member- and all author proceeds went to Pennsylvania's official 9/11 memorial! Further, I was invited and did offer live testimony to the US Senate on this exact subject / easily found with a Google search.In the podcast Smerconish also spoke about what led to him writing the book, Department of Transportation policies in the aftermath of 9/11, and a scene involving his son that led to him writing the book.
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