ADRIAN — Adrian College’s annual spring commencement exercises are scheduled to take place this Sunday and will take place with all necessary safety measures in place as the liberal arts college, affiliated with the United Methodist Church, hosts a rather prestigious back-to-school speaker.
Riley Gaineswho swam competitively for the University of Kentucky and was the 2022 Southeastern Conference Female Swimming and Diving Athlete of the Year, will deliver the keynote address this weekend to the college class of 2024.
Now a former college swimmer, Gaines has become one of the most prominent voices against transgender women in women’s sports.
Her criticism of transgender women – a person assigned male at birth and identifying on the female spectrum – being allowed to compete in women’s sports began in March 2022 after she finished tied in fifth place with University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas in the NCAA 200-yard race. freestyle championship. At those same championships, Thomas became the first openly transgender woman to win an NCAA Division I national championship when she won the 500-yard freestyle.
Almost immediately after the college announced in March that Gaines had been named this year’s commencement speaker, backlash and public outcry hit the Adrian campus with opposition from some students and alumni as well. than non-profit organizations within the Adrian and Lenawee County community.
More: Criticism of transgender women in women’s sports to be Adrian College speaker
The M Society, a Lenawee County nonprofit that seeks to improve the mental and physical well-being of members of the LGBTQIA+ community, said it was “disappointed” with the selection of Gaines as commencement speaker.
“The ceremony should be a joyful and inclusive celebration of students’ achievements, not an occasion marred by the presence of a speaker who actively promotes bigotry and intolerance,” the M Society’s open letter to Adrian College said.
Letters of protest and a petition launched March 12 by Safe Place, Adrian College’s student organization that advocates for the LGBTQIA+ community, urged the college to disinvite Gaines to speak at the commencement ceremony. The petition has more than 1,600 signatures.
“As a club dedicated to LGBTQIA+ rights and preventing injustice on campus, we are deeply concerned by Adrian College of Michigan’s decision to invite Riley Gaines as a speaker for this year’s commencement ceremony” , we can read in the online petition. found on tinyurl.com/Safe-Place-Petition says. “This decision is not only inappropriate but also discredits graduates who may be allies or part of the LGBTQIA+ community.
As of this week, Adrian College officials said plans and safety measures are in place for Sunday’s commencement ceremonies.
“Adrian College has appropriate safety measures in place for the upcoming spring start,” college officials said in an email to the Daily Telegram.
During her visit to San Francisco State University last year to speak about her campaign against transgender athletes in women’s sports, protesters inside and outside the room in which Gaines s expressed protested his message, Adrian College said. After she finished speaking, Gaines was escorted by law enforcement officials to shelter in a classroom where she remained for hours as protesters continued to demonstrate.
When is Adrian College starting?
The spring start will take place on Sunday, May 5, at the college shopping center, outside. The ceremony will begin at 3 p.m., but future graduates will be busy most of the day with a morning rehearsal, a baccalaureate ceremony at 10:30 a.m., a graduation brunch from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and finally the processional.
Guests can begin seating at 2 p.m. and tickets are not required. As the ceremony takes place outside, people are advised to prepare for the weather.
When the university announced Gaines as speaker, Adrian College President Jeffrey Docking said transgender college athletes and gender identity were important issues “that should be discussed at colleges and universities across the United States.”
“Adrian College has never shied away from presenting and debating substantive disagreements on campus,” Docking said in the March statement. “In fact, this is precisely the purpose of universities: to engage in civil debate on controversial issues. We welcome Riley Gaines to our beautiful campus and are confident that our students will be inspired by her commencement speech.
“An exchange of ideas must take place outside the beginner stage”
R Cole Bouck, who attended Adrian College in the 1980s and came out as gay during his sophomore year at Adrian, is among many people to denounce the selection of Gaines as commencement speaker.
While the college, he said, describes Gaines’ selection as a nod to his history of participating in discussions on controversial issues, a commencement address should not be the time or place for such conversations.
“I would not object to the university bringing Ms. Gaines to campus at another time for a truly open and honest dialogue and exchange of ideas where students could ask difficult questions, share their own points of view, views and disagreements with the speaker, and even deciding not to attend. ,” he said.
Bouck said he has engaged with Adrian College on LGBT issues in several ways since leaving campus, but his decision to have Gaines speak at commencement is an example of the college’s “disconnect” with its students, its adopted ribbons of excellence and its academic freedom. Resolution.
In 2017, he established a scholarship for LGBT and allied students with Adrian College that has been made available to one AC student every year since 2018, with the exception of the COVID pandemic year. 19, 2020.
The scholarship, The R Cole Bouck LGBT and Ally Pride Scholarship, aims to recognize Adrian College students who have demonstrated support, advocacy and leadership for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community – either on or off the Adrian College campus. in the community, or both.
Bouck said he created the scholarship in hopes that it would support opportunities for students who are motivated to address social justice issues affecting the LGBT community. Five students received the scholarship.
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As an Adrian College alumnus and donor, Bouck said the decision to have Gaines speak on Sunday is both an “embarrassing and hurtful” decision and a “bad investment” decision.
“As a university, this is a disingenuous, dangerous and unnecessary gamble with the lives of everyone involved, as well as the reputation and future of the university,” he said. he declares.
Admitting that no one has a clean slate, Bouck said Sunday’s opening ceremony will take place and Gaines will still be the speaker. He hopes security goes both ways, he said.
— Contact journalist Brad Heineman at bheineman@lenconnect.com or follow him on X, formerly Twitter: www.twitter.com/LenaweeHeineman.
This article originally appeared on The Daily Telegram: Adrian College’s commencement continues with anti-trans activist as speaker.
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