EXCLUSIVE: Granddaughter of Mary McLeod Bethune Speaks with the TJMS About Betsy DeVos
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| Bethune Cookman University Students turn their backs to Education Secretary Betsy DeVos |
Today on the Tom Joyner Morning Show, Dr. Evelyn Bethune, the granddaughter of Bethune-Cookman University founder Dr. Mary McCloud Bethune, spoke exclusively with Roland Martin.
In her first public comments on the controversy surrounding Education Secretary Betsy DeVos' commencement speech at the Historically Black University, Dr. Bethune addressed the decision to invite DeVos to speak; the students’ protests; and the awarding of an honorary degree to the Trump appointee.
Listen to the full segment on BlackAmericaWeb.com – [or at the bottom of this page]
On responses to the news of Devos’ participation -
Most of the students were very bothered, and we protested. It was the first time in my life that I held a picket sign on the campus of Bethune-Cookman University against Bethune-Cookman University.
On whether she supported student protests during the commencement -
Absolutely! Our students have learned that this country was founded on civil disobedience…Those students earned the right after four, five six years of going through, to say that they weren’t happy about who their speaker was. This should have been about them and it wasn’t.
On her hopes for the future of the University –
My hope is that the University will start to understand that they cannot just shove certain things down the throats of their students, their faculty, their alumni…they have to start to value the input, because the university can’t stand without all of those ingredients.
Dr. Evelyn Bethune on the Betsy DeVos Protest: ‘I am proud of the students’— Crystal Johnson (@Crystal1Johnson) May 15, 2017
We're also proud of all of you! pic.twitter.com/gpavxIkUBW
This video of Betsy DeVos getting booed at Bethune-Cookman University is so beautiful you might just watch it twice pic.twitter.com/7bmRLx2dMA— Luke Savage (@LukewSavage) May 10, 2017
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