Jerry Springer Is Commencement Speaker at Northwestern Law
Jerry Springer, a 1968 grad of Northwestern law school, is this year’s commencement speaker. The choice is sparking controversy.
Many students have signed petitions and circulated e-mails protesting the television host’s appearance, but he remains a speaker, the Chicago Tribune reports. However, their objections spurred the school’s graduation committee and law school dean David Van Zandt to add a second speaker, popular law professor Martin Redish.
One mass e-mail sent to Van Zandt expressed “a deep sense of anger, embarrassment and surprise” that the speaker would be “the sensationalist, ratings-seeking, instigator of daytime television.”
Van Zandt issued a written statement defending the decision to keep Springer as a speaker, saying he had once been mayor of Cincinnati and had success in the news and entertainment industries. Redish said he looks forward to sharing the stage with Springer, but admitted he has never seen The Jerry Springer Show.
The blog Above the Law posted the student e-mail and Van Zandt’s response. It offered this observation about Springer: “Maybe he’ll bring Northwestern students with secrets and unresolved conflicts up on stage, then have them confess and brawl. That might be more fun than the usual staid graduation ceremony.”
