Summer 2007 Volume 103 Issue 3 : letters
2007 Commencement Speaker
Thank you for producing an enjoyable and informative Quarterly [Spring 2007]. I look forward to its arrival each time. I am writing about the announcement of the commencement speaker for 2007. Put me down as surprised that Ms. Terry Gross has been selected for that honor. She has always struck me as a lightweight, more a “pop” journalist, clever but quite shallow. For that reason I outgrew listening to her long ago.
However, I did make an effort to hear her interview of President Jimmy Carter regarding the publication of his book Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid. I was taken aback by her rudeness and confrontational manner with Mr. Carter. He has done more for peace in the Middle East than any living American. Perhaps she has issues with the President, along with some other journalists. She certainly did not treat him politely.
Put me down as wanting Vassar to choose commencement speakers who have some kind of weight and gravitas, consonant with the stature of Vassar as an educational institute of well-deserved high standing.
Mary McAlpine Johnson Bisharat ’46
Carmichael, California