May 12, 2014
Christine Lagarde formally declines invitation to speak at Smith Commencement
On May 12th, Christine Lagarde’s decision to step down as commencement speaker was announced in a letter to Faculty, Students and community members from President McCartney. According to McCartney’s letter, the former speaker chose to decline in response to her concerns that the controversy of her visit to Smith would take away from the celebratory atmosphere of the graduation ceremony. The story of her stepping down received extensive backlash, and was picked up by multiple major news outlets, including The Washington Post and The New York Times. The event sparked heated discussion between Faculty, Students, and Alumnae about whether or not student protests had been warranted or appropriate. Ruth Simmons, former president of Smith College and then President at Brown University, stepped in last minute to give the Commencement address.
President’s announcement here
Faculty letter here
NY Times article here
Washington Post article here
[Last updated on October 20, 2018]