May 12, 2014<\/p>\n
Christine Lagarde formally declines invitation to speak at Smith Commencement<\/p>\n
On May 12th, Christine Lagarde\u2019s decision to step down as commencement speaker was announced in a letter to Faculty, Students and community members from President McCartney. According to McCartney\u2019s 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.<\/i><\/p>\n
President\u2019s announcement<\/i> here<\/i><\/a><\/p>\n Faculty letter<\/i> here<\/i><\/a><\/p>\n NY Times article<\/i> here<\/i><\/a><\/p>\n