North Texas students say 'no' to Greg Abbott commencement

[Harry]

Full petition text:

"The University of North Texas' student body is made up of students from all walks of life. Therefore, it is pivotal that our keynote speaker be someone who reflects not only our student population but our views on equality and representation. Governor Abbott is an advocate for immigration reform, border patrol, and anti-equal marriage laws. This does not align the spirit of the University of North Texas which prides itself in providing equal opportunities for their students. While Governor Abbott's story is inspirational, his views on inequality cannot be overshadowed by this. Our Mean Green Pride comes from being heard and respected. Which is why we ask University President Neal Smatresk to find a new keynote speaker for graduation."

Read more: http://m.chron.com/news/politics/texas/article/North-Texas-students-say-no-to-Greg-Abbott-6189372.php

[Quoner]

Why are you doing this? What did we do to you? How do we make you happy again, Harry?

[JesseMartin]

So 2,300 people on Change.Org have signed the petition. For those of you who don't know how that works, you don't seek out the petitions. Somebody writes it and submits it, then Change.Org emails it to a few million people. I know a bunch of people who are members and sign whatever comes their way, just to "help people out." So of the 2,300, there is no guarantee how many are UNT students (unless somebody from the Registrar's Office wants to go through all 2,300 and verify which are students). The signers are all over the world. So there may be 4 UNT students getting support from people in Djibouti, New Zealand, and Greenland to "pressure" the UNT administration.

The best way to circulate a petition against the admin is to either do it in person (and have them include part of their SID now that it's not also their SSN) or to set it up online, maybe through SGA or something, and then they can sign it by logging in with their EUID. Then if you get 2,300 actual students (especially if they're actually graduating), Smatresk might care. But if 1 graduating senior and a handful of their friends get random people from British Columbia, Perth, and Oslo to sign...why would that matter? And it's not like a lot of the petitions where they pressure companies and governments to cease huge travesties because it's bad press. UNT getting the Governor to speak at graduation is not bad press. But on the off chance that interested parties read this, here you go, I've given you a more likely path to affect the outcome of this scenario.

[SlimSlamSlum]

Even if all 2,300 signers are UNT students that means about 34,000 students have not signed the petition. So how is "North Texas Students Say 'No' to Greg Abbot Commencement" the best title for the article?

[LongJim]

I asked my son (21 and a junior at UNT) about this deal last night. He rolled his eyes and essentially said: "typical college group-think drama...haven't heard that much about it on campus".

[UNTFan23]

"Governor Abbott is an advocate for immigration reform, border patrol, and anti-equal marriage laws. This does not align the spirit of the University of North Texas which prides itself in providing equal opportunities for their students," the Change.org petition reads."

So UNT students, or at least some of them, are against immigration reform and securing our borders?

[Hunter Green]

It should read, "A few students say no to Greg Abbott." Hold the line Dr. Smatresk.

[oldguystudent]

Even if all 2,300 signers are UNT students that means about 34,000 students have not signed the petition. So how is "North Texas Students Say 'No' to Greg Abbot Commencement" the best title for the article?

That would be about the same ratio as voted for Apogee vs didn't vote.

[Ben Gooding]

Yaaaaawwwn...

Abbott is coming to UNT and he is speaking...get over it.

[UNTexas]

I may go just to see him speak. I saw Ann Richards and Rick Perry speak and enjoyed both.

[meangreendork]

I generally disagree with Abbott on his politics - but this is the office of the governor. These students should treat that office with respect, and if they want to take action about Abbott's politics, it should be done at the voting booth and in the months leading up to sway voters.

Doing it at commencement is rude. It's like, "here's my campaign for president at your commencement" level of rude.

[GMG24]

I love that Smastrek has come out and said Abbott is speaking and how excited the university is for him to speak.

[Green P1]

This is going to be an awesome spectacle.

[NM Green]

It is time to put on the Mean Green Big Boy Pants. His story is amazing and we need high profile persons to know who and what North Texas is all about - which is DIVERSITY! One of the most diverse campuses I have ever stepped foot on. That means you have to let the conservatives, drag queens, musicians, business majors and teachers ALL have a voice.

GMG

[UNT90]

Full petition text:

"The University of North Texas' student body is made up of students from all walks of life.

So much LOL in the first sentence alone. Ya, UNT is diverse, as long as "being diverse" means agreeing with a far left wing agenda. So typical. Edited April 10, 2015 by UNT90

[Rudy]

Its the tolerati. They are tolerant if you agree with them.