May 16, 2025
James Madison College values and respects individuals’ rights to free speech. Our students are encouraged to explore complex issues and develop their own perspectives. An essential part of the academic experience for students is participating in an environment where they are free to reach conclusions that may differ from those of their fellow students, individual faculty members or leadership.
We also take seriously our responsibility to create a welcoming environment within the college and at its associated events. In particular, our commencement ceremony is a time of celebration where family, friends and invited guests gather to recognize the accomplishments of graduates in a comfortable and welcoming setting. As such, James Madison College employs a thorough process that requires commencement speakers to submit remarks in advance for review and approval to ensure their intended speech reflects the spirit of the occasion.
Recently, a commencement speaker deviated from the remarks reviewed and approved by the college and inserted personal commentary into their speech. Personal commentary, including that of this speaker, is not endorsed by the college. Unapproved commentary has the potential to make attendees feel discomfort or feelings of exclusion which is in direct conflict with the celebratory purpose of commencement, and therefore, we will be evaluating the speaker selection and speech review process to identify areas for improvement in our efforts to avoid a similar instance in the future.
We appreciate the support of the family, friends and invited guests who showed up to celebrate our recent graduates, and we wish our JMC Spartans well in their future endeavors.
Cameron G. Thies
Dean and MSU Foundation Professor
James Madison College