CNN host Michael Smerconish announced on Monday that Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, rescinded his invitation to deliver the commencement address at this year's graduation ceremony over unearthed comments he made in a 2004 book.
Smerconish, in an article published on his website, Monday, wrote that the school retracted its invitation for him to speak at the ceremony, where he would receive an honorary degree, after students and members of the faculty complained about comments he made in his 2004 book, "Flying Blind: How Political Correctness Continues to Compromise Airline Safety Post-9/11."
According to Fox 43, the issue began after an undergraduate student wrote an opinion piece for the college's student-run newspaper, the Dickinsonian, criticizing the decision to invite Smerconish to deliver the commencement address.
Smerconish responded on his SiriusXM radio show and the editorial board wrote an open letter in reply stating that "the Class of 2024 deserves better than Smerconish as their commencement speaker because of his statements in support of the racial profiling of Arab Americans and Muslims in his 2004 book 'Flying Blind,' views which he has continued to stand by."
"In the last few days, some Dickinson faculty and students raised complaints about a book I published in 2004," Smerconish wrote on Monday. "They were left uncomfortable after a selective reading from my post-9/11 book through their 2024 lens. Signs at a student encampment this week displayed the demand of my cancellation alongside divestment in Israel."
He added: "Those members of the college community who pressured to get my speech cancelled are surely celebrating today that their censorship-fueled campaign succeeded. But my guess is that more than a few who remained silent and succumbed to the mob are at least a little bit embarrassed at having done so."
Theodore Bunker ✉
Theodore Bunker, a Newsmax writer, has more than a decade covering news, media, and politics.
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