Syracuse students protest CEO’s commencement speech for all the wrong reasons

Protesting commencement-speech choices is a rite of spring, but usually it’s political figures who draw the students’ ire. I’ve never heard of students protesting a commencement by a corporate CEO.

But that’s what’s happening to JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, against whom Syracuse University students are petitioning and rallying.

And why are the man- and woman-children unhappy that Dimon is giving the commencement speech?

“I personally know students who have had to drop out of school because their parents have lost their jobs in the financial crisis,” said Syracuse senior Ashley Owens. “To have Dimon as our commencement speaker is really insensitive.”

As young people trying to sound older often do, young Ashley misses the legitimate reason a college student should object to being preached at by a banker: It sounds like the most boring thing in the friggin’ world!

Syracuse students, go ahead and protest Dimon. You’ll get no objection from Vital Speeches of the Day. But do it for the right reasons, for crying out loud.