— Annika Hammerschlag (@a_hammerschlag)
May 5, 2018
[6] “Service — to God, to country and to neighbor — is a calling, and it’s an imperative,” Ms. DeVos
[7] told
[8]the crowd of about 250 graduates in her prepared remarks. “It’s at the core of what it means to be an American. And it should be a calling for you.” Congrats to the
@avemariauniv graduating Class of 2018! It was an honor to be in the building for your special moment. Special thanks to
@BetsyDeVosED for your inspiring inspiring words, and your unfathomable courage in the service of our nation!
pic.twitter.com/ibIG98Plom[9][10][11]
— Byron Donalds (@ByronDonalds)
May 5, 2018[12] The appreciation contrasted sharply with the response to her graduation speeches last year at Bethune-Cookman University in Dayton Beach and the University of Baltimore, where some students booed and turned their backs on her.Her
Ave Maria[13] appearance was not without controversy. In April, 36 alumni and students wrote a letter calling on the university to rescind the invitation, saying her actions were “hostile to a culture of life and of advocacy for the marginalized among us,” but others came to her defense.About 100 alumni argued in a letter that as Catholics, “we must reject this widespread tendency to seek to silence opposing viewpoints and must not allow our political proclivities to cloud our judgment of ideas.”
Ave Maria[14] president Jim Towey, who served as director of President George W. Bush’s Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, said in a
Thursday[15] op-ed that she had “restored sanity” to the Education Department despite unrelenting criticism from the left.“Secretary
DeVos[16] has found no safe harbor among the elites of our nation’s public schools and institutions of higher learning,” said Mr. Towey in the Daily Caller op-ed. “Her public appearances typically trigger rude protests, heckling, and coordinated disinformation campaigns. But she, too, has weathered the storm.”In her remarks,
Ms. DeVos[17] placed an emphasis on Christian faith and cited Jesus, Pope John Paul II and Mother Teresa, noting that
Ave Maria[18] started in 2014 the U.S. first museum dedicated to Teresa of Calcutta.“‘Find your own Calcutta,’ Mother Teresa begged us. ‘Find
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