Thousands Oppose Jeffrey Holland's Commencement Speech

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Everybody Wang Chung
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Thousands Oppose Jeffrey Holland's Commencement Speech

Post by Everybody Wang Chung »

Within hours of announcing Jeffrey "Musket Fire" Holland as a speaker at SUU's graduation in April, almost 8,000 people had opposed his participation by signing an online petition.

It would be a watershed moment if SUU caves in and disinvites Holland. Here's the link: https://www.change.org/p/remove-jeffery ... rect=false


Thousands oppose an LDS Church apostle’s commencement speech at SUU because of his anti-gay statements
An online petition criticizes Jeffrey R. Holland for “openly” opposing “LGBTQ+ individuals.”


By Scott D. Pierce
| March 17, 2023, 8:22 a.m.
| Updated: 1:44 p.m.

Comment

Southern Utah University announced Thursday that a Latter-day Saint apostle will be the keynote speaker at its April graduation ceremony — but within hours, thousands of people had signed an online petition demanding that Jeffrey R. Holland be disinvited because he has “openly opposed LGBTQ+ individuals.”

The change.org petition criticizes Holland for his call for “‘musket fire’ toward the (LGBTQ+) community.” In an August 2021 talk at Brigham Young University, Holland advised faculty and staff that they should take up their intellectual “muskets” to defend The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its “doctrine of the family and … marriage as the union of a man and a woman.” He also criticized the commencement speech by BYU’s 2019 valedictorian, who declared himself a “gay son of God.”

[Read more: ‘We must have the will to stand alone’ — Read or watch LDS apostle Jeffrey R. Holland’s talk at BYU]

The petition was posted after SUU President Mindy Benson announced that she is “delighted” that Holland will be the commencement speaker at the Cedar City school April 28.

“His address will offer inspiration to our graduates to embrace lifelong learning and give back to their communities as they leave SUU and continue to build their lives,” she said in a news release.

Holland was born and raised in nearby St. George, the release noted. His “southern Utah roots and dedication to education and learning are timely as we wrap up our 125th anniversary year,” she said.

Before becoming an apostle in 1994, Holland served as the ninth president of BYU in Provo.

[Read more: Can a ‘unique’ BYU really be true to its two missions: faith and scholarship?]

But the online petition asserts that including Holland in SUU’s commencement “would fail to serve the student body, especially those in the LGBTQ+ community and students who do not [ascribe] to the religious teachings of the LDS Church.”

As of 1 p.m. Friday, more than 6,300 people had signed the petition. Among the comments from signers:

• “As a member of the LGBTQ+ community, this makes me question what SUU is really about. No student should feel uncomfortable or disrespected. This is not OK, we are better than this.”

• “I deserve to graduate in peace knowing I am supported by my university. They can plug their Q Centers, diversity quotas and pride flags. But until the school itself stands up for their queer students, it means nothing.”

• “If SUU wants the students at the campus to feel safe on our campus, they need to prove they care about the LGBT+ community and the most basic step in doing that is not asking somebody who despises those people to speak at THEIR graduation.”

SUU did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday morning.

In addition to Holland, Benson and a representative from the class of 2023 are scheduled to speak at the commencement.

In May 2021, controversy erupted at Utah Valley University when Wendy Watson Nelson — the wife of LDS Church President Russell M. Nelson — was invited to be the commencement speaker. Opponents of the move cited published works from her in which she suggested “homosexual activities” hurt the institution of marriage and labeled gay relationships as “distortion and perversion.”

When Wendy Nelson spoke at the graduation, UVU president Astrid Tuminez repeatedly thanked her for doing so.

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Re: Thousands Oppose Jeffrey Holland's Commencement Speech

Post by malkie »

His talk in 2021 was entitled: ‘We must have the will to stand alone’.

Perhaps some suitable location can be found, not on the SUU campus, and certainly not at commencement, where he can exemplify that topic: he can stand alone somewhere and talk to himself.

Actually, while I greatly sympathise with the SUU students, I have to confess to some ambivalence about suppressing not only speech that one might disagree with, but a speech made by someone whose previous remarks one disagrees with. Is this really the best way to handle the matter, especially on a university campus?

I'm definitely open to persuasion and correction on the issue, particularly when I'm not sure how I would react if I were part of the LGBTQ+ community and were expected to attend commencement.
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Re: Thousands Oppose Jeffrey Holland's Commencement Speech

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malkie wrote:
Fri Mar 17, 2023 10:48 pm
His talk in 2021 was entitled: ‘We must have the will to stand alone’.

Perhaps some suitable location can be found, not on the SUU campus, and certainly not at commencement, where he can exemplify that topic: he can stand alone somewhere and talk to himself.

Actually, while I greatly sympathise with the SUU students, I have to confess to some ambivalence about suppressing not only speech that one might disagree with, but a speech made by someone whose previous remarks one disagrees with. Is this really the best way to handle the matter, especially on a university campus?

I'm definitely open to persuasion and correction on the issue, particularly when I'm not sure how I would react if I were part of the LGBTQ+ community and were expected to attend commencement.

Protests like this were what finally got the church to accept blacks in 1978.
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Re: Thousands Oppose Jeffrey Holland's Commencement Speech

Post by malkie »

drumdude wrote:
Fri Mar 17, 2023 10:57 pm
malkie wrote:
Fri Mar 17, 2023 10:48 pm
His talk in 2021 was entitled: ‘We must have the will to stand alone’.

Perhaps some suitable location can be found, not on the SUU campus, and certainly not at commencement, where he can exemplify that topic: he can stand alone somewhere and talk to himself.

Actually, while I greatly sympathise with the SUU students, I have to confess to some ambivalence about suppressing not only speech that one might disagree with, but a speech made by someone whose previous remarks one disagrees with. Is this really the best way to handle the matter, especially on a university campus?

I'm definitely open to persuasion and correction on the issue, particularly when I'm not sure how I would react if I were part of the LGBTQ+ community and were expected to attend commencement.

Protests like this were what finally got the church to accept blacks in 1978.
To be clear, drumdude, I'm not at all opposed to protests, including in this case. My ambivalence is on the point of actually suppressing an address by someone because his previous remarks were unacceptable.

Are you in favour of disallowing his address?
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Re: Thousands Oppose Jeffrey Holland's Commencement Speech

Post by Philo Sofee »

Yeah, let him talk to himself. I wouldn't attend.
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Re: Thousands Oppose Jeffrey Holland's Commencement Speech

Post by drumdude »

malkie wrote:
Fri Mar 17, 2023 11:24 pm
drumdude wrote:
Fri Mar 17, 2023 10:57 pm
Protests like this were what finally got the church to accept blacks in 1978.
To be clear, drumdude, I'm not at all opposed to protests, including in this case. My ambivalence is on the point of actually suppressing an address by someone because his previous remarks were unacceptable.

Are you in favour of disallowing his address?
Depends on how often Mormon leaders give addresses there. If his voice is a minority view, then let him be heard. But if they’ve had Mormon leader after Mormon leader there- enough is enough.

I’m all for giving minority voices a chance. But the head of a trillion dollar religion already has a large enough microphone to be heard anytime he would like.
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Re: Thousands Oppose Jeffrey Holland's Commencement Speech

Post by Philo Sofee »

drumdude wrote:
Fri Mar 17, 2023 11:34 pm
malkie wrote:
Fri Mar 17, 2023 11:24 pm
To be clear, drumdude, I'm not at all opposed to protests, including in this case. My ambivalence is on the point of actually suppressing an address by someone because his previous remarks were unacceptable.

Are you in favour of disallowing his address?
Depends on how often Mormon leaders give addresses there. If his voice is a minority view, then let him be heard. But if they’ve had Mormon leader after Mormon leader there- enough is enough.

I’m all for giving minority voices a chance. But the head of a trillion dollar religion already has a large enough microphone to be heard anytime he would like.
Excellent point.
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Re: Thousands Oppose Jeffrey Holland's Commencement Speech

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Reap the whirlwind, Jeffrey.
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Re: Thousands Oppose Jeffrey Holland's Commencement Speech

Post by Kishkumen »

This is very interesting. Is the majority of students at SUU LDS? Why choose Holland in the first place?

I kind of wish this would spark a discussion regarding the purpose of commencement ceremonies and speeches. These days it seems more like a victory lap accompanied by a bunch of platitudes delivered by someone deemed suitably important or well known. I don’t recall much about my graduations after high school. Indeed, my high school graduation speaker was Senator Byrd of West Virginia, who had a troubling history in regards to race.

The other speakers I did not pay much attention to and have subsequently forgotten.

Honestly, I don’t buy all of this stuff about not feeling safe because Holland is there. They should go with the brute economic facts. Someone paid a lot for this education, and it should not be celebrated by a person opposed to the sexuality of a decent number of the graduates. That’s just in poor taste if not oblivious or even insulting.

Poor form, SUU. Maybe the Church should have simulcast commencement addresses for all LDS graduates every year, if having a Mormon leader speak in connection with graduation is so damned important.
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Re: Thousands Oppose Jeffrey Holland's Commencement Speech

Post by dastardly stem »

I’d think most of the signees are not SUU students. If they were that’d be huge since I’d guess a good percentage of students are lds. But yes agreed, think of it in a practical sense. Many students identify as lgbtq, no doubt. No need to get a speaker opposed to them.
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