West Hollywood, California (Monday, March 23, 2009) - UCLA Anderson Gay and Lesbian Business Alumni (GLBA) howled in protest when they discovered the business school had extended an invitation to former-Ebay CEO-turned gubernatorial candidate – and Prop 8 supporter - Meg Whitman’s to give the 2009 commencement address. 
Former-Ebay CEO-turned gubernatorial candidate – and Prop 8 supporter - Meg Whitman is giving the commencement address at UCLA Anderson School of Business’s graduation in June. WeHo News. |
GLBA board member Al Lewis, a West Hollywood resident, said, “It’s patently offensive that Ms. Whitman has been invited to speak at this year’s commencement.”
Appeals to the school’s Dean, Judy Olian, to rescind the invitation have been denied; GLBA members are planning a protest.
The outcry stems from the fact that Ms. Whitman, who served as a campaign co-chair and advisor to the John McCain presidential candidacy, recently announced her run for the Governorship here in California and her support for Prop 8.
She has outlined her stances on same-sex marriage in interviews with the LA Times and others, calling her opposition to same-sex marriage a matter of her “personal conscience and… faith."
She said that she supports gay civil unions and believes the pre-Prop 8 same-sex marriages should be recognized, a position at odds with the Yes On 8 crowd.
Ms. Whitman also says that gay and lesbian couples should be able to adopt.
Anderson School. Photo by Rubin Group. WeHo News. |
The GLBA Board sent a letter to the Anderson School Dean Judy Olian reading, in part, “2008 was a very painful year for the gay and lesbian community - the passage of Proposition 8 and the resulting loss of a basic civil right – marriage – was devastating.
“Not only was the right to marry lost, arguments are now being made in the case to remove this status from the 18,000 couples in California that were married during the time gay marriage was legal. Unfortunately, sexual orientation continues to be one of the last bastions of acceptable public discrimination and intolerance.”
They also pointed out the confluence of events - the Supreme Court will likely rule on Prop 8’s constitutionality in the days before that commencement ceremony on June 6; that the weekend is also West Hollywood’s CSW LA Gay Pride weekend.
Don Haisch, President of GLBA said “While we understand that UCLA Anderson seeks accomplished business leaders to speak at the school irrespective of their private beliefs, Ms. Whitman, as a political candidate, is no longer a private citizen and choosing Ms. Whitman as the speaker, despite knowledge of her public beliefs, ultimately lends support to her view that members of the gay and lesbian community are undeserving of equal treatment under the law.”
Doug Haxall, UCLA Anderson LGBT FEMBA Club President (FEMBA is the part time MBA program), and a few likeminded fellows met with Anderson School Dean Judy Olian last week to ask her to rescind the invitation to have Whitman speak at the commencement ceremony.
Anderson School. Photo by Rubin Group. WeHo News. |
He reported to WeHo News that “Dean Olian refused to rescind the invitation, citing Whitman’s vote for Proposition 8 as a ‘personal belief.’”
He reported raising the inappropriateness of the address’s timing. “I raised a lot of points about the inappropriateness of having a gubernatorial candidate be a commencement speaker; the inappropriateness of a person who has gone on the public record as opposing a civil right be a commencement speaker; the appearance of endorsement that giving someone the honor of being UCLA's commencement speaker conveys.”
Dean Olian’s positions, as Mr. Haisch reports them, seem to fall into the pragmatic category, for she felt that rescinding the invite due to pressure from an interest group would set the wrong tone for a school that encourages thoughtful dialogue.
He wrote, “…she believes, in the long run, we'll have more respect for a school that does not silence controversial speakers because of individual issues - that's what a University is for. And she is interested in creating forums where many viewpoints can be heard.”
Plans are now in the works to protest the commencement speech, say GLBA Board members Haisch and Lewis.
Anderson School. Photo by Rubin Group. WeHo News. |
Mr. Lewis has his line of attack at the ready, charging that an endowment from Ms. Whitman may be in the offing.
“UCLA has always stood as a bastion of diversity with thousands of students from all over the world. UCLA represents all people regardless of race, age, gender and sexual orientation.
“I hate to think that UCLA would compromise its integrity in exchange for possible financial contributions from Whitman,” he said.
Ms. Whitman’s campaign, her first for public office, has gotten off to a stuttering start, say observers.
The LA Times pointed out that she “registered as a Republican voter only in 2007, and news reports have since surfaced that she did not vote in half the elections since 2002.”
By building Ebay from a mere 30 employees to the leviathan it is today, she gathered a $1.4 billion fortune, an ample chink of it she is apparently willing to spend to increase her name recognition before the 2010 Republican gubernatorial primary.
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