Friday, April 20, 2007

UVSC to host Nader and BYU alternative commencement


The past few days have not been fun for those plucky BYU students who have been trying to find a venue for their alternative commencement. But now it looks like those Cougars looking to trade in Dick Cheney for Ralph Nader will be able to have their event at "that other university" in the valley.

An unnamed source has told The Pipeline that a deposit has been made for the event at UVSC's McKay Events Center. As of Friday afternoon employees at the on-campus arena could neither confirm or deny that the event has been scheduled.

Those familiar with the school remember when Michael Moore's visit in October of 2004 sparked a controversy that eventually garnered national attention. Conservative talk show host Sean Hannity accepted an invitation to UVSC to "balance the ticket".

LDS Church owned Brigham Young University in Provo has been weathering a storm since it announced a month ago that Vice President Dick Cheney would be the speaker at the school's commencement ceremony. Students and like-minded professors almost immediately started organizing an alternative to the Cheney event.

Last week event organizers announced that former presidential candidate and vocal Bush administration critic Ralph Nader had accepted an invitation to speak...the one problem was that venue options were dropping fast.

But it now appears that Nader and the alternative commencement kids have found a place at UVSC. The interesting thing will be if UVSC's fickle donors and supporters pipe up like they did 3 years ago. We shall see...

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