The governor gave the commencement speech. To very few people.

[Harry]

Commencement ceremonies are mostly pretty similar, one to another. Graduates, caps and gowns, polite attention to a speaker at a podium.

But at the University of North Texas, the keynote speaker the governor of the state addressed just a tiny fraction of the graduating class. And part of that small audience was actively protesting him turning away from him, holding anti-Gov. Greg Abbott signs.

A spokeswoman for the university in Denton, Tex., north of Dallas, said last-minute changes to the ceremony, moving it from an outdoor football field to an indoor coliseum after heavy rain and the possibility of hail and tornadoes was forecast, meant that many members of the senior class got their diplomas in smaller ceremonies at the coliseum prior to the keynote address. Once we made those changes and notifications, we were not sure how many students would participate but had space to accommodate close to 1,000, said Kelley Reese, a spokeswoman, in an e-mail.

The choice of Abbott ® had been controversial from the moment it was announced in early April, with many planning to boycott or protest the ceremony.

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/grade-point/wp/2015/05/21/the-governor-gave-the-commencement-speech-to-very-few-people/

[oldguystudent]