The Cardinal Newman Society
reports
that it has received an email from a Georgetown University spokesman clarifying
that Kathleen Sebelius –
who
had been listed among this year’s commencement speakers on the university’s
website – “is not speaking at Georgetown’s commencement. She is speaking at
Georgetown Public Policy Institute’s annual student and faculty awards event.”
The email from Georgetown’s Rachel Pugh continues:
Georgetown has 28 ceremonies to honor the achievements of our graduates
and our faculty. We have 10 official commencement ceremonies to award
degrees for the different schools within the university, and 18 other awards
ceremonies to honor student and faculty achievements. We do not have one main
commencement speaker. The GPPI ceremony is one event during commencement
weekend, but it is not a commencement ceremony (degrees are not conferred).
At this event, GPPI Public policy Institute will give
end-of-the-year awards, several students speak, the Dean will speak, and GPPI
will give awards to a faculty member and an alumni.
Georgetown’s original announcement of its 2012 commencement
speakers has been edited on the university’s website (revised version here;
original version here).
In the new version Sebelius is listed under “Speakers at Other Events” rather
than the original heading “Speakers at Other Commencement Ceremonies.” The
event at which Sebelius will be speaking has also been identified as the “Georgetwon Public Policy Institute Tropaia” in the revised version.
Since
the announcement that Sebelius would be speaking at Georgetown on May 18, more
than 14,000 people have signed
the
Cardinal Newman Society’s petition to university president John DeGioia
asking him to rescind the invitation to Sebelius.