600+ Le Moyne students sign petition to remove Cardinal Dolan as commencement speaker

WSYR
May 11, 2015

http://www.localsyr.com/story/d/story/600-le-moyne-students-sign-petition-to-remove-card/30408/Uzi0GYux0Uu9Vx1vJ-ka0w

Syracuse (WSYR-TV) - Controversy about a commencement speaker!

Some students at Le Moyne College are angry that Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the leader of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York will be speaking at graduation next weekend.

There are allegations, that while Dolan was Archbishop of Milwaukee, he moved money into a fund to protect priests involved in sexual abuse scandals.

The cardinal has denied these claims, but Le Moyne students say he's not fit to be their speaker.

"It's just because there's so many questions dealing with this. And we had so many different cases of sexual assault being addressed on our campus. I felt it was a bit hypocritical for Cardinal Dolan to be our commencement speaker. There's certain details that need to be clarified for me to be okay with this," says Krystal Wilson, Le Moyne student.

Wilson along with another Le Moyne student created an online petition.

They've already gathered more than 600 signatures.

To put that in perspective, 3,500 students are enrolled at Le Moyne, so more than 20-percent of the student body is calling on the school to change the commencement speaker

The school is aware of students' concerns, but the Le Moyne president says Cardinal Dolan will be speaking at graduation.

"There's absolutely no chance that we would change our speaker moving forward. We're proud to host Cardinal Dolan and we're looking forward to hearing his message," says Dr. Linda LeMura, President of Le Moyne College. "My message to our students and faculty who have expressed concern is to give the Cardinal a chance. Listen to his message of hope and love and I think he will pleasantly surprise our audience."

Krsytal Wilson says she didn't think the president would change her mind this close to graduation.

She just hopes the students' voices were heard.

"It's not one, two, or three people speaking out about this. Its 600 people at graduation showing they do not approve of sexual assault on our campus or anywhere else," says Wilson.

Students say they will be holding a peaceful protest on graduation day.

They will not cause a scene but they will wear purple to raise awareness for sexual assault, while showing solidarity.