Cal State Long Beach Drops National Anthem at Graduation Ceremonies
“The school’s alma mater was sung as part of the events.”
Has the national anthem been deemed too divisive now? You know that’s where we’re headed.
The College Fix reports:
Cal State Long Beach ditches national anthem at grad ceremonies
Cal State Long Beach’s spring commencement ceremonies did not include a rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner” among its festivities, recordings of each ceremony show.
The national anthem was not played at its various ceremonies, held in mid-May at Angel Stadium, to honor and celebrate its estimated 15,000 class of 2023 graduates.
The school’s alma mater was sung as part of the events. Its mascot, a non-binary shark who uses plural pronouns, was also on hand to wave to the crowds.
Cal State Long Beach in May also hosted nearly a dozen “Cultural Graduation Ceremonies” focused on “American Indian, Black/Pan-African, Cambodian, Chicano/Latino, Lavender, Pacific Islander, Pilipino, Undocumented, Vietnamese and International Students,” its website states.
Jim Milbury, a spokesperson for CSULB, told The College Fix in an email Wednesday that “commencement planners have not received concerns about the anthem not being played at our ceremonies.”
Milbury added that “as we plan for 2024, we will have internal discussions about whether this component is an appropriate addition.”
The public university’s decision to not perform “The Star-Spangled Banner” stands in contrast to other large California institutions, such as the University of Southern California and UC Berkeley, both of which included the song this year.
It is considered somewhat of a tradition to include it in commencement ceremonies, Mark Clague, an assistant professor of musicology at the University of Michigan, told The College Fix in an interview.
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They have the right to choose not to play the national anthem if they don’t want to. But if that’s the way they are going to be, they should also lose all federal funds of any kind.
“Has the national anthem been deemed too divisive now? You know that’s where we’re headed.”
Unbuckle your seatbelts, kids, we’re already there.
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How come “undocumented” were not included in the international segment of graduation? By definition they are citizens of countries other than the US