A Pennsylvania school board president used a graduation ceremony late last week to urge the crowd of 2014 graduates to question liberal ideologies the academic world and even society throws at them.
According to The Intelligencer, Paul Stepanoff, president of the Quakertown Community School Board, used his time at the podium to address the body of graduates and guests with his thoughts on the government’s intrusion on American life and how it has altered citizens’ perceptions on key issues.
The school official urged the crowd to start questioning blindly accepted beliefs, such as climate change. According to the report, he segued that thought into how environmentalists and liberals in general have created laws and cultivated a society that better protects sea turtles’ eggs than unborn children.
Some of the graduates were angry that the topic was discussed at the graduation. One student even emailed Stepanoff demanding his resignation.
“Paul, you’ve already ruined my classes [sic] graduation, do the rest of the community a favor; either learn how to keep your right-wing opinions to yourself or kindly remove yourself from the field of educating the youth of the community,” graduate Wade VanValkenburgh told the Intelligencer.
Though Stepanoff was greeted with some disapproval, he told The Intelligencer he also received a lot of positive comments for his remarks. (RELATED: Pa. Schools Spike Taxes Without Vote To Preserve Pensions)
“These graduates are adults, and we should treat them as adults,” Stepanoff said. “I spoke about problems they will be facing.”