Late in the afternoon on June 5, the University of California San Diego communications department released a statement regarding Rep. John Lewis withdrawing as the commencement speaker on Saturday, June 16. UC San Diego chancellor Pradeep K. Khosla will instead speak at the ceremony, to be held at RIMAC Field from 8:30 to 11 a.m. “Due to a UC-wide speaker boycott called by AFSCME Local 3299, Rep. John Lewis has withdrawn as UC San Diego’s commencement speaker,” the UC San Diego release read. “Leading the ceremony and speaking in his stead will be UC San Diego Chancellor Pradeep K. Khosla. Commencement is a very special milestone for our students, who have worked very hard to reach graduation and their achievement deserves to be recognized and celebrated appropriately.” AFSCME Local 3299 is the University of California’s largest employee union, of which service workers service workers represented by the union struck the campuses for three days in May.
Last year, Tenzin Gyatso, His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, was the commencement speaker. For more information, visit commencement.ucsd.edu.