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Fraternal Order of Police Pennsylvania
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Abu-Jamal Gives College Commencement Address
Cop Killer's Speech Draws Demonstrators to Ohio Campus
April 30, 2000
YELLOW SPRINGS, Ohio (AP) -- A death row
inmate convicted of killing a police officer spoke
by audiotape to Antioch College's graduating
class Saturday as hundreds protested nearby,
including the murder victim's widow.
Students last month invited Mumia Abu-Jamal,
convicted in 1981 of killing Philadelphia
policeman Daniel Faulkner, to give the
commencement address at the small private
college, about 15 miles east of Dayton.
He didn't talk
about his case,
the death penalty
or policemen in his
six-minute taped
speech. Rather, he softly spoke of the impact
one person can have on the world, the topic
students had requested, using Nelson
Mandela, Malcolm X, W.E.B. DuBois and
Angela Davis as examples.
"We admire these people because, at critical
times of their lives, they cast their lot with the
poor, the oppressed," Abu-Jamal said. "Their
lives have extended what freedom means ...
You at Antioch are in similar positions... show
your admiration for them by becoming them."
Just yards away from the outdoor ceremony,
blue, yellow and orange police tape strung
from trees marked off separate spaces for widow Maureen Faulkner and her
supporters, media members, and Abu-Jamal's supporters.
Widow 'ashamed' of college students:
"I am ashamed of the students of Antioch," Maureen Faulkner said before
the ceremony. "It is wrong that they are having a murderer as their >
commencement speaker.
"They're young and they have not experienced anything in the world. God
forbid they ever lose a loved one for murder and they stand in my shoes."
Faulkner's group silently protested Abu-Jamal's speech, and turned their
backs and left as Abu-Jamal's tape began playing.
Many of the more than 100 graduating seniors listened to the speech with
their heads bowed and hands folded in their laps. As it ended, some
students gave Abu-Jamal a standing ovation. Others remained in their
seats and refused to applaud.
Abu-Jamal, 45, repeatedly has proclaimed his innocence. His supporters
believe he was targeted for political reasons and framed because he was
an outspoken radio journalist and former activist. Groups nationwide have
called for a new trial.
Not Abu-Jamal's first college address:
During an off-campus memorial for the slain officer, Michael
Lutz, president
of the Pennsylvania State Lodge of the Fraternal Order of Police, criticized
the school's invitation.
"They send a wrong message to society by inviting the bad element
instead of the good," Lutz said. "If this college had any real values, they
would instead be directing their students to help the victims of crime."
Abu-Jamal also spoke via audiotape at a graduation ceremony last year at
Washington's Evergreen State College. A student group at Kent State
University in northeast Ohio plans to have a 10-minute taped speech by
Abu-Jamal played at an event marking the 30th anniversary of the Ohio
National Guard shootings May 4, 1970, that killed four students and injured
nine.
Recording Secretary Phone:
1-800-706-9959
Recording Secretary Fax: 814-254-1727
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Harrisburg, PA 17110-1250
State Office Phone: 1-888-551-8125
or 717-236-6981
State Office Fax: 717-236-8902
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