USC Coalition for a New 2008 Commencement Speaker

To:  President Steven B. Sample

President Sample:

As a coalition of concerned USC community members and member organizations, we urge you to reconsider the selection of Robert Iger as speaker for the 125th Annual Commencement Ceremony.

The commencement speaker must embody the ideals and ethical values of the University in order to appropriately celebrate graduating Trojans’ accomplishments, and set the stage for accomplishments to come. For various reasons, Mr. Iger does not meet the necessary criteria for selection as the commencement speaker at such a prestigious university.

Many respected scholars, organizations and public leaders have criticized Walt Disney Company for its irresponsibility as a dominant force in shaping popular culture. For decades, Disney has perpetuated harmful stereotypes of race, gender and class that have proven detrimental to the psychological development of children and the development of social values worldwide [Media Education Foundation 2008]. Moreover, Walt Disney Company has been known to engage in labor practices inconsistent with what USC deems acceptable [Students and Scholars Against Corporate Misbehavior, USC Workplace Code of Conduct].

More recently, Disney has also assumed a dominant role in the global movement toward media conglomeration. This movement eliminates opportunities for entrepreneurship to provide an array of diverse perspectives in communications media, resulting in compromised journalistic quality. By overseeing the merger of Disney and Capital Cities/ABC, Mr. Iger has exacerbated the concentration of media ownership and has contributed to the decline of media integrity worldwide [Journal of Business Ethics 2002]. Near-monopolistic profit drives Disney to engage in irresponsible and unethical behavior without being held accountable by competitors and customers:

We have no obligation to make history. We have no obligation to make art. We have no obligation to make a statement. To make money is our only objective.
-Internal Memorandum, Walt Disney Co.
[Media Education Foundation 2006]

These sentiments contradict those expressed in the University Code of Ethics, a standard to which any commencement speaker ought to be held.

As CEO of Walt Disney Company, Mr. Iger embodies ideals that are inconsistent with those that USC seeks to foster in its graduates. As per the University Code of Ethics and the University Mission Statement, USC should extend its values to the selection of a commencement speaker whose words will command both respect and admiration from graduates, their families and the greater USC community.

In the future we recommend greater transparency in the commencement speaker selection process, in order to avoid the selection of a speaker who does not represent Trojan values.

Sincerely,

The Undersigned

The USC Coalition for a New 2008 Commencement Speaker Petition to President Steven B. Sample was created by USC Students, Staff, Faculty, and Stakeholders and written by Movimiento Estudiantil Chicana/o de Aztlan; Student Coalition Against Labor Exploitation (mecha@usc.edu).  This petition is hosted here at www.PetitionOnline.com as a public service. There is no endorsement of this petition, express or implied, by Artifice, Inc. or our sponsors. For technical support please use our simple Petition Help form.