In 1990, the AJC sent me to Wellesley College in Massachusetts to cover then First Lady Barbara Bush's commencement appearance, which had sparked a lot of controversy.
Seniors at the prestigious women’s college had voted for “Color Purple” author and Georgia native Alice Walker as their first choice of commencement speaker. Alice Walker declined, and Barbara Bush, the second choice of the graduating students, was invited and accepted.
A subsequent student petition argued the first lady owed her status to her husband’s office, not her own accomplishments. The student resistance set off a national debate on women’s roles. A Boston Globe columnist pronounced the unhappy students “a pack of whining, unshaven feminists.”
Mrs. Bush addressed the disappointed students in her speech. "Now I know your first choice for today was Alice Walker, known for 'The Color Purple,' " she said. "Instead you got me -- known for the color of my hair."
The majority of students welcomed Mrs. Bush. Less so the media mob crowding the ceremony that scorching June day.
"I hope this helps your ratings," whispered a grad as she passed the press area. "Because it's really a wicked bummer for us."
Many of Mrs. Bush’s comments from the speech are appearing in her obituaries this week I decided to share my story from the event. (I cut it for space; the original contained quotes from Georgia students who attended Wellesley.)
Wellesley College, 1990:
The speaker was a college dropout, the audience some of the nation's top women students planning careers in law and medicine.
Yet Wellesley College's class of 1990 found something of value in Friday's comments by Barbara Pierce Bush, who left Smith College after her freshman year to marry George Bush.
"I think we all learned from it," said class President Julia Porter of Fort Smith, Ark. "I learned that family was important, but you can still go after your dream."
Mrs. Bush, 64, had been a controversial choice as Wellesley's commencement speaker, invited only after the first choice, author Alice Walker, declined. A petition signed by 150 seniors said the first lady was selected only because of her husband and asked that a second speaker be added who embodied the college's emphasis on personal achievement.
It was clear even before Mrs. Bush ascended the podium, accompanied by Soviet first lady Raisa Gorbachev, 58, that she had won over most critics. Graduating seniors waved "I love Babs" banners and interrupted her speech with applause several times.
As Mrs. Bush told a crowd of about 5,000 gathered under a large white tent for the 112th commencement of the school, "The controversy ends here."
Mrs. Bush advised the graduates that bonds with family and friends are ultimately more important than career successes.
"As important as your obligations as a doctor, a lawyer or a business leader may be," she said, "your human connections with spouses, with children, with friends, are the most important investment you will ever make.
"At the end of your life, you will never regret not having passed one more test, not winning one more verdict or not closing one more deal," she said. "You will regret time not spent with a husband, a child, a friend or a parent."
While the commencement ceremony itself downplayed politics, people found ways to be heard. One student sported "Free Armenia" earrings, while another posted a red "Free China" sign to her gown. A father raised a "Free the Baltics" banner during the Soviet national anthem.
Mrs. Gorbachev relied on a translator during her speech, rendering it more stilted than spontaneous. The Soviet first lady ended her broad comments on the need for greater understanding between nations by saying, "We women have our special mission."
Wellesley President Nan Keohane told the students the controversy over the invitation to Mrs. Bush had proved beneficial, providing an opportunity for people to re-examine what the proper role for a modern woman should be.
In any case, she said, this year's commencement will not be like most such exercises, that "no one remembers very clearly."
Mrs. Bush acknowledged she wasn't first on the seniors' speaker list.
"Now I know your first choice for today was Alice Walker, known for 'The Color Purple,' " she said. "Instead you got me -- known for the color of my hair."
Mrs. Bush earned the greatest applause when, scanning the 5,000 faces of graduates, family and friends, she said, "Somewhere out in this audience may even be someone who will one day follow in my footsteps and preside over the White House as the president's spouse.
“And I wish him well.”
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