Student voices certainly do matter which was demonstrated when Betsy Devos visited Bethune Cookman University. The university's administration had an opportunity to avoid such a major public embarrassment if they had only given consideration to the voices of the main stakeholders - the 6000 students who signed the petition. Any intentions of having Devos as the graduation speaker to bring more recognition to the university backfired. But, why would the Black administration not give consideration to the students' concerns when Devos has never taken Black students or HBCUs into consideration in her financial schemes? Instead, the Bethune Cookman's administration took the authoritative position of ignoring so many students' concerns. The university, Betsy Devos, and even Omaroso Manigault, with egg on their faces, will never look back with fond memories at the 2017 Bethune Cookman University graduation where students defied their administrations' failure to do what is right for their students and in the name of the great civil rights activist, Mary Bethune-Cookman. Good to see that activism is still alive among Black students!
