New College of Florida students yell 'go f*ck yourself' at conservative commencement speaker
Police came to the scene as NCF graduates and parents aggressively disrupted former Trump advisor Scott Atlas’ commencement speech.
Video of the protest was posted to Twitter.
Protests erupted during Scott Atlas’ commencement speech at the New College of Florida (NCF) graduation ceremony.
Atlas is a well-known conservative and served as a Special Advisor to former President Donald Trump.
Police came to the scene soon after the commencement speech began following aggressive screams of “go f**k yourself” directed at Atlas.
Many protesters can also be heard chanting “wrap it up” as Dr. Atlas speaks in the video.
Twitter user Steven Walker posted a video of the protest:
“wrap it up” chants as Atlas speaks pic.twitter.com/XYeW1oWPKl
— Steven Walker (@swalker_7) May 19, 2023
Many also wore masks and turned their backs to the stage, another video shows:
more backs turned pic.twitter.com/B44RCQX6lP
— Steven Walker (@swalker_7) May 19, 2023
[RELATED: New College of Florida students organize alternative graduation after DeSantis takeover]
Dr. Atlas told Campus Reform that he “was greatly honored by New College of Florida to join their 2033 commencement. Like students around the country, this graduation class is a very special group, because they persevered through the COVID pandemic and its management.”
“I stressed that we need them especially now, in our country where the failed leadership during the pandemic brought division and a lack of trust, to help bring New College’s stated commitment to ‘free speech and civil discourse’ back to our nation,” Atlas continued.
[RELATED: PROF GIORDANO: We need urgent reforms to restore American excellence]
He also included the concluding statements of his address, which were not heard due to protesters drowning him out:
“We need you, your generation, to reinstate the moral backbone, the ethical compass – and the basic civility that is disappearing from America,” Atlas told the graduates.
“We cannot have a civil society if it’s filled with people, led by people, who refuse to allow discussion of views counter to their own. We desperately need leadership that unites, not divides; leaders with a moral compass, who know right from wrong, who believe in strong family values; leaders who are not afraid to defend our precious freedoms – America’s hard-earned freedoms that uniquely provide opportunity sought by millions the world over; leaders with integrity - or this country, as an ethical society, as a virtuous society, as a free and diverse society, is in serious trouble,” his statement reads.
He concluded with the words of G.K. Chesterton:
“Right is right, even if nobody does it. Wrong is wrong, even if everybody is wrong about it.”
Campus Reform contacted New College, but has yet to receive comment. This article will be updated accordingly.
Follow Kaia Lehenbauer on Instagram.
