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It's been about a week and a half since Bethune-Cookman University announced that Betsy DeVos would be delivering the historically black college's commencement speech. In that time, protest petitions have drawn thousands of signatures and calls for the school president's resignation have cropped up — 

Yet the controversy has done little to derail the lightning-rod secretary of education's speech, which is scheduled for noon ET Wednesday. You can watch that speech live below.

Anya explains why many students and alumni were angered by the decision to invite DeVos:

Within hours of the announcement at the start of this month, the school in Daytona Beach, Fla., began actively defended its decision to invite DeVos.

"One of the lasting hallmarks of higher education is its willingness to engage, explore, and experience that which we deem as 'other,' " President Edison O. Jackson said in an open letter to the school community.

"When we seek to shelter our students and campus communities from views that are diametrically opposed to their own," he continued, "we actually leave our students far less capable of combating those ideas. ... We cannot, and we will not, ever accomplish this if we continue to exist in ideological, social, and racial silos."

The school has also pushed back against claims that protest petition signatures number in the tens of thousands, pointedly tweeting an image of empty cardboard boxes.

https://twitter.com/bethunecookman/status/862056593306857473

In the hours leading up to the speech, no reports have emerged of disruptive protests, and demonstrations outside the venue have remained relatively small and peaceful.

https://twitter.com/BerryFLW/status/862324724780683266

Education News

Colin Dwyer

Author

The announcement that the U.S. education secretary would deliver the commencement address at the historically black university drew consternation from some students and alumni. Now, see the address.

Betsy DeVos delivers commencement speech to Bethune-Cookman

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