Richard Heinberg's Counterpoint Commencement Address at WPI

[Conrad Willeman]

On Saturday, May 14 Richard Heinberg delivered this address to the members of the graduating class and the faculty at Worcester Polytechnic Institute who were upset with the choice of Rex Tillerson, ExxonMobil CEO as the invited and honored commencement speaker. I did not hear it, but the title of Tillerson's address, as listed in the official Commencement program, was, ironically, "Integrity and Achievement." The Counterpoint Commencement followed the official ceremony, and was attended by an estimated 175-200 high-integrity graduates, faculty and those of us from the general public — a beautiful event.

[Jen Hartley]

Thanks for sharing this, Conrad!  What a great address.  If only all graduating seniors could hear this.  I'm so thrilled that the WPI students persisted and held fast to their convictions.

[Conrad Willeman]

Yes, I am hoping at least for a wide dissemination of the published speech. If you didn't already see this, here is rather good coverage of the whole commencement (official and counterpoint) by the Worcester Telegram & Gazette.

[Carol Harley]

Thanks so much for posting these links Conrad!

[Richard Kerver]

It was a great event by the WPI students.  I attended the planning and public events both to assist and enjoy.  For those interested, see http://groups.google.com/group/sustainable-worcester/topics for some posts of note. The sustainable-worcester listserv was a direct result of Richard Heinberg's visits in 2006 and the group of Worcester area residents that responded to his talks, in Boston and at Earthlands for the workshop, all of which I was principal organizer.  I'd be happy to share my thoughts about WPI, the student organizers, and Richard's talk, if there's any interest.