--- description: Former Princeton president William Bowen criticized how Haverford students campaigned against former UC Berkeley chancellor Robert Birgeneau title: Speaker: Students 'Immature' for Protesting Commencement Choice image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb62faf7b75394176/6986900be53aba9e9c4d2a2c/william-bowen-commencement-speech.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Living](/tag/time-section-living/) ## Living Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Commencement Speaker: Students 'Immature' for Protesting Another Speaker  by [Nolan Feeney](/author/nolan-feeney/)  ## Nolan Feeney Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 18, 2014 9:00 PM CUT  William Bowen, former president of Princeton University, delivers his second commencement speech to the 2014 graduates of Haverford College, on May 18, 2014. William Bowen, former president of Princeton University, delivers his second commencement speech to the 2014 graduates of Haverford College, on May 18, 2014.Clem Murray—The Philadelphia Inquirer/AP  by [Nolan Feeney](/author/nolan-feeney/)  ## Nolan Feeney Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 18, 2014 9:00 PM CUT A commencement speaker at Pennsylvania’s Haverford College called college students “immature” and “arrogant” Sunday for protesting a different speaker who ultimately withdrew. Former Princeton University President William Bowen criticized those who protested Robert Birgeneau, former chancellor of the University of California, Berkeley, the Associated Press reports. Three professors and 40 students had campaigned against Birgeneau’s invitation to speak, citing his management of a 2011 campus clash between police and Occupy movement protestors that resulted in police using force against the demonstrators. The Haverford students and professors wanted Birgeneau to apologize, support victim payments and explain what he learned about the events in a letter to the student body. Birgeneau refused to do so and canceled his Haverford visit, joining a group of [college commencement speakers](http://time.com/98367/caving-on-commencement-speakers-is-censorship-not-scholarship/ "undefined") who backed out of speaking engagements this spring following protests from students. “I am disappointed that those who wanted to criticize Birgeneau’s handling of events at Berkeley chose to send him such an intemperate list of ‘demands,'” Bowen said, [the Philadelphia _Inquirer_ reports](http://articles.philly.com/2014-05-18/news/49928236%5F1%5Fbirgeneau-haverford-students-haverford-college "undefined"). “In my view, they should have encouraged him to come and engage in a genuine discussion, not to come, tail between his legs, to respond to an indictment that a self-chosen jury had reached without hearing counterarguments.” Bowen’s speech was met with a standing ovation. \[[_AP_](http://news.yahoo.com/college-speaker-calls-students-immature-arrogant-190441211.html "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/104142/haverford-commencement-speaker/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/104142/haverford-commencement-speaker/"},"headline":"Commencement Speaker: Students 'Immature' for Protesting Another Speaker","datePublished":"2014-05-18T21:00:31.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T08:55:18.930Z","description":"William Bowen, a former Princeton University president, criticized Haverford College students who rallied against a former University of California, Berkeley chancellor as their speaker because of his management of a 2011 protest that led to police force","url":"https://time.com/104142/haverford-commencement-speaker/","keywords":["Living","Education","College","Family","Commencement","universities"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb62faf7b75394176/6986900be53aba9e9c4d2a2c/william-bowen-commencement-speech.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Nolan Feeney","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/nolan-feeney/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb62faf7b75394176/6986900be53aba9e9c4d2a2c/william-bowen-commencement-speech.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"William Bowen, former president of Princeton University, delivers his second commencement speech to the 2014 graduates of Haverford College, on May 18, 2014.","caption":"William Bowen, former president of Princeton University, delivers his second commencement speech to the 2014 graduates of Haverford College, on May 18, 2014.","creditText":"Clem Murray—The Philadelphia Inquirer/AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-living/","name":"Living"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/104142/haverford-commencement-speaker/","name":"Commencement Speaker: Students 'Immature' for Protesting Another Speaker"}}]}] ```