IMF's Lagarde Won't Give Smith College Commencement Speech

Another day, another successful woman is forced to withdraw as a college commencement speaker.

This time the victim is Christine Lagarde, director of the International Monetary Fund. The college in question is Smith College, in Northampton, MA.

Douglas Belkin explains what the IMF does in the Wall Street Journal:

The IMF, which essentially acts as emergency lender to countries in need, often requires governments to tighten their belts by reining in state spending, including on public workers and social security. The group has said it engages only with member countries that request its assistance and that bailout programs are developed with the requesting governments.

Of late, the IMF has provided emergency financial assistance to the government of the Ukraine.

What was it about the IMF that threw 500 students into high dudgeon? Here is an excerpt from their petition:

Although we do not wish to disregard all of Ms. Lagarde’s accomplishments as a strong female leader in the world, we also do not want to be represented by someone whose work directly contributes to many of the systems that we are taught to fight against. By having her speak at our commencement, we would be publicly supporting and acknowledging her, and thus the IMF. Even if we give Ms. Lagarde the benefit of the doubt, and recognize that she is just a good person working in a corrupt system, we should not by any means promote or encourage the values and ideals that the IMF fosters. The IMF has been a primary culprit in the failed developmental policies implanted in some of the world’s poorest countries. This has led directly to the strengthening of imperialist and patriarchal systems that oppress and abuse women worldwide. At Smith College, a school with a campaign called “Women for the World”, we are taught how to stand up and fight against inequality and corruption. We are taught to speak up when something is unjust, and we do not wish to be represented by a system that doesn’t support us.

You see, the IMF is responsible for the poverty of poor countries. The IMF bears considerable responsibility for the oppression of women around the world.

It makes no sense, but, then again, blaming the world’s ills on a cabal of Jewish bankers did not make much sense either. Sad to say, the reasoning is the same.

It takes your breath away: the mental defectives of Smith College have decided to absolve the peoples of the world and their indigenous cultures of all responsibility for the material conditions that exist in their nations.They did not blame Sharia Law. They did not blame Boko Haram. They did not talk about honor killings and female genital mutilation.

Their years in college have taught them to blame it all on a vast right wing conspiracy that includes the IMF, the United States, capitalism and the patriarchy. Clearly, these same minds hold Israel responsible for the oppression of women in the Arab and Muslim worlds.

Here again, we see how much radical politics has infested America’s college campuses. We can only await the protest from the alumnae of places like Smith College. 

Isn’t it time to denounce the alumnae who contribute to an institution that is no longer in the business of educating young women?