 "Watch: US medical students walk out of induction ceremony after anti-abortion keynote speaker takes stage")
Several students at the University of Michigan Medical School staged a walkout during their induction ceremony to protest against their varsity’s decision to invite Dr Kristin Collier, an anti-abortion advocate, as the keynote speaker. Videos from the event show the students walking out as Collier begins her speech.
The initiation ceremony, also known as the White Coat Ceremony, is held in medical schools to welcome new students and to award them a doctor’s coat. The ceremony took place on 24 July, just a month after the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade judgment, which guaranteed access to abortion as a constitutional right.
Earlier, students had circulated a petition to replace Collier, an assistant professor at the university who also directs the medical school’s programme on health, spirituality and religion, as the keynote speaker. According to a CNN report, a medical student said that over 300 people had signed the petition to appoint another speaker, citing Collier’s anti-abortion views. The university’s refusal to do so led to many students and audience members exiting the auditorium just as Collier began her speech. Watch:
Incoming medical students walk out at University of Michigan’s white coat ceremony as the keynote speaker is openly anti-abortion pic.twitter.com/Is7KmVV811
— Scorpiio (@Bscorpiio) July 24, 2022
The video soon went viral. Several people praised the students for taking a stand against their university’s decision.
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View AllSome slammed the university for going forward with their choice of speaker despite opposition from the students.
The university stated that Collier was chosen as the keynote speaker by members of their medical school’s Gold Humanism Honor Society. The institute stood by their choice to appoint her as a speaker.
“The White Coat Ceremony is not a platform for discussion of controversial issues,” a statement by the University of Michigan said. “Its focus will always be on welcoming students into the profession of medicine. Dr. Collier never planned to address a divisive topic as part of her remarks. However, the University of Michigan does not revoke an invitation to a speaker based on their personal beliefs.”
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