After reading both stories in the Portland Press Herald on April 28 about the protest at the University of Maine at Farmington building dedication honoring a former president of that college, I came to this conclusion: Paul LePage, Nickolas Bray and Allyson Hammond were all expressing their freedom of speech rights. Those rights were earned by our forefathers and given to us as U.S. citizens. That’s fair play to all.
What I found ironic were a couple of quotes by Ms. Hammond.
• First, before even finishing her first year as a psychology major, she is apparently qualified to determine the mental status of Mr. LePage (“a lot of pent-up anger going on in there”).
• And, second, she found LePage “rude.” The fact is both of those students decided to advocate for their political view at a ceremony for a former president of their very own institution, which had no political agenda other than the one they forced with their freedom of speech rights. That is rude! There is a place and time for everything.
Also, Ms. Hammond could be reminded that wearing a ball cap at such a ceremony is considered rude.
But hey, maybe I got it all wrong. Maybe both students are entitled to be disruptive at such a ceremony because of their status as George Mitchell Scholars. For that, I apologize.
Randall Wade
Jefferson
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