MSU fall graduates gave their commencement speaker a partly hostile reception Saturday morning, Michigan Radio reports.
Gov. Rick Snyder was greeted with a mixture of boos and applause, as MSU officials draped the symbol of his honorary degree on his shoulders.
He addressed 1,600 graduates in the Breslin Student Events Center after receiving an honorary law degree. Several hundred union supporters picketed outside, showing opposition o the right-to-work law he signed Tuesday.
"When one gives a commencement speech you have a couple options. You can talk about public policy or you can talk to graduates. . . . Believe me, I've talked enough about public policy this week," Snyder said. . . .
Snyder also told the graduates: "We'd like to keep you in Michigan."
That appeal fell flat for senior Jordan Bresnahan, who told reporter Steve Carmody he fears the new open-shop law means fewer opportunities for new graduates.
"We have to be thinking is this where we want to stay? . . . Workers aren’t going to be protected. We just studied four years to enter the workforce . . . and now that’s in jeopardy," said Bresnahan.
