Gee Withdraws As DeSales Graduation Speaker After Controversial Comments
COLUMBUS, Ohio –
Ohio State University President Gordon Gee has withdrawn as the commencement speaker for a local high school after a recording of controversial comments came to light last week.
Gee offered to withdraw as the speaker for the St. Francis DeSales High School graduation ceremony on June 8.
Last week, a recording of the December meeting of the school’s Athletics Council was discovered, in which Gee said Notre Dame was never invited to join the Big Ten because the university’s priests are not good partners, joking that “those damn Catholics” can’t be trusted.
“You just can’t trust those damn Catholics on a Thursday or a Friday, and so, literally, I can say that,” said Gee, a Mormon.
During his comments, Gee also questioned the academic integrity of schools in the Southeastern Conference, and the University of Louisville.
The top goal of Big Ten presidents is to “make certain that we have institutions of like-minded academic integrity,” Gee said. “So you won’t see us adding Louisville,” a member of the Big East conference that is also joining the ACC.
After a pause followed by laughter from the audience, Gee added that the Big Ten wouldn’t add the University of Kentucky, either.
Gee told the high school that he wants to ensure that the appropriate focus is kept on the students.
Gee has since apologized, and the board of trustees said Gee was reprimanded for the comments. SOURCE
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