Ben Stein to speak at Liberty University commencement

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Area colleges line up commencement speakers - March 30, 2009

 

Ben Stein is known for a range of roles.

In politics, Stein, 64, has been a speechwriter and lawyer for both Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford, a political commentator, a professor and an advocate for conservative issues.

In entertainment, his exaggerated monotone voice won him fame in the 1986 movie “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” and in his game show, “Win Ben Stein’s Money,” from 1997 to 2003.

But it’s Stein’s role as an outspoken critic of evolution in his recent movie “Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed,” that makes him relevant as Liberty University’s 2009 commencement speaker, Chancellor Jerry Falwell Jr. said Monday.

This year marks the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin’s birth and the 150th anniversary of his “The Origin of Species,” which details his theory of evolution.

“It seemed fitting, because of that,” said Falwell, who announced the graduation speaker at the school’s convocation service Monday morning.

Those same views contributed to a different outcome at the University of Vermont, which also had invited Stein to speak at its commencement.

Stein declined that offer after the school received hundreds of complaints that Stein’s views of science were “affronts to the basic tenets of the academy,” according to the Burlington Free Press.

Falwell said Liberty welcomes Stein’s views.

“They rejected him because he was anti-evolution,” he said, “and our community will embrace him for the same reason.”

Stein is expected to “touch on the Darwinism issue” in his address, Falwell said. “But other than that, I haven’t discussed in detail what the topic of his speech will be.”

Falwell noted that Stein, who is Jewish, brings a different perspective to the evolution debate.

“As a Jewish person, he (Stein) sees the Holocaust as the sort of nightmarish end result of that kind of thinking,” Falwell said, referencing inferences made in “Expelled” that link evolution to the Holocaust.

Stein joins a list of well-known commencement speakers at Liberty that include martial arts star Chuck Norris, former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich and Sen. John McCain.

Falwell worked with faculty, board members, students and administrators to create a list of about 20 possible speakers earlier in the school year, he said.

Falwell said he has heard a positive reaction from students so far.

“I don’t think he’ll be standing up there and saying ‘Bueller, Bueller,’” Falwell said, referencing a line from “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.”

“That’s what the college kids remember about him. But from what I am told, he’s an excellent speaker.”

Sophomore Justin Scott, who helped in the process of deciding on a speaker, said he liked the choice.

“I think the movie (Expelled) was pretty popular overall with the students,” he said. “It’s just like any other school — there are some students who might not necessarily agree with the views of Ben Stein. But I think overall, he’s welcomed here.”