CNN’s Michael Smerconish Disinvited From College Commencement Over Comments From 2004

CNN’s Michael Smerconish has had an invitation to deliver the commencement address at Dickinson College, a private, liberal arts school in Pennsylvania, rescinded over arguments he made in a 2004 book.

According to Smerconish, Dickinson president John Jones wrote to him over the weekend to explain that he was no longer welcome to address this year’s graudating class after students and faculty raised concerns over Flying Blind: How Political Correctness Continues to Compromise Airline Safety Post-9/11.

“In the last few days, some Dickinson faculty and students raised complaints about a book I published in 2004. That’s not a typo – 2004. They were left uncomfortable after a selective reading from my post-9/11 book through their 2024 lens. Signs at a student encampment this week displayed the demand of my cancellation alongside divestment in Israel,” explained Smerconish, who called his cancellation “a cautionary tale for anyone in America who believes in fairness, common sense, the free exchange of ideas, rational decision-making, and the importance of leadership in the face of hysteria.”

In his book, Smerconish argued against a Department of Transportation policy that “precluded more than two individuals of any particular ethnicity from being singled out at the same time for secondary screening at airports.”

“Applying that illogic to the 19 terrorists who killed 3,000 Americans on 9/11 means that even if airport security had suspected criminal intent by the would-be hijackers, they could not have been subjected to secondary questioning. I believed that policy to be ludicrous then – and still do now.” he reflected.

Notably, Smerconish recently condemned USC’s decision to cancel a planned valedictorian speech by a Muslim student active in protests over the war in Gaza.

The longtime media personality called himself “collateral damage” and his disinvitation “a reflection of our times,” before delivering a stinging rebuke those who called for it and acquiesced to those calls.

“Those members of the college community who pressured to get my speech cancelled are surely celebrating today that their censorship-fueled campaign succeeded,” he wrote. “But my guess is that more than a few who remained silent and succumbed to the mob are at least a little bit embarrassed at having done so.”