Gov. Rauner Booed At Chicago State Commencement
By Ed Marshall
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Governor Bruce Rauner was met with jeers and four-letter expletives from college grads at Chicago State's commencement ceremony on Thursday.
Chicago State has had to lay off 400 workers in the last year due to the absence of a state budget.
Rauner was in full academic dress when he was introduced. Then the boos, insults and epithets rained down from the student body.
A handful of angry young men rose from their seats to shout unprintable four-letter insults.
The outbursts lasted for about half of Rauner's nearly two-minute introduction.
Unlike President Trump's Education Secretary, Betsy DeVos who was shouted down by black college grads yesterday, Rauner wasn't the main speaker.
That was WVON-radio owner Melody Spann Cooper, who tossed Rauner a much-needed lifeline.
She told he same boisterous grads that the two had chatted prior to her speech and she now believes, "Rauner will get this thing fixed."
There was a smattering of applause.
Rauner later tried to put a positive spin on the incident, saying he understands the frustrations expressed Thursday.
"I'd like to boo our system as well," the governor said.