Photo: Jim MacKay / WBZ NewsRadio
BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — A controversy is brewing over at Boston University.
The school announced its main commencement speaker at next week’s graduation is David Zaslav, Chief Executive Officer of Warner Brothers Discovery and BU alumnus
But given the Hollywood writer’s strike impacting the industry, some BU students and the Writer’s Guild of America (WGA) have been questioning the decision.
According to WGA, Zaslav has made almost $290 million over the past two years in compensation including stock options, while working class writers are out of a job demanding fair wages.
BU sophomore Nichole said having Zaslav speak during the strike shows how out of touch school officials are. “I think if I was graduating this year, I wouldn’t feel comfortable at my ceremony,” she said.
Kianna is a junior, and said while she understands both sides of the issue, ultimately “students have the right to have input into who their commencement speaker is going to be.”
Not every student is against the decision. “I think it’s really exciting he’s going to be commencement speaker.”
WGA said having Zaslav as the main speaker was a ‘poor decision,’ and that it expects protests at Nickerson Field next week during the commencement.
Meanwhile BU officials said the school is not planning on making any changes to its commencement agenda.
WBZ's Jim MacKay (@JimMackayOn Air) reports.
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