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A Texas University Just Canceled Its Conservative Commencement Speaker

Republican Sen. John Cornyn was scheduled to speak at Texas Southern University's graduation before the school canceled on him.

By: Lindsay Gloor

Posted at 9:32 AM, May 14, 2017

and last updated 2017-05-14 09:32:33-04

A commencement speech by a Republican senator from Texas has been canceled.

Seniors at the historically black Texas Southern University weren't thrilled to learn that Sen. John Cornyn would be speaking at their graduation.

The university issued a statement saying Cornyn had been asked "to instead visit with our students again at a future date in order to keep the focus on graduates and their families."

Prior to the ceremony, a Change.org petition calling for his speech to be canceled got more than 800 signatures.

The petition cited Cornyn's support for Attorney General Jeff Sessions' and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos' appointments, stricter voter ID laws and efforts to halt sanctuary cities as reasons to cancel the speech.

Cornyn's cancellation comes after a series of student protests against conservative speakers, including DeVos at a university in Florida and several speakers at the University of California, Berkeley.