A man convicted of murdering a police officer in 1981 was chosen to give the commencement speech at Goddard College.
Goddard College graduate and convicted killer Mumia Abu-Jamal gave a commencement speech at his alma mater on Sunday.
Abu-Jamal earned a degree in 1996 from the liberal arts college in Vermont.
He did so while on death-row for the 1981 murder of police officer Daniel Faulkner. His sentence was later commuted to life in prison without parole.
Abu-Jamal didn't mention his crime during the speech delivered via video. Instead, he focused on telling the new grads that Goddard reawakened his love of learning.
He also told the students to, "Think about the myriad of problems that beset this land and strive to make it better."
The college describes him as, "an award winning journalist who chronicles the human condition," and over the years he's garnered international support for the racial injustice he claims to have experienced.
Many people were upset that Abu-Jamal was chosen to speak, including police, correction officials, and Faulkner's widow.
According to the college, the students were the ones who chose him as their speaker as a way to "engage and think radically and critically."
This is the third commencement speech Abu-Jamal has given, having previously spoken at Ohio’s Antioch College and Evergreen State College in Washington state.
