Seahawks star Marshawn Lynch criticised after being asked to speak at Princeton

Former Seattle Seahawks' star Marshawn Lynch was recently elected as the 'Class Day' guest speaker for Princeton seniors. Marshawn Lynch was drafted in the 2007 NFL season by Buffalo Bills after he impressed scouts while playing football for University of California, Berkeley. There was a lot of criticism generated at the decision-making processes by the Princeton students as they penned a letter in protest to the decision. 

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Princeton student-body pen letter in protest to Marshawn Lynch's selection as Class Day speaker

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The Princeton student body wrote, "Saying that Lynch has 'unapologetically embodied and advocated for our own identities and values' (as stated in the University's official Instagram post) without actually consulting us, the Princeton community, is paradoxical and thus questionable. We do not mean to criticize this choice of speaker in particular, but rather want to call attention to the opaque selection process for Class Day speakers."

The letter went on to talk about the other grievances faced by Princeton students and their objections to Lynch's off-field antics. The letter added, “On receiving the email about the speaker announcement, members of the senior class who were not aware of Lynch tried to learn more about his identity and relevance to our Class Day ceremony. Among articles that praised his NFL career and philanthropic contributions, we came across articles discussing Lynch’s reticence with the media and his terse responses at press conferences. In 2013 and 2014, for example, Lynch was fined $50,000 and $100,000 for refusing to speak to the media. During the 2015 Superbowl Media Day, Lynch famously responded to multiple questions with variants of 'I’m just here so I won’t get fined.' With no other frame of reference, such reports caused confusion over the set of criteria that led to his nomination.”

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