We Should Be Booing More

Boo-ing is an underrated form a feedback

I do not remember the commencement speech at my college graduation(s). The commencement for my undergraduate degree was wildly unmemorable despite taking place in the then-titled the Taco Bell Arena (graduate Más) and I didn’t attend the commencement for my second degree, which took place in the spring but I’d graduated in the fall and was working on a gig 2,500 miles away.

I don’t love a commencement speech. I think we can agree we peaked at Wear Sunscreen, which despite being oft attributed to Kurt Vonnegut and was mixed into a hit song by Baz Luhrmann was actually written by Pulitzer Prize winner Mary Schmich in 1997 as an essay in the Chicago Tribune. I didn’t know this until a lil’ Google. Did you know this?

And for the lady, perhaps a hit of nostalgia?

The only other famous commencement speech I can think of is null because while Make Good Art had some decent content, the author Ne*l G*iman is dead to us now and forever and we don’t need that trash in our lives because plenty of other people who didn’t harm dozens of women are indeed, making good art.

BUT. My interest in commencement speeches has been recently piqued because they’re illustrating that the adults are not alright but the kids sure are! And it’s a great sign that one of my favorite past times may be coming back in style: Booing.

I think we’d like to believe we’ve outgrown booing as a culture. That booing is gauche, perverse, and unnecessary. That instead of booing, we could write a strongly worded letter or gentle-parent people who are saying idiotic things at inappropriate times into being better people, but I think booing is the correct reaction in certain circumstances.

The boo-surgance has been taking hold in commencement speeches, and they’ve been delightful to witness. Here are several notable boo situations that occurred this graduation season and they were, perhaps counter-intuitively, standing ovation worthy.

1. Eric Schmidt at the University of Arizona is probably the highest profile of the new boo-babes. Schmidt is a former who-gives-a-shit at Google and the moment AI escaped his mouth, students hurled Boos at him with vigor. He responded to the boo chorus with, “I know how you feel about it, I can hear you.” Clearly not understanding that the students issue was not that he could hear them, but actually that the students could hear him and they’d rather not.

   

   I would Boo this man for free.

2. Gloria Caulfield at University of Central Florida is some fool that was excited to talk to the kids about AI and she was so unembarrassingly shocked when she was booed and SHE SHOULD HAVE BEEN EMBARRASSED. She was hired to give some inspirational words to the leaders of tomorrow and instead showed everyone how clueless she is about the concerns of tomorrow’s leaders. This one was extra fantastic because after she regains her composure, she follows up with, “Only a few years ago, AI was not a factor in our lives.” And the students break into an uproarious cheer. Yes. The grads and the rest of us would like to go back to the time when AI was not a factor in our lives, pls.

   

   Being surprised to be booed about AI is a great sign that you’re out of touch.

3. At Middle Tennessee State University, Scott Borchetta (Swiftie enemy #2, I assume, after Jake Gyllenhaal) pushed against his boo-ers by saying, “Do something about it, it’s a tool. Make it work for you.” Not seeming to realize the biggest tool in the room was the asshole giving the commencement speech.

   

   You couldn’t pay me enough NOT to boo this man.

4. And not a commencement speech, but just as egregious (maybe more), at Glendale Community College in Arizona, the President of the college addressed students during the commencement ceremony and told them that a huge portion of names had been skipped and would not be re-read because they were using a new AI system, to which the students gloriously and understandably booed.

I came across an article recently stating something like, “Booing at commencement speakers who mention AI is a trend.” As though this is some silly thing the kids are doing, and not an honest reaction from college grads voicing their disgust (it’s giving Orcas capsizing multi-million dollar yachts). And how could they not be disgusted? Commencement speakers are paid by the university to inspire the students (who have paid the university) about their future and instead these jerks are showing up to tell the whippersnappers about how great AI is for enshittifying the already disastrous labor market they’re about to enter. These people deserve to get booed, and I’d argue getting booed is a gift—a wake up call to reconsider why they’re so hyped up on AI.

And honestly? I hope this is the beginning of a huge resurgence of the Boo. Bring back Booing! And I’m saying this as a performer. There’s no faster feedback than a boo or a laugh. Boo people! Let them know how they’re doing!

Me, so many days.

And don’t save your boos for shitty tech people! Boo your boss who tells you to stay late at work! Boo that person who parks in the bike lane! Boo your neighbor raising their Trump flag! Boo the Princess in her dream for marrying Humperdink instead of her one true love, Wesley! More Boos. Tell them how you feel. Bring back public shaming for people who are outsourcing the work they should be doing with their own brain. For people who lack of perspective, and for people not holding up their end of societal agreements! If we stick to our strongly worded letters and polite tactics with grown ass adults, they see it as agreement. Booing is the only way.

If I weren’t such a compost fan, I’d consider advocating for bringing back hucking rotting food at shitty people, too.

Have you ever booed someone? Been booed? Tell me everything.