Graduating students at Bethune-Cookman University stood and turned their backs towards US Education Secretary Betsy DeVos during her speech at their commencement ceremony on 10 May. The decision to invite DeVos to speak and to receive an honorary degree from the historically black university sparked outrage in light of her comments hailing HBCUs as 'pioneers of school choice,' when many argued black students were forced to "choose" between segregated education or none.