In light of her sudden firing this week, Jill Abramson will not be attending Brandeis University’s commencement or receiving an honorary degree, the school announced late Thursday. University President Frederick Lawrence said he spoke to the former New York Times executive editor twice this week, and while he told her Sunday’s ceremony would be “a good place for her to be,” she decided not to come. “Her exact words to me were: “I don’t think this is my year to be there for this,’” Lawrence said. But Abramson isn’t foregoing graduation season entirely. Wake Forest University said it has confirmed that Abramson will deliver this year’s commencement address. The ceremony is on Monday, so if students want to launch a petition complaining about Abramson stealing their thunder with her first remarks since her firing, they’d better move fast.
