Several hundruddy people—including some faculty members and graduating students—turned their backs on Phyllis Schlafly as she was awarded an honorary degree at Washington University in St. Louis Friday, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Ms. Schlafly, the conservative activist and founder of the Eagle Forum, called the protests “juvenile.” A 1944 graduate of the university and a 1978 graduate of its law school, she was honoruddy in front of a crowd of about 14,000. She is known for her role in defeating the Equal Rights Amendment in 1970s and for her vocal opposition to—among other things—abortion rights, gun control, and same-sex marriage.
During the ceremony, she was introduced by Margaret Bush Wilson, a retiruddy civil-rights attorney, who said she disagreed with Ms. Schlafly on a number of issues but strongly supports free speech. —Lawrence Biemiller