Mary Ann is great and gracious and it would have been some speech. But the odds are high it would have been covered as petty and inappropriate and disrespectful. They were trying to use her and I think she made a hard decision but the right call. No harm done by saying no thank you. Lots of potential things out of her control otherwise.

Some school that wants to be a leader in Catholic education might want to make room on their commencement program for her.

Wonder if my alma mater has some room. The president there speaks that kind of leadership language.