Maybe Don't Invite Someone Who Vouched for the Man Who Killed a Beloved Teacher in Your District to Speak at Commencement

Shaker Heights High School students have started a petition, which has as of Friday gathered more than 750 signatures, demanding the school not welcome Marcia Fudge to speak at the 2024 commencement festivities on June 5.

Fudge, the former Housing and Urban Development Secretary and United States Congresswoman, in 2015 was among friends of former Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge Lance Mason who wrote letters to a judge seeking leniency in sentencing after he pleaded guilty to domestic violence charges stemming from an incident when he viciously beat his then-wife Aisha Fraser, a beloved sixth-grade teacher in Shaker Heights, in front of the couple's children, punching her 20 times and smashing her face into the console of a car.

While the two had previously separated, Aisha Fraser filed for divorce two days after the 2014 beating and needed reconstructive facial surgery for her injuries.

When arrested, Lance Mason was found to be in possession of 2,500 rounds of ammunition and semi-automatic weapons.

Mason was sentenced to 24 months in prison.

In her letter, Fudge wrote that he was a "good man who made a very bad mistake and “Lance accepts full responsibility for his actions and has assured me that something like this will never happen again.

Three years later, in November of 2017, Mason murdered Aisha Fraser in a domestic violence incident, stabbing her while she dropped the couple's children off at a family member's home. He is currently serving life in prison.

At the time, Fudge issued a statement regarding her support for Mason, saying, "My heart breaks for Aisha Fraser. I pray for Aisha’s family, especially her children. My Support of Lance Mason was based on the person I knew for almost 30-years. The person who committed these crimes is not the Lance Mason familiar to me. They were horrific crimes, and I condemn them.”

Some of this was new information to students at Shaker Heights, and cut deep especially as this is the last graduating class that had Fraser as a teacher for a full year.

"The current selection of Marcia L. Fudge as the commencement speaker for the class of 2024 does not align with the values we uphold in Shaker Heights, OH. As a community, we believe in promoting safety and justice," the petition reads. "Ms. Fudge's support for an individual found guilty of domestic violence against our beloved Aisha Fraser contradicts these principles."

Superintendent Dr. David Glasner told The Shakerite, the student-run paper that first reported on the news, “We recognize the tragedy of Ms. Fraser’s killing. Secretary Fudge has also recognized that and acknowledged that, and condemned it in the strongest possible terms... I acknowledge that this is a challenging situation and like many people before me, we very much support Ms. Fraser and her family. I spoke when we dedicated the bench that now stands outside Woodbury School in Ms. Fraser’s memory. I spoke then about how much Ms. Fraser’s life and service to the Shaker schools community mean to our students and our community, and that has not changed. And, we also recognize Secretary Fudge’s service to our community and our nation."

Some former colleagues are likewise dismayed at the choice, Shaker Heights Teacher Association president Dr. John Morris told The Shakerite.

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