Eric LeGrand claims Rutgers University asked him to be this year's commencement speaker but backtracked on their offer days later, USA TODAY reported.
LeGrand, an alumnus of the school, was thrust into the spotlight four years ago after he became paralyzed while playing in a football game. Since his injury, he has worked as an inspirational speaker and held various positions in the sports industry.
"I was just going to tell them my story, about the whole process," LeGrand told USA TODAY. "Starting in 2005, being recruited by Rutgers and what it meant to me to play here and go to school here. And then the way everybody supported me through my injury, I was just going to give inspirational words about how they should attack life. All the things I've learned so far. All the (graduates), they're my age so I was going to try to (say) words they could remember, words that would inspire them to do great things in life."
On Saturday, LeGrand was in Florida when he received a call from Greg Jackson -- chief of staff for Rutgers President Robert L. Barchi.
"Saturday I get a call from Greg Jackson and they offered me the job to give the commencement speech," LeGrand said. "I was like, 'Wow, thanks for the opportunity,' and he said, 'Let's touch base Monday and talk about it.' So I was telling my friends and my family, everybody was so excited."
As be began drafting a speech, LeGrand received a call on Monday from the university's athletic director, Julie Hermann, who said school officials decided to choose another speaker.
Around 5 p.m. Monday, the school issued a press release saying former New Jersey Gov. Thomas Kean would be the keynote speaker at graduation -- days after former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice backed out amid protests over her participation in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.
"Gov. Kean's career as a public servant, educator and statesman speaks to the civility, integrity and vision that we hope will guide our graduates as they pursue their careers or further their studies," Barchi said in the statement. "Gov. Kean is a national role model as a statesman who built bridges across partisan, racial, ethnic and ideological divides for the sole purpose of improving the quality of life for the people he served. We are honored that he has accepted our invitation to address our graduates."
Pete McDonough, the university's vice president for public affairs, said Barchi decided on Kean with other school officials and without input from faculty members or students.
"Julie Hermann and (Rutgers football) coach (Kyle) Flood were pushing for me to do it, the whole athletics department was," said LeGrand.
That night, he told his 129,000 Twitter followers about his unfortunate news: "Rutgers offered me the commencement speech this weekend and I was going to accept but they decided to go other ways for political reasons."
