Chapter 27. What Are You Staring At?

This year’s conference was a bit different from the previous ones. Usually, the scholarships were awarded only to postgraduate and doctoral students. But this year, four undergraduates, including Scarlet, had the honor of receiving scholarships too. As they were introduced to the audience by the master of ceremonies, the promotional video featuring all four of them played on a large screen behind.

At the end of the video, the provost stood up and walked up to the stage. A silver-haired old man, he rarely made speeches in front of the whole school. After adjusting the microphone, he started his speech.

“University of Irving is a highly inclusive, international university. We respect freedom of speech, and on our campus, we encourage healthy dialogue amongst parties who hold differing views on important matters facing our world today. We don’t, on the other hand, encourage prejudice or arbitrary judgments. We won't deny the outstanding students this honor because their perfor