Media barred from covering McRove speech at prep school

WALLINGFORD, Conn. -- The media have been barred from covering a speech by former presidential adviser Karl Rove to students at a prestigious prep school on Monday.

Mary Verselli, spokeswoman for Choate Rosemary Hall, said Headmaster Edward Shanahan and Rove decided mutually to exclude the media.
The prep school, which is the alma mater of President John F. Kennedy and two-time Democratic presidential nominee Adlai Stevenson, is limiting attendance to students and staff due to space restrictions in the auditorium, she said.

"With all our students attending, we're only going to be able to squeeze in half of the faculty with chairs at the back of the auditorium," Verselli said. "This is a special program, a school event, and we typically don't invite the media to a school event."

"It's our standard way of doing things," Verselli told The Associated Press Sunday.

Rove, whom President Bush credited as the architect of his 2004 re-election, was initially to address Choate's graduating class in June. He agreed to change his appearance due largely to opposition from students and parents critical of the Bush administration.

On the Net: www.choate.edu

Other students expressed concern that Rove's speech would overshadow their graduation.