<p>CBS reporter Lesley Stahl at Colgate... not exactly too inspiring (the fact the graduation was held out in pouring rain didn't quite make it all better!).</p>
<p>But we got a big treat to have the Dalai Lama two weeks earlier!! :) That was enough!</p>
<p>I would've really liked to see Bill Nye, Steven Colbert, and JK Rowling :)</p>
<p>Lafalum:</p>
<p>You're in the Boston area, right? The Commencement Day speaker is in the afternoon, and usually the gates are open then. Members of the general public can often get in. Otherwise, the whole thing is available on the Harvard web. Last year, I watched the students. One of them, a Canadian female student, was absolutely hilarious.</p>
<p>"I agree with ucsd-ucla-dad -- my nephew is graduating from Johns Hopkins this week and our whole fam-damily is very excited about Bill Nye The Science Guy! First time I've really looked forward to a commencement speech."</p>
<p>Oh, I wish I knew someone graduating and could think of some excuse to get there.... Bill Nye is our family hero!<br>
Re: Barbara Kingsolver - I loved some of her earlier novels but she lost me with the one worshiping coyotes.....</p>
<p>Tulane had James Carville and Mary Matalin, the political world's Odd Couple. I expected they would be very good and heard that they were. They have ties to New Orleans, as well, and recently moved back there.</p>
<p>marite, thanks! I'll check out the Harard web. I can just imagine the Harry Potter fanatics storming the gates of Harvard in full wizard regalia....</p>
<p>re: Barbara Kingsolver.</p>
<p>Did you also realize how not once in her entire speech did she congratulate the class of 2008. And as soon as she said "But if I hear thunder, I'm walking off" a group of boys seated near me started screaming THUNDER. As if her speech wasn't bad enough, it was poorly delivered, and the sound system seemed off -- or at least from where I was sitting (third row, toward center aisle of the BA section, so RIGHT up front) I could hardly hear her... that could also be because of the rain hitting the umbrellas. I didn't hear anything about her being the "substitute" speaker esp since I knew they had her selected from the fall, but people were not happy when it was announced, I remember that much. But yeah, total platform to get her views out there and discuss things like "dinosaur slime" (a common facebook album title among friends of graduation day).</p>
<p>Ooops, my mistake (above) ...</p>
<p>Vassar College's commencement speaker this year will be four-time Emmy Award-winning writer and humorist Randy Cohen, who is best known for his weekly New York Times Magazine column "The Ethicist."</p>
<p>Slight correction to post #22, Oprah's goddaughter, (not godson) is a senior at Stanford:</p>
<p>"The internationally known businesswoman and philanthropist was first choice of the senior class, said class President Jessica Stanley, 22.</p>
<p>"The responses we've got have been overwhelmingly positive," she said. "I think everyone is very, very excited to hear Oprah speak. She's very inspirational."</p>
<p>Stanley credits another Stanford senior for securing the coveted OK: Kirby Bumpus is Winfrey's goddaughter. (For talk show fans: Kirby is the daughter of Winfrey's pal Gayle King.)"</p>
<p>Liberian president Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf will speak at Darmouth</p>
<p>Bill Nye also spoke at Harvey Mudd College on May 18.</p>
<p>The daughter of Jessica Lange was due to graduate from Sarah Lawrence this year; how would you like your mother to be your graduation speaker?!</p>
<p>Bill Nye wowww I love this guy!.
on the other hand ... Oprah?...... spare me please!</p>
<p>Bill Nye is a jerk- ( or perhaps he just lacks social skills- or both) but clever.</p>
<p>My Ds school always has an alum as speaker.
This year they had
Michelle Nijhuis 96 <a href="I%20had%20to%20look%20her%20up">/i</a> *is an award-winning science and environment journalist who writes for newspapers, magazines, and public radio</p>
<p>The year D graduated it was- Tamin Ansary, who I already was familar with. I thought he was an excellent choice- particularly since D began school shortly before 9/11</p>
<p>So Judith Butler did not ruin the spirit or fun at the Grinnell graduation, but she did give a talk which could have been lifted from one of her classes, there was nothing 'commencing' about it. Truthfully, we felt like the message was not unreasonable in many ways, but we wanted to kill the messenger.</p>
<p>Here's a question. She gave her speech, accpeted her honorary degree and then left!! Assuming she was well enough to be there shouldn't she have stayed long enough to see the graduates get their degrees, not to mention the other honorary recipients.</p>
<p>No matter, she was a blip. The day was sparkly and wonderful. Grinnell graduated (Out of about 340 graduates) 3 African American women majoring in PHysics! Largest cohort in the nation by their reckoning..The top 2 students were women majoring in science/math. One was a NIgerian young woman who clearly had loved her 4 years in the cornfields!</p>
<p>Hope everyone else felt as wonderful on the day as we did for our son!</p>
<p>Judith Butler:</p>
<p>Lots of people want to kill her after reading her. :(</p>
<p>Merrimack College in No Andover, MA had Dr. Paul Farmer ("Mountains Beyond Mountains") on Sunday.</p>
<p>Wesleyan has replaced (with many well wishes) Senetor Ted Kennedy with Senetor Barak Obama. No joke. I'm excited :D</p>
<p>Obama</a> to Replace Kennedy at Wesleyan Commencement - The Caucus - Politics - New York Times Blog</p>
<p>In a controversial move, High Point University (High Point, NC) selected Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas as its commencement speaker.</p>
<p>NPR did a report the other day about faculty at Furman not happy that Bush will be their commencement speaker.
Furman</a> Faculty Balk at Bush Appearance : NPR</p>
<p>I read in the chicago tribune that Jerry Springer spoke / will speak at Northwestern Law school.</p>
<p>Lehigh had Bill Amelio '79, President and CEO of Lenovo.
I wasn't looking forward to it but to my surprise he gave an excellent speech. </p>