QUIZ: match these commencement speakers with the colleges where they spoke

Parents Forum
1

<p>My interest in college commencement speakers was piqued when I was reading some college news & saw that Bill Clinton has "signed" with Michigan, Middlebury, & Knox for spring 2007. So I found some info on 2006 speakers to see who spoke where. Interesting mix on non-academics at a few schools.</p>

<p>Here's the quiz: match each institution listing with a speaker listing.</p>

<p>INSTITUTION LIST
1.Adelphi, Buffalo State, & CW Post
2. Berklee College of Music
3. Brandeis
4. Colgate & CUNY Honors
5. Dartmouth
6. Georgetown & Lehigh
7. Harvard
8. Kenyon
9. Northwestern & UMass Boston
10. Ohio State, Liberty, & New School
11. Oklahoma State, West Point, & Merchant Marine
12. Penn
13. St. Mary's College of Md
14. Stanford & Florida State
15. Syracuse
16. Tufts
17. Tulane
18. University of Maine
19. Vanderbilt & Roger Williams
20. William & Mary</p>

<p>SPEAKER LIST
A . Barack Obama
B . Bill Clinton & George H.W. Bush
C . Billy Joel
D . Desmond Tutu
E . Elie Wiesel
F . Eliot Spitzer
G . George W. Bush
H . Hillary Clinton
I . Jim Lehrer
J . Jodie Foster
K . John Edwards
L . John Kerry
M . John McCain
N . Ken Burns
O . Lance Armstrong
P . Laura Bush
Q . Melissa Etheridge
R . Prince El Hassan bin Talal (Jordan)
S . Ted Koppel
T . Tom Brokaw</p>

<p>If you'd like some help, here are a couple of my sources:
<a href="http://chronicle.com/free/speakers/index.php%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://chronicle.com/free/speakers/index.php&lt;/a>
<a href="http://media.yaf.org/latest/2006us_wr_commencement_speakers.cfm%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://media.yaf.org/latest/2006us_wr_commencement_speakers.cfm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>I will post the answers tomorrow.</p>

2

<p>George HW Bush and Bill Clinton = Tulane. Along with Ellen deGeneres as an encore :).</p>

3

<p>I know Jodie Foster spoke at Penn. Billy Joel ends all of his concerts by saying "Don't take any **** from anyone". Is that how he ended his commencement speech?</p>

4

<p>I know Elie Wiesel spoke at Dartmouth.</p>

5

<p>all correct thus far. The Billy Joel match kinda makes sense once you put them together.</p>

<p>I don't know how he ended his speech, but here's a blog post describing & commenting upon his theme & delivery:</p>

<p>
[quote]
So what was Billy Joel's motivating message to the ****** grads? 'Do it for love.' That was it. Here's the whole quote, "Don't do it for security or status, prestige, money, or, for crying out loud, don't do it for somebody else. Do it for love. Because if you love what you do, you'll always do what you love."</p>

<p>Ookay. Nice sentiment maybe for arts majors, but hardly sage advice in today's highly competitive--and very troubled--world. Especially for kids graduating with degrees in business, marketing, education, forestry, government. And even if you like the idea, he backed it up with Nothing. No personal experience. No hard work, tough love, blood, sweat and tears stories. </p>

<p>Billy Joel spoke for less than five minutes. Admitted almost proudly he'd prepared no speech in advance, had no other words of wisdom he cared to impart.</p>

<p>'I'm not here to give you a big song and dance. Maybe a song,' he said. A huge cheer which petered out as people caught his following words, 'I scribbled this on the way up here.' And became even more half-hearted as he led the crowd in an insultingly puerile paean to *****, to the tune of 'Down in New Orleans.' Hello? Not even his own music.

[/quote]
</p>

6

<p>here's a youtube clip of Jody Foster quoting Eminem in here closing to Penn '06:
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KghdDdJ2BT0%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KghdDdJ2BT0&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>& if you are interested in her entire 15 minute speech here's a link to the mp3 file:
<a href="http://www.upenn.edu/video/podcast/pvn/foster.mp3%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.upenn.edu/video/podcast/pvn/foster.mp3&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>here's another youtube clip....of Billy Joel....the clip gives away the school where he spoke, but it does show how one sings as part of a commencement speech:
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQ7c7cnK5zc%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQ7c7cnK5zc&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

7

<p>George Bush - Oklahoma State University</p>

8

<p>This marks the first time I've ever seen CW Post mentioned on CC (an inane comment, but I want that little red star next to the thread so I can find it again for the answers tomorrow)!
Also, FWIW, if you can find the text of Conan O'Brien's Harvard speech from a few years ago, it's very funny.</p>

9

<p>Berklee College of Music
Melissa Etheridge</p>

10

<p>Reed has been having their alumni give the commencement address- which not only is impressive in the range of speakers, but allows for some great stories re their undergrad days!
I also think that for the speaker to have a connection with the college, makes all the difference.</p>

<p>Last year, for my D graduation- was Tamin Ansary, ( Afgahni- American writer)
the year before we also attended, and heard James Kahan,( a senior scientist with the RAND corporation)
Too bad Steve Jobs didn't come close to graduating, he made a fine speech at Stanford for the 2005 commencement
<a href="http://news-service.stanford.edu/news/2005/june15/jobs"&gt;http://news-service.stanford.edu/news/2005/june15/jobs&lt;/a>
-061505.html</p>

11

<p>Ispf72, thank you...found Conan's 2000 commencement speech to Harvard:
<a href="http://www.february-7.com/features/conan.htm%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.february-7.com/features/conan.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>here are the excerpted intro & conclusion which are indeed wonderful:</p>

<p>intro
[quote]
I'd like to thank the Class Marshals for inviting me here today. The last time I was invited to Harvard it cost me $110,000, so you'll forgive me if I'm a bit suspicious. I'd like to announce up front that I have one goal this afternoon: to be half as funny as tomorrow's Commencement Speaker, Moral Philosopher and Economist, Amartya Sen. Must get more laughs than seminal wage/price theoretician.</p>

<p>Students of the Harvard Class of 2000, fifteen years ago I sat where you sit now and I thought exactly what you are now thinking: What's going to happen to me? Will I find my place in the world? Am I really graduating a virgin? I still have 24 hours and my roommate's Mom is hot. I swear she was checking me out. Being here today is very special for me. I miss this place. I especially miss Harvard Square - it's so unique. No where else in the world will you find a man with a turban wearing a Red Sox jacket and working in a lesbian bookstore. Hey, I'm just glad my dad's working.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>conclusion
[quote]
I've dwelled on my failures today because, as graduates of Harvard, your biggest liability is your need to succeed. Your need to always find yourself on the sweet side of the bell curve. Because success is a lot like a bright, white tuxedo. You feel terrific when you get it, but then you're desperately afraid of getting it dirty, of spoiling it in any way. </p>

<p>I left the cocoon of Harvard, I left the cocoon of Saturday Night Live, I left the cocoon of The Simpsons. And each time it was bruising and tumultuous. And yet, every failure was freeing, and today I'm as nostalgic for the bad as I am for the good. </p>

<p>So, that's what I wish for all of you: the bad as well as the good. Fall down, make a mess, break something occasionally. And remember that the story is never over. If it's all right, I'd like to read a little something from just this year: "Somehow, Conan O'Brien has transformed himself into the brightest star in the Late Night firmament. His comedy is the gold standard and Conan himself is not only the quickest and most inventive wit of his generation, but quite possible the greatest host ever." </p>

<p>Ladies and Gentlemen, Class of 2000, I wrote that this morning, as proof that, when all else fails, there's always delusion. </p>

<p>I'll go now, to make bigger mistakes and to embarrass this fine institution even more. But let me leave you with one last thought: If you can laugh at yourself loud and hard every time you fall, people will think you're drunk.

[/quote]
</p>

12

<p>Lance Armstrong spoke at Tufts. Seemed like an odd choice, having a guy who barely made it out of high school, but I read the text of his remarks and it sounded like he did a great job. He compared his experience in giving bck to the community--taking on the responsibilities of being a cancer survivor--with the Tufts commitment to "active citizenship." I believe that he also revealed a Tufts bike jersey that he was wearing under his gown.</p>

13

<p>Adelphi, Buffalo State, & CW Post ------ Hillary Clinton
Berklee College of Music ------ Melissa Etheridge
Brandeis ------ Prince El Hassan bin Talal (Jordan)
Colgate & CUNY Honors ------ Eliot Spitzer
Dartmouth ------ Elie Wiesel
Georgetown & Lehigh ------ Ken Burns
Harvard ------ Jim Lehrer
Kenyon ------ John Kerry
Northwestern & UMass Boston ------ Barack Obama
Ohio State, Liberty, & New School ------ John McCain
Oklahoma State, West Point, & Merchant Marine ------ George W. Bush
Penn ------ Jodie Foster
St. Mary's College of Md ------ Ted Koppel
Stanford & Florida State ------ Tom Brokaw
Syracuse ------ Billy Joel
Tufts ------ Lance Armstrong
Tulane ------ Bill Clinton & George H.W. Bush
University of Maine ------ John Edwards
Vanderbilt & Roger Williams ------ Laura Bush
William & Mary ------ Desmond Tutu</p>

14

<p>Very impressive list! As an alum, I'd read the script of Ken Burns' speech from Lehigh, and it was very good. Even though they're all "catches" as far as speakers are concerned, it's also a great opportunity for them to make a meaningful, lasting statement.</p>