<p>Don't you guys agree?
I think it's the only school that just has professors speak.</p>
<p>Yale, Columbia, and Cornell don’t have famous commencement speakers, either, at least as far as I know. Some of them have invited speakers for a Class Day before commencement, but that’s generally a much lower-key thing than commencement.</p>
<p>I think the famous-commencement-speaker tradition is stupid, and usually a huge waste of money. Maybe one in ten speeches is worth listening to, and that’s generous.</p>
<p>I disagree, partially, with JHS’ view. While I think the commencement speaker should be - per tradition - a professor, I’m fully in favor of starting a “Class Day” event around graduation. Also per tradition, the professor’s speech tends to be quite academic, which is fine. As a new tradition, having a Class Day that is quite celebratory, with a “famous” speaker, maybe chances for some student groups (a couple of the a capella groups maybe?) to perform, and maybe some remarks by a Quantrell Teaching Award winner would be wonderful. Finish it off with a little reception on the Quads. </p>
<p>I’d say it’d be best to keep the speakers and price pretty moderate. No need to get Bono or Tom Hanks - but certainly someone with cache could come in for a small honorarium. Loads of connected speakers are already coming in for the Institute of Politics. </p>
<p>To sum, I think a few hours purely for celebration and entertainment is perfectly reasonable. UChicago’s actual commencement tends to be more thoughtful - which is great - but having a separate event just for the graduating students, aimed at celebration, would be fun too.</p>
<p>They already have that event, minus the high-profile outside speaker. A cappella groups, check. Music ensembles, check. Dance groups, check. Humorous talk by popular professor, check. (“The Remains of Education,” echoing of course the address given to entering first-years every year, which is always titled “The Aims of Education.”) Self-congratulatory crap from fraternities and sororities, check.</p>
<p>Been there, done that, twice. Not special. The humorous talks were good, though.</p>
<p>They do? What event is that? I don’t remember anything like that when I graduated. I think there was some sort of fundraising event that was poorly attended. Not much else before the bagpipes started and people marched (relatively solemnly) through the quads.</p>
<p>If that event already exists, why not just add a “celebratory” speaker? From what I know, Class Day at other schools is generally well attended and welcomed. A friend of mine who graduates from Princeton still remembers the speech Steve Carell gave fondly. I don’t really see any harm to adding this on, if all the other celebratory events are already in play.</p>
<p>From this year’s schedule:
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<p>The Remains of Education address is a pretty good in-joke, and gets delivered by someone who is legitimately popular with the students and knows a lot of them. It would be a shame to replace that with something generic, and I don’t think people want to sit through more talks.</p>
<p>Mere “fame” as a sole criterion for a commencement speaker is lame. I once attended a university commencement where Mr. Roberts was the speaker. This year’s Harvard speaker is Oprah. Nothing against either, per se, but how exactly do they serve as a fitting capstone or grand finale to a time of formal higher education? If fame is the sole criterion, then why not Kim Kardashian? Donald Trump? Snooki? Dennis Rodman?</p>
<p>Sure, have some fun and celebration with a class day type thing. But shouldn’t the commencement have some dignity and at least a tenuous connection to higher education and lifelong learning?</p>
<p>Sorry, meant to say “Mr. Rogers” (Fred Rogers) above. Great guy (and famous!) but dubious commencement speaker, IMO.</p>
<p>Actually, Fred Rogers was a serious guy who created an academic center on early childhood education and media. I can think of far worse speakers (and so can rimmail, obviously).</p>
<p>Mr. Rogers was the man! You might only associate him with “Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood” but he was also an educator!</p>
<p>Anyway. I’ve been to one of UChicago’s graduation ceremonies and didn’t find the lack of a “high-profile” speaker annoying or out of the ordinary. High-profile speaker or not, it’s still going to be a really special day for those graduating. :)</p>
<p>OK, maybe there’s more to be said for Mr. Rogers than I allowed. However, let me just note that at the commencement where I heard him, he began his address by asking the students if they would like to sing. After their raucous, cheering reply, he launched into… "It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood… "</p>
<p>It was all kind of sweet and fun, of course, but I’m still not convinced it’s a great template for the occasion.</p>
<p>At my own commencement, years ago, not at UChicago, the speaker was Hannah Grey. (For the youngun’s reading the thread, she was the president of UChicago at the time. ) </p>
<p>Caltech had Bush I while he was president. They paid a fortune for security–no one I know thought is was worth it.</p>
<p>^I am quite sure you meant Hanna Gray who served as president of the University of Chicago between 1978 and 1993.</p>
<p>^Wow, I managed to misspell both names. Thanks.</p>
<p>Oprah at Harvard? The comment below captures my thought perfectly.</p>
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<p>Ouch! And now the Harvard cheating scandal has morphed into an ever-deepening email snooping scandal:</p>
<p>[Harvard</a> Email Search Was Broader Than Disclosed - WSJ.com](<a href=“Harvard Email Search Was Broader Than Disclosed - WSJ”>Harvard Email Search Was Broader Than Disclosed - WSJ)</p>
<p>It’s Oprah time indeed. (And maybe they could use Dr. Phil too.) :-)</p>
<p>Who is the commencement speaker for this year?</p>