As my graduation day creeps closer, one big question is not yet answered: Who will be my commencement speaker? Thankfully there will be one, and the delay in announcement surely heightens anticipation. But, I’m worried.
We haven’t been doing well when it comes to securing commencement speakers. The explanation of why not is telling of fatal flaws in the process, which has resulted in a disconnect with the senior class officers’ selection process.
It goes without saying that University of Wisconsin is deserving of the best, including the top speakers at graduation. The orator addressing the graduating class must be interesting, intellectual, influential, inspiring, etc., etc. Yet last winter, Scott Van Pelt — ESPN News Anchor — was the “distinguished” declaimer. Although I loved his praise of Madison as much as the next Badger fan, was he truly inspiring? Intellectual?
Hardly.
But how can we expect to do better than Mr. Van Pelt if we don’t pay the speaker? David Musolf, secretary of the faculty, informed me they get nothing beyond travel expenses. Nothing compared to the tens of thousands of dollars the top-notch speakers receive at other universities.
It’s an embarrassment that we don’t attract top commencement speakers. Chalk it up to one more area where the funding situation is shortchanging the university’s educational experience. I guess this is where I insert a shameless plug for all the graduating seniors: When you become rich and famous, remember UW with healthy donations.
The university is a birthplace of ideas, and previous commencement addresses have used this platform to articulate innovative thoughts. Graduating seniors are uniquely poised to shape the future; this is the institution’s last chance to shape us. The Marshall Plan was announced at Harvard’s graduation ceremony. John F. Kennedy philosophized about peace during his address to American University. And, in his speech at Westminster College, Winston Churchill first described the Iron Curtain.
Not to pick on Mr. Van Pelt, but he is only the most recent example of how UW has not lived up to this great history and duty of inspiration. The speakers we have had in recent times pale in comparison to former Surgeon General Richard Carmona at the University of Arizona, Madeleine Albright at University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and former President Bill Clinton at both the University of Michigan and Ohio State University.
So whose fault is it that we get middle-tier speakers at a top-tier university? Who gets to pick the commencement speakers? Well, that’s where the process breaks down, particularly this year.
Four senior class officers are elected to primarily find an orator for the occasion. According to class president Gestina Sewell, a press release about the speaker will be public soon, so at least someone will speak at my graduation. Admittedly, I’m not overly optimistic about the caliber.
The four seniors provided a list of potential speakers to Mr. Musolf, and his role is to assist the officers to identify prospects and extend an invitation. The process started last fall, even though the officers were elected in April 2007. Widely sought-after speakers are generally booked a year in advance. Yet, the officers waited until September to get serious about both the winter speaker (the person they needed in less than four months) and the spring speaker.
I want to believe the will to do well is there, but, unfortunately, the process fails in execution. Stephanie Biese, secretary of the class, said the officers want more control of the process, but I’m not sure if they have earned it.
Paula Bonner, president and CEO of the Wisconsin Alumni Association, had the most poignant remark about the situation. She said to me that she has never been introduced to this year’s senior class officers, nor have they approached her about who would be good alumni to bring in. It should be incumbent upon the officers to reach out to Ms. Bonner and her organization, because it is intrinsically linked to their role. And, as Ms. Bonner reminded, that role includes helping plan the 50-year class reunion. But, when I spoke to Ms. Sewell and Ms. Biese, they weren’t aware of this additional function of their office.
Okay, I had no idea what senior class officers did or that they even existed until they showed up on my Associated Students of Madison ballot last spring. Yes, I vote in the ASM elections. No, I still don’t know what these people do. No one advertised that this position was on the ballot, at least not in anything I saw. But why should it have been advertised? Students don’t vote in these elections anyway — though I bet more would if they knew of these positions. Students don’t care, right?
Maybe that’s the problem. Perhaps the position of the senior class officers is so pointless that no one knows or cares to know what the duties are or how best to fulfill them. But for many soon-to-be graduates — including me — the commencement speaker is a big point. So, come May 18, I’ll sit patiently and listen intently, hoping to be inspired. But I won’t hold my breath.
?
Suchita Shah ([email protected]) is a senior studying neurobiology.
