<p>U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell at Whitman College.</p>
<p>Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards- Barnard</p>
<p>Miami Dade College is going to have a bunch of keynote commencement speakers at its Miami campuses.</p>
<p>J.B. Milliken, President Univ. Nebraska
Joe Biden, US VP
John Sexton, President NYU
Darren Walker, President Ford Foundation
Richard Broadhead, President Duke Univ.</p>
<p>Air Force Academy - Vice-President Joe Biden
Albion College - Fedele Bauccia, Co-Founder and CEO of Bon Appetit Management Company
Barnard College - Cecile Richards, Planned Parenthood President
Bates College - Isabel Wilkerson, Pulitzer Prize-winning Author
Bryn Mawr College - Terry Gross, NPR Interviewer, Host of Fresh Air Show
Bucknell University - Sheryl WuDunn, Author (“Half the Sky”), Pulitzer Prize winning journalist, Business Executive
Centenary College - William Joyce, Academy Award Winner, Author and Illustrator
City Colleges of Chicago - Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook Executive and Author (“Lean In”)
College of Holy Cross - Jon Favreau, Former Obama Speechwriter
College of William & Mary - Leroy Petry, Medal of Honor Recipient
Columbia University — Dan Futterman, Actor and Screenwriter
Cornell University — Ed Helms, Actor
Dartmouth University - Shonda Rhimes, Writer/Producer (“Grey’s Anatomy”, “Scandal”, Private Practice")
De Pauw University - Kal Penn, Actor
Dickinson College - Madeleine Albright, First Female Secretary of State
Duke University — General Martin E. Dempsey, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
Elon University - Mary Carillo, Former Professional Tennis Player and Sport Commentator
Emerson College - Jay Leno, Comedian, Former Host of NBC’s “Late Night Show”
Emory University - John Lewis, U.S. House Representative, Civil Rights Icon
Evergreen State College - Winona LaDuke, American Indian Activist, Environmentalist, Economist, and Writer
Franklin and Marshall College - George Stephanopoulos, “Good Morning America” anchor, former Presidential Advisor
George Washington University — José Andrés, Chef
Hamilton College, Christopher Dickey, Award-winning Author and Journalist
Hampshire College - Laverne Cox, Actress (“Orange is the New Black”), Writer, Producer, Transgender Advocate
Harvard University — Michael Bloomberg, Former New York City Mayor
Howard University - Sean ‘Puff Daddy’ Combs, Entrepreneur, Philanthropist and Entertainment Mogul
Ithace College - Chris Regan, Emmy Award-Winning Writer (Family Guy, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart)
Johns Hopkins University — Susan Wojcicki, YouTube Chief Executive Officer
Kenyon College - Bill Bryson, Author
Knox College - Natasha Tretheway, Poet Laureate of the United States
Lafayette College — Portia Simpson Miller, Prime Minister of Jamaica
Lehigh University - Martin D. Baron, Executive Editor of The Washington Post
Maryville University - Jon Meacham, Pulitzer Prize-Winning Author<br>
Massachusetts Institute of Technology — Ellen Kullman, DuPont Chief Executive Officer
Miami University (Ohio) - Forest Whitaker, Actor (“Lee Daniels’ The Butler”, “The Last King of Scotland”)
Middlebury College - Diana Nyad, First Person to Swim between Cuba and Florida
Mount Holyoke - Deborah Bial, President and Founder of the Posse Foundation
New York University — Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen
New York University Abu Dhabi — Bill Clinton, Former President
Northeastern University — Janet Napolitano, University of California President
Northwestern University - Riccardo Muti, Director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Oberlin College — Thomas E. Perez, United State Secretary of Labor
Ohio State University — Chris Matthews, MSNBC Anchor
Princeton University — Former Vice President Al Gore
Providence College, Temple Grandine, Autism Awareness Advocate, Best-selling Author
Rice University - Dr. Helene D. Gayle, President and CEO of CARE USA
Rutgers University - Condoleeza Rice, Former Secretary of State
Santa Clara University - Brandi Chastain, Soccer Star and Girl’s Advocate
Sarah Lawrence College - Fareed Zakaria, CNN Host, Columnist, and Bestselling Author
St. Mary’s College - Gwen Ifill, PBS News Anchor and Best-Selling Author
Smith College — Christine Lagarde, International Monetary Fund Managing Director
Syracuse University - David Remnick, New Yorker Editor
Trinity College - Katie Couric, Journalist and Television Personality
Tufts University - Anne-Marie Slaughter, President of the New America Foundation
Tulane University - Wynton Marsalis, Jazz Musician, Grammy Winner and Pulitzer Prize Recipient
Stanford University — Bill and Melinda Gates, Philanthropists
University at Albany - Hamdi Ulukaya, Founder of Chobani Yogurt Company
University of California, Irvine — President Barack Obama
University of Delaware - Vice-President Joe Biden
University of Maryland — Martin O’Malley, Maryland Governor
University of Massachusetts Amherst — Deval Patrick, Massachusetts Governor
University of Massachusetts Lowell - Bill Nye, “The Science Guy”
University of Massachusetts Lowell — “Science Guy” Bill Nye
University of Michigan — Mary Barra, General Motors Chief Executive Officer
University of New Hampshire — Jennifer Lee, “Frozen” Screenwriter/Director
University of North Carolina - Atul Gawande, Surgeon and Best-Selling Author
University of Pennsylvania — John Legend, Musician
University of Puget Sound - Rachel Martin, Journalist, National Public Radio Host
University of Rhode Island - Richard Blanco, Fifth Inaugural Poet
University of Southern California - Marc Benioff, Salesforce.com CEO
University of Texas — United States Navy Admiral William H. McRaven
University of Vermont - Samantha Power, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N.
University of Virginia – Peyton Manning, Broncos quarterback; Ray Mabus, US Secretary of the Navy
University of Washington - Steve Ballmer, Former Microsoft CEO
University of Wisconsin — Jon Huntsman, Former Utah Governor
Wake Forest University — Jill Abramson, New York Times Executive Editor
Washington University - Tony La Russa, Former Cardinals Manager
Wesleyan University — Theodore M. Shaw, Civil Rights Activist
Williams College — Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg
Yale University — John Kerry, Secretary of State</p>
<p>I noticed quite a few actors and actresses speaking to our graduates. Other than celebrity, I wonder what special insight this group of people can impart to our college graduates. Also, politicians seem to makeup a majority of the speakers. Haven’t we heard enough from this group already. </p>
<p>How about people who labor everyday as teachers, doctors, nurses, managers, entrepreneurs, business owners, the very same people who these college graduates will probably emulate, getting a chance to actually give real world, relevant advice to graduates who might actually learn something from people who have careers that many of these students will want to follow. </p>
<p>with all due respect, GP, I see a teacher, doctor, manager, entrepreneur and business owner on the list, among the actors and politicians…</p>
<p>My D was less than enthused with the announcement of her speaker two years ago…and I had never heard of the speaker, who was an alum. Blew us away with her speech.
My point is…instead of taking the negative, maybe we should hear the speech first, and then judge…</p>
<p>US Secretary of State John F. Kerry will also be speaking at Boston College.
David McCullough spoke there in 2008. McCullough called his speech The Love of Learning, and he told the graduates to do just that and to make it a life pursuit. </p>
<p>Pomona College - keynote speaker is Valerie B. Jarrett, senior advisor to President Barack Obama. </p>
<p>Homeboy Industries founder and author Father Gregory Boyle, singer and conductor Plácido Domingo and Michael Starbird ’70, professor of mathematics at The University of Texas at Austin, will also speak and receive honorary degrees</p>
<p>It’s funny you mentioned David McCullough because his son gave a commencement speech to Wellesley High School graduates telling them they were nothing special.</p>
<p>“Contrary to what your soccer trophy suggests, your glowing seventh grade report card, despite every assurance of a certain corpulent purple dinosaur, that nice Mister Rogers and your batty Aunt Sylvia, no matter how often your maternal caped crusader has swooped in to save you… you’re nothing special.” </p>
<p><a href=“http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/post/commencement-speaker-blasts-students/2012/06/08/gJQATvF1MV_blog.html”>http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/post/commencement-speaker-blasts-students/2012/06/08/gJQATvF1MV_blog.html</a></p>
<p>What I always wonder: What is the school signaling with its featured commencement speaker?</p>
<p>I’ve always thought they were looking for someone who might have something interesting to say. My older D had Brian Williams. He gave a nice speech, nothing memorable, but amusing and entertaining at the time.</p>
<p>University of Central Florida:
*<em>College of Business Administration- speaker will be U.S. Rep. John L. Mica
*</em>College of Health and Public Affairs-Thaddeus “Thad” Seymour, Jr.senior vice president at the Tavistock Development Co. and the president of the Lake Nona Institute
*<em>College of Arts & Humanities and the College of Engineering & Computer Science-speaker will be Orlando attorney and UCF Trustee Marcos Marchena
*</em>College of Education and Human Performance and the College of Nursing-speaker will be Lars Houmann, president and chief executive officer of Florida Hospital and the Florida Division of Adventist Health System
**College of Sciences – speaker will be Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi</p>
<p>“What I always wonder: What is the school signaling with its featured commencement speaker?”</p>
<p>Our kids’ alma mater, Hampshire College appears to be sending unambiguous signals by selecting Laverne Cox (<a href=“http://www.lavernecox.com/”>http://www.lavernecox.com/</a>) as their Commencement Speaker. </p>
<p>I noticed more schools had people from the entertainment industry than I would predict.
I like how Reed always has alums give the commencement speech.
Makes sense.</p>
<p>I had the governor at my commencement and would have much preferred to have an entertainer… the speech might have been more interesting and maybe we wouldn’t have heard protestors’ chants over the commencement speech. I was sympathetic to the protestors, I was angry at the governor at the time too, but it kind of felt like they were hijacking my day. The commencement wasn’t about the governor’s policy decisions.</p>
<p>No I think its good to have people with something to say, who ate used to an audience.
I dont understand paying for speakers who dont have any connection to the school and less so to the students.</p>
<p>Too late to edit… I was going to add, I was a poli sci major and was interested in politics and government, but contrary to popular belief elected officials seem to not always be very good public speakers in my experience! You would think they’d be good at that. That, and the controversy, is why I might prefer an entertainer or at least a business person or something. I can’t take boring AND controversial, I at least need one positive in there!</p>
<p>Caltech–Daniel Howard Yergin</p>
<p>(Not that anyone seems to have an UG there now.)</p>
<p>Joe Biden is also speaking at the University of South Carolina. He gets around…it must be in his job description.</p>
<p>I was somewhat peeved that I heard a perfectly nice and distinguished faculty member at graduation who had won a great distinction, but the next year’s class got Eric Idle. I missed my chance to sing along with Always Look on the Bright Side of Life…</p>