<p>Does anyone know the history behind the student speakers at commencement? ie. how did that start, how are they chosen, etc? Its the first i’m hearing of this.</p>
<p>They are chosen by a committee who listens to their speeches. I believe that they are nominated to write a speech by Professors, but I’m not sure.</p>
<p>The tradition of having three student speakers at Harvard commencements goes back to the early days of the university. Originally the students gave speeches in Latin, Greek, and Hebrew. The Greek and Hebrew speeches have long since given way to speeches in English, but the Latin oration remains a tradition to this day. Latin orators (usually Classics concentrators) must compose their speeches in Latin and then compete in tryouts to be chosen as the commencement speaker.</p>
<p>^^Do a search on Youtube for “harvard latin commencement” and you can find a pretty good video of the 2007 Latin oration.</p>