<p>Well at least I know where I’ll be at noon on May 28th. Drinking sangria out on the porch with my friends will be a far more memorable and enriching experience than listening to this D-list hack. I though we were supposed to be an Ivy League school.</p>
<p>
Do you know what else makes someone an attractive choice? Being relevant.
Bravo convocation committee.</p>
<p>I might be in town for graduation stuff this year and I think I’ll pass. we get equal or better speakers all the time on campus, so it’s not worth the hassle with parents and all that.</p>
<p>Come on people - the USA is almost equally divided as far as political leanings go…there were students and families who had to tolerate Nancy Pelosi last year. At least Guiliani is closer to the center and he did serve as an important leader after 9/11. Being American means being tolerant of people who may not totally agree with you. Listen and be respectful. There isn’t enough of that these days…</p>
<p>Swimmer, I don’t dislike him due to politics, I’m just embarrassed. Cornell routinely gets embarrassing, irrelevant speakers, when other top schools (esp. other Ivies) are getting transformational, important speakers.</p>
This is the general sentiment of most Cornell students. I’m embarrassed as well.</p>
<p>
You completely missed the point. I couldn’t care less about a speaker’s political leanings as long as they’re a relevant public figure. If it had to be a conservative, at least get a big A-list mover like Paul Wolfowitz, Alan Greenspan, or Robert Gates. Or better yet, why not get a scientist, actor, artist, or tech leader? Why does it always have to be some ■■■■■■ giving a stump speech (Wesley Clark, David Plouffe, Nancy Pelosi, and now Giuliani)?</p>
<p>Thank goodness my son is 2012.
Here’s Rudy’s speech, written by gomestars Bud “9/11,9/11,9/11,9/11 etc. etc. etc” He was a Mayor of NYC, nothing more. Plus, he is nowhere close to the center anymore, a regular “birther”. Always a tool, glad I am missing it. Hopefully they will take the advice of others and get someone relevant in the future.<br>
We had Arthur Schlesinger Jr., he provided us with a fascinating speech.</p>
<p>I would hold out criticism until the speech is delivered. You never know - it could be enlightening. I’m sure that whoever Cornell got would come with controversy. Personally, I’m more relieved that my son won’t graduate to Nancy Pelosi. ANYONE would be better than that. It’s just a graduation speech - don’t try to make it any more than that. My son’s high school has Eric Cantor speaking and, of course, half the student body is annoyed and lashing out. Whatever…wait, listen, then judge. Mostly, move on!</p>
<p>"It’s just a graduation speech - don’t try to make it any more than that. "</p>
<p>Hope Rudy is reading this.</p>
<p>“Thank goodness my son is 2012.”</p>
<p>Yeah, rub it in…
On the other hand, I won’t be paying tuition for D2 next year, there’s something to be said for that as well.</p>
<p>“He was a Mayor of NYC, nothing more”
My memory is faltering, but wasn’t he the guy who moved NYC workers INTO those towers, after the first failed attempt at blowing them up? Or was that just Carey, who did it to (and I mean did it to) NY State and Authority/Agency workers??
At the time they did it I thought whoever made those decisions were criminals, because clearly it would be attempted again.</p>
<p>Carey put municipal workers there when the Port Authority couldn’t get tenants, think late '70’s early '80’s. Virtually all those tenants were out by the first attack.
Rudy put the terrorist command center down there after the first attack, over some pretty fierce objections. Rudy is pretty much a dope with a mean streak.</p>
<p>I heard Tracy Jordan turned down a request first… </p>
<p>Swimmer - You’re clearly bringing your conservative politics into this, assuming people are annoyed because he’s not liberal, and missing the entire point. I don’t think people care about his politics, but I agree with everyone else that it would be great to have someone who’s building a successful business or on the cutting edge of the art world or technology or something relevant. Stanford’s completely linked in with so much tech while Cornell gets a man who was mayor a decade ago (when these graduates were 7-8 years old) and hasn’t done anything relevant since but run the most fearmongering, misguided presidential campaign in modern history (he believed that if he could convince the liberal Jewish retirees who moved from New York to Florida to vote for him, he’d win the nation). </p>
<p>I assume this is part of the Cornell’s efforts to nuzzle up with NYC as people increasingly desire urban life and experience.</p>
<p>He’s got an ego the size of New York. And he has no connection to Cornell whatsoever, that I’m aware of. At least a state politician could have been involved with Cornell to some extent, funding anyway, but Mayor of New York city? Med school and a few other programs are there, but tangential. He probably spent his time trying to pull money away from Cornell to get more funding for NYC schools. IIRC He attended Manhattan College, for all I know he hated the kids who went to Cornell.</p>
<p>I wonder if they pick people that they know have name recognition? It sounds like all of the speakers the last few years have been politicians. I agree with the comments about picking a leader in industry. I bet Bill Nye would give a great talk! </p>
<p>It could be worse though. Think Olbermann or Coulter!</p>
<p>Pataki came in 1994, so it would likely have been him. I was merely referring to Carey. Could have been Port Authority workers, in which case it wasn’t the Gov, just the agency doing it. PA owned the place until 2000 or so.</p>
<p>Here’s how we stack up to our peer schools. Massive failure.</p>
<p>**Harvard **- President of Liberia Ellen Johnson Sirleaf for Commencement; Amy Poehler, SNL, for Class Day
**Northwestern **- Stephen Colbert
**NYU **- Bill Clinton
**Princeton **- Michael Bloomberg, Mayor of New York City, will give the Baccalaureate address; Brooke Shields '87 will give the featured address at Class Day Rice- David Brooks-NYT Columnist
**Stanford **- Felipe de Jesús Calderón Hinojosa aka the current President of Mexico Notre Dame- Robert Gates-Secretary of Defense
**Penn **- Denzel Washington
**Yale **- Tom Hanks</p>