52 Comments
Grumbly reactions to Class Day speakers are traditional at Columbia (John McCain, too conservative! Matthew Fox, too pedestrian!). Joel Klein has received only a smattering of disapproval in the comments, on account of his low name recognition. To stoke your envy (or pride–at least we didn’t end up with Bianca Jagger), Bwog has collected a list of class speakers at other schools–including some schools we’ve never heard of. Kudos to Harvard on an amazing combination–prestige and entertainment. Full list after the jump.
Edit, 6:15 pm: More class day speakers at the end of the jump.
Barnard: David Remnick, Michael Bloomberg, Billie Jean King, Thelma Davidson
College of Saint Rose: Gov. David Paterson
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory: Oliver Sacks
Cornell: Maya Angelou
Furman: George W. Bush
Gettysburg: Sandra Day O’Connor
Harvard: J.K. Rowling, Ben Bernanke
Indiana University: Will Shortz
Kenyon: Anna Quindlen
MIT: Muhammad Yunus
Northwestern Law School: Jerry Springer
Oberlin: Fareed Zakaria
Princeton: Stephen Colbert, Paul Farmer
Simmons College: Bianca Jagger
Stanford: Oprah Winfrey
Syracuse: Bob Woodruff
UCLA: Bill Clinton
University of Georgia: Clarence Thomas
UPenn: Michael Bloomberg
Williams: Richard Serra, LeVar Burton
Yale: Tony Blair – only a rumor at this point. The speaker has not been announced due to so-called security concerns
Still More!
Apparently, in the mind of some middle aged commencement planners, all hosts of button-pushing TV shows are the same. Lucky are the students who have sat for speeches by Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert, and Seth MacFarlane, but woe to those who ended up with Meredith Vieira and Lisa Ling. And ear plugs to those who must listen to Chris Matthews.
Bethany: Bud Selig
Bryant: George H. W. Bush
Carnegie Mellon: Al Gore
Central Connecticut State: Gov. M. Jodi Rell
Dickinson: Kwame Anthony Appiah
Hofstra: Gov. David A. Paterson
North Carolina Ag & Tech: Bill Cosby
Pitzer: Samantha Power
Quinnipiac: Lisa Ling
SUNY Binghampton: Ted Kooser
Tufts: Meredith Vieira
Vanderbilt: Bob Geldof
Wash U: Chris Matthews
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52 Comments
@noo i would say they don’t try nearly hard enough. Columbia administration’s disastrous leadership fails again.
@campaign for 09... …to have a speaker that we are excited about.
how to you get to be on the committee that picks the speaker? if you want something done right, do it yourself!
@haha i love how everyone thinks that people purposefully chose bad speakers or something. Usually the council ask a bunch of people they want to come, and most say no, so they pick the best of those that said yes. It’s not like they don’t TRY to get good people.
@Yay ….for Bloomberg!
@really.... This school is certainly fickle when it comes to such things. Well, at least we don’t have Jerry Springer or Clarence Thomas coming!
@really? i’m so pissed joel klein is our speaker. he’s not even amusing. not one bit.
@facts And, only one of those people are speaking. The others are just being presented with awards. Also, chances are Anna Quindlen will speak at BC as well. She is the head of the board of trustees. She might speak every year.
@barnard Wow… If it weren’t for Thelma Davison, the all-female Barnard class would be hearing all-male speakers.
@gottta love BC girls Billie Jean King is a woman
@eww oprah’s boobs in that picture GROSS
@af-am studies major i’m so jealous of dickinson
@so... Hofstra gets Paterson? who went here…
Damn, the Columbia administration is moronic.
@maybe hofstra lucked out and originally booked him when he was lieutenant gov.
you think anyone had spitzer in line?
@Armin Rosen Bob Geldof what the fuck?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OpaFtghxmFE
@Oh and btw Bianca Jagger would be fucking awesome as along as she sticks to shit people actually want to hear like riding a white pony into studio 54 for her B-day in 1977 or doing blow with Steve Rubell and Andy Warhol. Really she could probably hold the attention of an audience for several hours regaling them with the exploits of Mick and Keef.
@sacksophilia “So… um, let me… uh. Er. Well, I remember when I graduated from college 60 years ago. Uhh… Then… Yes — I mean — you see, my two favorite things then were smoked salmon and Bach…”
— Excerpt from a video tape leaked Thursday of Oliver Sacks practicing his commencement speech for Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
@NYer it’s SUNY Binghamton, not Binghampton.
@Nice Will Shortz = Money
@well for universities with multiple schools, how many of these speakers are speaking at the equivalent of class day, and how many at the equivalent of commencement? I would imagine a lot are speaking at the university wide commencement, which means they should be compared to bollinger not klein.
@C'mon What’s the impediment to creating a drive in the Campaign for Columbia (or whatever it’s called) for endowing a fund for Class Day or Commencement speakers?
I mean, what’s the cost-benefit analysis? Cool speakers lead to some prestige (People still talk about Stephen Colbert at Knox, and Seth MacFarlane at Harvard– I mean, dumb people, but still people). I’m sure some alum would be honored to have the “John Waspington-Mayflower/Tobias Jewenstein Commencement Series” on commencement programs for decades to come.
@still none top JK Rowling.
@Agreed. Jo Rowling: topping the list of people I would love to have lunch with / rather be.
@why not Hawkmadinejad?
@well this is the only time in my life I’ve ever wished I went to Princeton.
@curious if you graduate in december, do you get a class day? (took a semester off at one point, so i graduate a little off schedule)
@you can walk either the summer before or the summer after. your call
@discuss Columbia should lift its silly restrictions on Class Day speakers and shell out some cash to attract good ones.
@... poor Furman… they’ll have to sit through an hour of ‘ums’
@but cmon, don’t you wish that george w. spoke at columbia for class day? That would be an amazing day for everyone.
@meh My undergraduate had George HW, George W, and Dick Cheney in a span of 5 years. George H W was the best speaker.
@Let me guess BYU?
@meh nope. LSU
@Yeah I saw Bush, Cheney, Rummy, and Wolfowitz during undergrad and its like watching the state of the union…not missing anything.
@meh absolutely. I think HW was such a better speaker – cause it was 9 years after he was president. He didn’t have to stay on point. Talked a lot more about community service than anything else.
@yonder What college was that? The Air Force Academy?
@EAL Damn you, Princeton. They clearly have the best speaking combo. The Class of 2009 better not fuck this up.
@What will be the music at Class Day?
Eine Klein Nacht music!
@tony blair will be teaching at yale, so that wouldnt be too surprising
@art history major im so jealous of williams.
@Holy Shit Williams got Geordi LaForge!! Sweet!!!
Wow, you study Star Trek in Art History?
@ope But you don’t have to take my word for it!
@art history, too no, we study richard serra. he’s the man, his shit blows my mind…
@Que serra, serra I guess your mind is very easily blown
@djk think College of Saint Rose has Spitzer?
@djk **had
@actually I don’t know who Bianca Jagger. I guess I can Google her.
@maybe so, but what’s the difference between Bianca Jagger?
@08er At least people know who Bianca Jagger is…I still have no idea of what Joel Klein has accomplished and why he deserves to be our class speaker.
@MIT fucking kicks ass– it’s like the ubermensch academy. muhammad yunus, i’m so jealous
@northwestern law classy as fuck
@Actually There was a recent piece on This American Life about how Jerry Springer was the most popular politician in Cincinnati in history. He served as mayor for years and even had a bid for governor…
Just a thought.
@Bwog, Great piece. Well done.
Columbia-Admin, shame on you. At least pay for their fucking travel/lodging for fuck’s sake.