“Mark Zuckerberg’s most valuable friend” and TED lecturer extraordinaire, Sheryl Sandberg, will speak at the Barnard Commencement. Girls, you’re in for a treat. The Facebook COO is known for her superb speaking skills and business savvy. A tireless advocate for woman’s leadership, Sandberg managed to pierce the Frat-boy bubble of Facebook and become Zuckerberg’s go-to woman. Meanwhile, she juggles a family back home. On why we have too few female executives, Sandberg insists: “woman systematically underestimate their own abilities.” Sure, many have discussed the career woman’s balancing act, but it’s still refreshing to hear someone explain it all so eloquently and genuinely.
38 Comments
@Wait, who played her in The Social Network? Was she the chick with the blow at the party?
@edjumacate yourselves It’s a damn shame that anyone should be \disappointed\ with this commencement speaker. Maybe if you valued actual accomplishments over name brand recognition for once (aka famous names that even backwater hicks could identify), you could Google her and be sufficiently excited that this trailblazing woman is going to be Commencement Speaker.
@hmm I think most Barnard women are excited. I know I am. Our expectations were so high that we anticipated someone more overtly “famous.” To be honest, Sandberg has contributed a lot more than some of those more famous women. I don’t think we should be chastised for honestly expressing our opinions that we expected someone else. It doesn’t mean we aren’t proud and honored to have her as our graduation speaker.
@she is a MILF
@Anonymous i’m excited to tell people 25 years down the line who our commencement speaker was when no one cares about facebook anymore. why not just screen social network and call it a day.
@... you are annoying
@Barnard sucks! Probably does more in a day than you’ve achieved in your lifetime
@Yeah .. yeah, just wait til this internet fad is over.
@Wait a minute... How can the numbers not move and be going in the wrong direction AT THE SAME TIME!? (1:10)
@brrrrrmmm the dream is collapsing
@Anonymous how come seas hasn’t announced their speaker yet?
@Anonymous Because it has.
@Anonymous who is it?
@Damn was really pulling for Erica Albright.
@or at least Rooney Mara. She could dress like Lisbeth.
@Barnard always gets the best speakers!!!
@That's because they don’t make it a requirement the speaker had to go to the school.
@anonymous i’d rather have an awesome speaker who didn’t graduate from columbia than an okay-speaker who was a columbia alum.
@Anonymous That’s because none of the accomplished Barnard alums want to be associated with their alma mater. They had to relax their requirements or else no one would be speaking at their commencement.
@cici Maybe so, but I don’t really see CC’s world-famous alumni clamoring to speak at the commencement ceremony…..or at least, CC bitches year after year about their Class Day speaker, so….I’m guessing you wouldn’t mind if CC relaxed their standards, either. Maybe you’ll get someone you like for once.
@bc '10 outstanding world-class women want to be associated with this outstanding world-class school.
@love her What a BALLER! She is AMAZING.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheryl_sandberg
@hmm After Bloomberg my freshman year, Hilary Clinton my sophomore year and Meryl Streep my junior year, I was kind of disappointed when I had to look this lady up. She seems cool though, definitely has a lot to say as a powerful woman so I’ll suspend judgment for the moment.
@i agree we had to go for the COO? couldn’t get the CEO of any other company?
@Anonymous Oh go to hell.
@BC '13 She is Meryl Streep. Of the corporate world.
@hmm Well played.
@False The Meryl of business would be Indra Nooyi of PepsiCo, Ursula Burns of Xerox, Andrea Jung, or (GASP) Oprah. This woman is the Julianne Moore of business…a little younger, done some very awesome work, but not the absolute best (or top 3) of her field. I think it’s great that she’s a dynamic speaker, but I can’t picture remembering much of the substance of my commencement keynote in 20 years. Also…she balances work and family, and plays in a traditionally male field? Right, see, that’s kind of characteristic of all women of significant accomplishment. What about Diane Sawyer or Katie Couric? Christiane Amanpour? Kay Bailey Hutchison? Olympia Snowe? RBG? Any of the above CEOs?
Listen, no one BC ’11 would deny the impressiveness of Sandberg’s accomplishments, or the dynamism of her speeches/TED Talks. However, given the exceptional pre-eminence (and considerable oratorical skills) of the past three commencement speakers, it’s a bit disappointing to have a commencement speaker who isn’t immediately recognizable by half of his/her name. Heightened expectations–> disappointment. Sorry.
@cici The difference between Sheryl Sandberg and the women you mentioned is that the former doesn’t appear on your television screen every day. That said, your criteria is ridiculous and pretty damn shallow. She played major roles in two most important internet companies of our age (Google! Facebook! For god’s sake!) is a visionary and a genius, and she should be more famous than any dime-a-dozen, token-female, news anchor like Diane Sawyer.
@I Want To Start a Barnard Flamewar Does that mean Barnard will get its own network?
@Anonymous oh, look! It’s THIS thread again!
@uh kid, you’re not even writing from a campus computer. get a life/shut the fuck up.
@... Y’all bakers toastin’ in a roll bread.
@Anonymous this is so cool! and means there is still hope for Tina Fey next year. Let’s make it happen, ladies!
@amazing! she’s an incredible speaker!
@... Mark Zuckerberg has friends?
@He had one. It did not end well.
He’s currently waiting for confirmation from a new one though. Old ex; we’ll see how it goes.
@aaron sorkin you don’t get to 500 million enemies without making a few friends.