Pretty cool. I had Barbara Bush for mine. Dick Enberg for the class of 2009.
http://www.bizjournals.com/milwaukee/stories/2009/03/16/daily9.html?ana=from_rss
He was supposed to do mine last year, but had to back out of his commitment when he realized his daughter/granddaughter was graduating the same day. Understandable, but I got stuck with boring UN/Darfur guy Andrew Natsios as my last second fill-in.
Enberg, not bad. I had Captain Kangaroo.
Mr. Rogers was number one in my book.
thats pretty cool, at least a famous person is doing it. glad im graduating this year.
Class of 2006: The secretary of Labor...woo hoo! That was an exciting send off to go get a job.
/too hungover to remember it anyways
I had the Surgeon General, C. Everett Koop. Seeing that it was the Spring of '83 and the Brewers were fresh off of their first (and still only) World Series appearance, it was kinda fun to welcome him with a big "KOOOOOOOOOOP!!!".
We had Steve Rushin, who delivered a very nice speech.
Could you imagine Gus Johnson giving the commencement... oh man,
"Graduating Class of 2009.... Rise and Fire!"
Quote from: ZMovieman on March 16, 2009, 12:30:58 PM
He was supposed to do mine last year, but had to back out of his commitment when he realized his daughter/granddaughter was graduating the same day. Understandable, but I got stuck with boring UN/Darfur guy Andrew Natsios as my last second fill-in.
I'll never forget looking over to my dad in the stands and watching him literally fall asleep. They couldn't have picked a worse person to give our commencement speech.
Quote from: Travis Diener's Punching Bag on March 16, 2009, 01:18:08 PM
Class of 2006: The secretary of Labor...woo hoo! That was an exciting send off to go get a job.
/too hungover to remember it anyways
My 2008 graduation was filled with hangover hot flashes and probably the worst overall feeling I've ever had.
Lakefront's Riverwest was seeping out of my pores.
I forgot to mention my commencement speaker...
2008 UW-Platteville Afternoon Commencement Speaker...
Some dentist, whos dad just gave a crap ton of money to build a new engineering building... yup... a dentist.
At least he kept commencement short, all of commencement lasted around 1 hour. I too, was hungover
We had Cokie Roberts in 2005. Nothing noteworthy, it was just long and rambling except for a couple of digs about the Warriors/Golden Eagles/Gold fiasco (which basically had overwhelmed our last 2.5 weeks on campus). The student speaker for the College of Business graduation (who was actually the golden eagle mascot for a couple years) was far, far more entertaining and memorable.
Anyone know if there's going to be a showing of McGuire on campus in conjunction with this?
Actually, I just answered my own question (sort of):
Following the retirement of legendary coach Al McGuire after Marquette's win of the 1977 NCAA men's basketball team championship, Enberg and McGuire were paired in the broadcast booth. Enberg later wrote a one-man play, McGuire, about his late colleague and good friend. The play, which debuted at Marquette's Helfaer Theatre in 2005, will be performed on campus again this spring. Enberg will be at the performances on Friday and Saturday, May 15 and 16. Tickets are available by calling the box office at 414-288-7504.
Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist
I had one of the 'higher ups' at Kimberly Clark.
I felt like we got a royal hose job.
the only good part was that he said that he would donate $1 million if the university changed the name back to warriors.
of course, the BC erupted.
but honestly, that was the only memorable part.
Wow.. most of you lucked out. I had... er, the commencement speech at my graduation was given by Archbishop Weakland. Several years later, he retired amid rumors he was doing some geigh grad student.
1995 we had some guy from Sears - I think he was a member of the Board of Trustees. The speech was very boring.
Quote from: Travis Diener's Punching Bag on March 16, 2009, 01:18:08 PM
Class of 2006: The secretary of Labor...woo hoo! That was an exciting send off to go get a job.
/too hungover to remember it anyways
Elaine Chao.
During her speech, I was on the phone with my buddy who was in Iraq at the time. The speech was that good.
Quote from: IAmMarquette on March 16, 2009, 04:35:58 PM
Elaine Chao.
During her speech, I was on the phone with my buddy who was in Iraq at the time. The speech was that good.
That speech was the worst graduation speech in the history of speeches.
Quote from: Hards_Alumni on March 16, 2009, 02:52:23 PM
I had one of the 'higher ups' at Kimberly Clark.
I felt like we got a royal hose job.
the only good part was that he said that he would donate $1 million if the university changed the name back to warriors.
of course, the BC erupted.
but honestly, that was the only memorable part.
Yep that was my year as well. I honestly can't think of anything else that was said in that speech other than that million dollar challenge.
We had C Everett Koop who was Surgeon General at the time. It was in the mid-80's so the students kept yelling "Coooooooooop" like we used to for Cecil Cooper. I do not believe the Surgeon General was amused. I do recall the paper quoting him afterwards stating that he was confused why the students were booing him.
deja vu
Quote from: ChicosBailBonds on March 16, 2009, 12:18:13 PM
Pretty cool. I had Barbara Bush for mine. Dick Enberg for the class of 2009.
http://www.bizjournals.com/milwaukee/stories/2009/03/16/daily9.html?ana=from_rss
I loved her attempt at being local...having a beer at the 'Lanche, but she pronounced it "launch". That's all I remember about her speech.
Looks like some of you guys have some WIKI editing to do. Some years aren't filled out...
http://wiki.muscoop.com/doku.php/commencement/start
Wonderful: http://wiki.muscoop.com/doku.php/commencement/2006
I'm glad this is posted here. Not so I can go back and read the speech again, but so people can see how truly dreadful it was.
I'm quite jealous of the class of 2007- Rushin and 2009- Enberg.
Quote from: Mayor McCheese on March 16, 2009, 01:23:45 PM
Could you imagine Gus Johnson giving the commencement... oh man,
"Graduating Class of 2009.... Rise and Fire!"
lolololol......this was great.
Quote from: mwbauer7 on March 16, 2009, 04:40:27 PM
That speech was the worst graduation speech in the history of speeches.
Her speech was definitely horrible. It seemed as though all she did was rattle off a list of her career accomplishments. I can't remember much else so it must have been good. ::)
The guy last year -- I can't even remember his name -- was so offensive(ly bad) that if I were a University bureaucrat I would have asked for an apology. In the first 2 or 3 sentences he talks about how he was accepted to Georgetown University and how great Georgetown is. Later in his speech he talks about ... I can't remember if it was his island or his vacation home on an island. Just obnoxious and offensive and an extreme bore.
Quote from: radome on March 16, 2009, 12:39:08 PM
Enberg, not bad. I had Captain Kangaroo.
Hey, same year as me!
I graduated in 1986. Have no clue who spoke. It was memorable.
Enberg is a pompous windbag.....Oh My, did I just say that??
Upside, you'll probably get some good Al stories.
Mr. Rogers was ours (2001). He said to go out and love your neighbor. And then we gave him an honorary doctorate from Marquette.
Quote from: mwbauer7 on March 16, 2009, 04:40:27 PM
That speech [in 2006] was the worst graduation speech in the history of speeches.
On behalf of the Class of 1991, I beg to differ.
Quote from: StillAWarrior on March 17, 2009, 04:54:02 PM
On behalf of the Class of 1991, I beg to differ.
The Class of 2008 wants in on this battle.
That speech that Rushin gave in '07 was brilliant. Everyone who had a crappy speaker should read it and enjoy it is if it were your own.
Quote from: mwbauer7 on March 16, 2009, 05:41:05 PM
Wonderful: http://wiki.muscoop.com/doku.php/commencement/2006
I'm glad this is posted here. Not so I can go back and read the speech again, but so people can see how truly dreadful it was.
I'm quite jealous of the class of 2007- Rushin and 2009- Enberg.
Quote
A recent independent survey reports that U.S. college graduates are facing the best job market in recent memory. Most employers say there is increased competition to hire new college graduates.
Awesome.
..The President is doing ND's commencement this year.
Score one for the Big East.
Quote from: mu_hilltopper on March 24, 2009, 04:30:03 PM
..The President is doing ND's commencement this year.
Score one for the Big East.
And the alumni are not happy about it, but the students are.
Justice Rehnquist in 1988 may have been the dullest 20 minutes I spent at MU.
Quote from: radome on March 16, 2009, 12:39:08 PM
Enberg, not bad. I had Captain Kangaroo.
Notre Dame has the President. Like him or his politics or not, the leader of the free world is a tough act to beat.
Quote from: ChicosBailBonds on March 24, 2009, 04:43:25 PM
And the alumni are not happy about it, but the students are.
That's a pretty big blanket statement. I'm sure SOME alumni aren't happy, but others are just as happy as the students. I would think ND would be pretty representative of the nation, plus or minus. College grads went for Obama 51/49. Catholics went for Obama 54/45. Indiana went for Obama 51/49.. Illinois 62%.. Michigan 57% .. Ohio 51%.
Regardless of how comparable those numbers are to the ND alumni base .. suffice it to say, it'd be more accurate to say HALF the ND alumni didn't vote for Obama. And I'd guess of that half that didn't vote for him, many are still pretty honored the leader of the free world is coming to their university.
Quote from: mu_hilltopper on March 24, 2009, 05:12:18 PM
That's a pretty big blanket statement. I'm sure SOME alumni aren't happy, but others are just as happy as the students.
Fair enough, I was going off of these articles from yesterday
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/44/2009/03/24/notre_dame_obama_commencement.html?wprss=44
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/religion/post/2009/03/64571525/1
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/first100days/2009/03/24/critics-blast-obamas-notre-dame-commencement-address/
etc, etc
That website mentioned in the WPost article .. 115,000 signers now. Of course, since they don't validate that you are an ND alumni, it's basically just a nation-wide "we don't like Obama" list. No surprise there.
It has been interesting, the debate (which hopefully can be spoken about in non-political ways) .. that Catholics "should" not have voted for Obama. There's a local guy in MKE that wrote how, basically, Catholics who vote for Obama in November are damned to hell, yadda yadda.
Then 54% of Catholics vote for Obama in the election. So what does that mean? 54% of Catholics are bad Catholics, immoral? That over half the flock are out of step, or is it vice versa? Or should the Catholic church go through another schism, dividing up along political lines?
I tried to get a Jesuit friend to engage on that debate .. no dice.
Quote from: mu_hilltopper on March 25, 2009, 08:45:36 AM
It has been interesting, the debate (which hopefully can be spoken about in non-political ways) .. that Catholics "should" not have voted for Obama. There's a local guy in MKE that wrote how, basically, Catholics who vote for Obama in November are damned to hell, yadda yadda.
Then 54% of Catholics vote for Obama in the election. So what does that mean? 54% of Catholics are bad Catholics, immoral? That over half the flock are out of step, or is it vice versa? Or should the Catholic church go through another schism, dividing up along political lines?
I tried to get a Jesuit friend to engage on that debate .. no dice.
I'll try to answer this political question as non-politically as possible ;)
54% separate from the Church when it comes to social issues the Church sees as non-negotiable. Abortion, Gay Marriage, etc. In my opinion, what it comes down to is the value people put on the Church's social teachings. They value other aspects, in my experience most notably "social justice" issues, over theses core issues. My hang-up is this- Does this make them "bad Catholics?" No, of course not. But I tend to question their belief a little bit when they can toss aside a MAJOR Church teaching for something as small as a vote.
I'd be curious to see the splits re: regular church attendees vs. Christmas and Easter's. I'd have a feeling that 54% would shrink considerably.
Quote from: mu_hilltopper on March 25, 2009, 08:45:36 AM
I tried to get a Jesuit friend to engage on that debate .. no dice.
And would that Jesuit friend be a former classmate? If so, how's he doing? Tell him I said hello.
Quote from: MUfan12 on March 25, 2009, 09:13:20 AM
I'll try to answer this political question as non-politically as possible ;)
54% separate from the Church when it comes to social issues the Church sees as non-negotiable.
This isn't entirely true. Again, I know we don't want to turn this into politics, but just because you vote for a candidate does not mean you agree with that candidates entire platform. If that were the case, anyone who voted for Obama OR McCain separated from the Church on major issues. McCain supports the War in Iraq and capital punishment, both of which were spoken out against vehemently by JPII and less so by Benedict XVI. Obama obviously has disagreements with the Church on abortion and marriage issues, but no candidate's platform, at least from any major party, lines up perfectly with the Church, which, among other things, is why the Church does not support any candidate.
Back to the topic on hand, my theology professor said a colleague of his at ND was circulating an e-mail petition to rescind the invite to Obama. I sure hope next year MU gets someone good, at least like Enberg. I don't want to fall asleep!
Quote from: tower912 on March 24, 2009, 04:51:34 PM
Justice Rehnquist in 1988 may have been the dullest 20 minutes I spent at MU.
You didn't take the "History of Western Civilization" course?
On those issues there is some gray area, whereas the stance on abortion is absolute. JP2 did not "condemn" the war, he opposed it, as does Benedict. There is a big difference there. If the Pope condemns the conflict, those participating are seen to be committing a grave sin. That has not happened, despite the Catholic left's best attempts to put words in the Vatican's mouth.
Obviously, the Church is opposed to capital punishment, but again it's stance is not absolute- http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc/para/2267.htm
Obviously, no party or candidate is perfectly in accord with Church teaching. But it's seen as a moral obligation for Catholics to choose the closest match to the core social teachings of the Church.
ND has a long history of US presidents as commencement speakers. When my brother graduated, they had Ronald Reagan. Everyone had to pass through metal detectors (granted an everyday occurance now) and students could not participate in the tradition of bringing champagne into the exercises as there was a concern that the popping corks could not be distinguished from gunfire.
I think they've had something like 6 sitting presidents and 9 total.
OK -- I was going to close this out with some caustic and sarcastic comments about ND, but have decided to restrain myself. Though I don't think the Obama decision is anything more than adding a 7th sitting president to their speaker tally.
Brewcity, I did. JP Donnelly S.J. was a scintillating, captivating, spellbinding speaker compared to Rehnquist.
How do these Catholic Pro-lifers justify the right's stand on Capital Punishment?
And for the record, I voted for Bush, Dole, Bush, Bush, McCain. And I'm Catholic. I just don't get worked up over one issue when another is also clearly a violation of my beliefs.
Quote from: The Lens on March 25, 2009, 11:30:28 AM
How do these Catholic Pro-lifers justify the right's stand on Capital Punishment?
The volume. There is a much greater number of abortions than executions.
Quote from: The Lens on March 25, 2009, 11:30:28 AM
How do these Catholic Pro-lifers justify the right's stand on Capital Punishment?
And for the record, I voted for Bush, Dole, Bush, Bush, McCain. And I'm Catholic. I just don't get worked up over one issue when another is also clearly a violation of my beliefs.
I'm Pro Life and against the death penalty. What's the problem?
I don't understand liberal Catholics problem with conservative Catholics. I, as a conservative Catholic, choose what charities I support. I think that is a much more effective use of my cash. Filtering it through government is a total waste.
Quote from: MUfan12 on March 25, 2009, 10:02:15 AM
On those issues there is some gray area, whereas the stance on abortion is absolute. JP2 did not "condemn" the war, he opposed it, as does Benedict. ...it's seen as a moral obligation for Catholics to choose the closest match to the core social teachings of the Church.
I will agree that on war, there is gray area (just war theory). On the Iraq War, I never said it was condemned, so I'm not sure why that is in quotes. However, when this war has been called a "defeat for reason and for the gospel. The war is beyond all legality and all international legitimacy" by a papal official (that's the best quote I could find with limited time) I don't see a whole lot of gray area with this particular war. Both popes have called it unjust, but if you find something on this war that leaves room for disagreement in the Church I'm willing to listen. The quote from the Catechism you provide also leaves little gray room, saying "the cases in which the execution of the offender is an absolute necessity 'are very rare, if not practically non-existent.'" I think in a civilized country like the US there are other options.
There is definitely room for Catholics of good conscience to support either candidate, and I definitely agree there is a moral obligation for Catholics to chose the closest match to the Church. On these particular issues, however, as well as abortion, there is little question as to who lines up more closely with the Church. Other issues, such as economic policy, can be argued either way.
Quote from: The Lens on March 25, 2009, 11:30:28 AM
How do these Catholic Pro-lifers justify the right's stand on Capital Punishment?
This brings up a good point on why Catholics are urged every election by the USCCB to not be single issue voters. It also points out why I would say there is an important distinction between "anti-abortion" and "pro-life". Anti-abortion is great, but is not all there is to being pro-life.
Also for the record, I have to say to clear my conscience, that abortion disgusts me and should be illegal. I do however hold very similar beliefs about capital punishment. Call me crazy, I just don't like killing anyone, no matter how many or how few, no matter how innocent or how guilty.
Quote from: BrewCity on March 25, 2009, 12:07:23 PM
The volume. There is a much greater number of abortions than executions.
That, and the little tidbit about a baby not having done anything wrong vs a felon that has. (we can get into arguments about wrongfully accused, I get it....but the differences between the two are stark.....43,000,000 vs what, 107 at last count?)
Quote from: The Lens on March 25, 2009, 02:51:23 PM
Also for the record, I have to say to clear my conscience, that abortion disgusts me and should be illegal. I do however hold very similar beliefs about capital punishment. Call me crazy, I just don't like killing anyone, no matter how many or how few, no matter how innocent or how guilty.
Agreed...well put!
Knock off the politics please. Basketball forums should be devoid of this serious business.
Quote from: Skatastrophy on March 25, 2009, 04:05:46 PM
Knock off the politics please. Basketball forums should be devoid of this serious business.
Fair enough. But I'm actually pleased this did not devolve into what normally happens with politically-related threads on this board. It's been very civil.
Exactly .. we keep it civil, and stay away from demagoguery, we can have a decent conversation.
So far, so good.