Commencement Speakers

[ChitownSpaceForRent]

Guarantee I won't remember her name in 10 years. Peggy O'Neal? Kind of upsetting to be honest, oh well, I'm graduating that's the important part.

[jficke13]

I got lucky with mine, Dick Enberg and Hank Aaron. Honestly would have skipped the 2nd one if Hammerin' Hank weren't the speaker.

[WI inferiority Complexes]

Could've been worse.  Two years ago it was Bill Cosby.

[Galway Eagle]

Could've been worse.  Two years ago it was Bill Cosby.

Avoiding him as my commencement speaker is the real reason I took a 5th year. 

But seriously I can't even remember who mine was last year. He was decently funny and a bit inspiring but overall I was hungover and exited to pop some streamers into the air.

[chapman]

Could've been worse.  Two years ago it was Bill Cosby.

Whoopsiedaisy

[GOO]

What do these speakers get paid anyway? I'm sure it varies by speaker, but I assume most don't speak for free... or do they?

[jsglow]

Avoiding him as my commencement speaker is the real reason I took a 5th year. 

But seriously I can't even remember who mine was last year. He was decently funny and a bit inspiring but overall I was hungover and exited to pop some streamers into the air.

Fr. James Martin, SJ.

One of the best in recent memory.  Don't be one bit surprised if he comes back to town for your 10th Reunion or something.

[Badgerhater]

List of speakers since 1980.    I was working on graduation day in 1998 so I did not hear Howard Fuller's speech.

http://wiki.muscoop.com/doku.php/commencement/start

Quite the wide range of individuals represented.

[keefe]

What do these speakers get paid anyway? I'm sure it varies by speaker, but I assume most don't speak for free... or do they?

They get paid and it is becoming a bit ridiculous.

Our daughter was graduated from Columbia - the only speaker they ever invite is the University President. I think that is the very best idea.

[MU Fan in Connecticut]

Interestingly my neighbor Yale handles speakers a little different.  They have Class Day the day before graduation and award the academic, artistic, and athletic prizes followed by an address by a notable speaker.  So there is no speaker on graduation day itself.

[Tugg Speedman]

Guarantee I won't remember her name in 10 years. Peggy O'Neal? Kind of upsetting to be honest, oh well, I'm graduating that's the important part.

What exactly is the complaint here?  Someone who might be the closest living person to Mother Teresa is going to speak on serious and meaningful issues and explain how she has dedicated her life to help the truly poor.  Are we afraid she will not have enough one-liners?

Prediction ... next year will be Republican Nominee Scott Walker.

[tower912]

William Rehnquist.   Famous name, boring-as-hell speaker. 

[keefe]

Prediction ... next year will be Republican Nominee Scott Walker.

About time that sonuvabitch got his degree from Marquette

[chapman]

Interestingly my neighbor Yale handles speakers a little different.  They have Class Day the day before graduation and award the academic, artistic, and athletic prizes followed by an address by a notable speaker.  So there is no speaker on graduation day itself.

That's not how they did it on Gilmore Girls.

[wildbillsb]

My son graduated from MU in '01.  Commencement headliner was the recently-retired Fred Rogers ("Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood") speaking to an audience who had grown up watching him on PBS.  We all were enthralled.

[Celtic Truth]

For you college hockey fans out there, my highschool graduation speaker was Jerry York who coaches at BC and he has the most wins in College Hockey history. He was fantastic, not an incredibly gifted public speaker but he was very sincere and had some good messages. It is also notable that he graduated from my alma martyr 50 years earlier.

[drewm88]

Prediction ... next year will be Republican Nominee Scott Walker.

No way.

[HouWarrior]

What do these speakers get paid anyway? I'm sure it varies by speaker, but I assume most don't speak for free... or do they?

University of Houston was in a recent controversy, by hiring actor Matthew McConaughey for its May commencement...but per his insistence, the amount was a non disclosure secret; the FOI request denied the info release.

The press storm continued, until he finally relented. He revealed he was getting $155k , plus travel expenses(with $20k of that going to his agents). Because of the large embarrassing sum, Matt decided to fix the bad press by donating his fee to a UH foundation. Ironic, too in that Matthew is actually a big UT fan, lacking any UH connection, except for the money.

So, I guess sometimes these fees are pretty high.

BTW, a few months back, the family of the late Robert Keeshan (TV's Captain Kangaroo) posted many of his personal effects on Ebay, including the honorary degree he got from Marquette...the winner got it for less than $300.

[keefe]

University of Houston was in a recent controversy, by hiring actor Matthew McConaughey for its May commencement...but per his insistence, the amount was a non disclosure secret; the FOI request denied the info release.

The press storm continued, until he finally relented. He revealed he was getting $155k , plus travel expenses(with $20k of that going to his agents). Because of the large embarrassing sum, Matt decided to fix the bad press by donating his fee to a UH foundation. Ironic, too in that Matthew is actually a big UT fan, lacking any UH connection, except for the money.

So, I guess sometimes these fees are pretty high.

BTW, a few months back, the family of the late Robert Keeshan (TV's Captain Kangaroo) posted many of his personal effects on Ebay, including the honorary degree he got from Marquette...the winner got it for less than $300.

How can a publicly funded institution justify giving that much money to an actor for a 15 minute speech? And let's face it: what does an entertainer really have to say that is worth an honorarium?

http://www.nbcnews.com/id/31192270/ns/business-us_business/t/lucrative-business-campus-speeches/#.VUCyoCFViko

[MU Fan in Connecticut]

That's not how they did it on Gilmore Girls.

I know the show took place in Connecticut.  Was it fictionally Yale also?

[chapman]

I know the show took place in Connecticut.  Was it fictionally Yale also?

Yep, in the last few seasons the daughter goes to Yale and a good amount of time is set on campus.

Found this description:
http://archives.yalealumnimagazine.com/issues/03_09/gilmoregirls.html

[WarriorInNYC]

I attended the Enberg commencement speech, it was very well done.

My year was Wendy Kopp.  It was terrible.  Everything she has done with starting Teach for America and all is great.  But the whole speech was about Teach for America and she never even tried to rope it into graduating or furthering ourselves.

[WI inferiority Complexes]

For you college hockey fans out there, my highschool graduation speaker was Jerry York who coaches at BC and he has the most wins in College Hockey history. He was fantastic, not an incredibly gifted public speaker but he was very sincere and had some good messages. It is also notable that he graduated from my alma martyr 50 years earlier.

My high school graduation speaker was the then-FLOTUS Hillary Clinton.  Somewhere in my parents' basement is a picture of me, stoned out of my mind, shaking Hil's hand.

[slack00]

Guarantee I won't remember her name in 10 years. Peggy O'Neal? Kind of upsetting to be honest, oh well, I'm graduating that's the important part.

I remember the name of my speaker 10+ years ago.  Wayne Sanders said as part of his commencement speech that he and another trustee would donate $1M each if the nickname became the Warriors again.  His intentions were good, but it started the whole embarrasing "Gold" debacle.

[HouWarrior]

How can a publicly funded institution justify giving that much money

lol  Exactly my thought when I see some of the wasteful use of money by our military....also a publicly funded institution. lol