Who has heard of Billy Ray Hall? If you’re like many of us you never have. He’s the founding president of the N.C. Rural Economic Development Center and this fall’s commencement speaker. Maybe you’ve heard of Kenneth Olden? He is the former director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and last May’s commencement speaker.
No matter how well-versed you are in the names of obscure institutions and centers of the state and nation, chances are you’ve heard of these graduation speakers who spoke at our peer institutions and other schools around the country.
UNC-Chapel Hill spring 2007, former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright; Ohio State University spring 2007, former President Bill Clinton, and in the spring of 2006 United States Senator John McCain; the College of William and Mary had Jon Stewart in the spring of 2004 and this last spring the Secretary of Defense Robert Gates.
Or maybe you’ve heard of any of these people.
Other spring 2007 commencement speakers include: Meet the Press host Tim Russert at Washington University-Saint Louis; former commander of Central Command of the U.S. Army General John Abizaid at Virginia Tech; former Presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton at the University of New Hampshire; YouTube co-founder Jawed Karim at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and CNN anchor Soledad O’Brien at Cornell University.
Graduation is meant to be a time where students get the opportunity to hear from individuals they connect with. These speakers are the last memories of this University for some and the administration should consider the impact the commencement speaker has on the overall celebration.
Not only does a noteworthy speaker set the tone for an enjoyable commencement, but the speaker brings words of wisdom to the crowd, and prestige to the University. The more prominent the speaker at graduation, the more publicity our school will receive from the media and others.
Hall and Olden are certainly accomplished in their own right, but they aren’t former presidents, famous news anchors, current or former members of the cabinet, members of Congress or comedians.
Students at N.C. State are looking for someone else in their commencement speaker. Maybe someone as funny as Stephen Colbert or as serious as former Secretary of State and General Colin Powell at this spring’s graduation, making up for a history of disappointing sendoffs for graduates.
