Columbia Kids Unhappy with Class Day Speakers

2007 Columbia Class Day Speaker Matthew Fox at left, 2008 Class Day Speaker Joel Klein at right

In 2006, the graduating class of Columbia's undergraduate college had Senator John McCain as a Class Day speaker. Last year, it was actor Matthew Fox. And this year's speaker will be...Schools Chancellor Joel Klein! To which seniors said, "I don't know anything about him" and "I have no idea who he is."

The Columbia Spectator had an editorial criticizing the student council's policy for picking people with connections to Columbia (Fox and Klein are alums, McCain's daughter attended), writing:

Those few students who are well-versed in the politics of the Bloomberg administration will be excited to hear Department of Education Chancellor Joel Klein, the architect of the city’s controversial education policy, speak. Most, however, will need a detailed press release to simply identify him.

And the editorial notes that Klein will inevitably be compared to other Ivys' speakers--Princeton has Stephen Colbert, Harvard has JK Rowling and Penn has Mayor Bloomberg. Clearly, Barack Obama, class of '83, was too busy!

When Fox was announced as last year's Class Day speaker, there was an uproar. However, he gave a pretty charming speech and looked good in the blue robe. But a great commencement speech is playwright Tony Kushner's from 2004--he acknowledges being fourth choice.

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By Jen Chung in News on April 1, 2008 12:39 PM

Comments [rss]

sensibile

As a CC alum, I'm appalled at the idiotic response to Klein's selection. CC students who don't know Klien is and are not studying particle physics need to sent back home without a diploma.

You're in NYC, education is a top issue in the city, you should know who Klein is. Some people actually wonder why Columbia's Harlem Expansion is not being well received?

berniegoetz

Other possibilities (all are affiliates):

David Paterson

Madeleine Albright

Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Alan Greenspan

George Pataki

Howard Dean

Dave Hogarty

[22] Oh man, a fellow traveller. I'm not saying the speech was bad, but the haze of alcohol that preceded and followed it blotted out anything but the mention of pizza. Nothing against the speaker, really, it was just notably unremarkable. I thank him for making the effort however.

theevilone

Dave...Pizza Hut? I was there. I share your pain.

matukonyc

Colleges and Universities want people who will give money... hence the choice to ask monied and well-connected alums.

Jen S

Dave, aren't most speakers paid nowadays?

Dave Hogarty

I will not complain about any uncompensated speaker who takes his or her time to address a bunch of young people who probably aren't listening and frequently checking their watches to see when the hell they can clear out. But I graduated from a mid-atlantic university and our school's commencement speaker was the head of a pizza company. Somehow a stuffed-crust pizza plug was incorporated into the address as some sort of life lesson. I can't remember a single other thing. I defy anyone to top that.

Gwinny

Best graduation speech ever: Jon Stewart's at William & Mary a few years back

http://www.wm.edu/news/?id=3650

Alas, I was not there for it. My own graduation speaker at W&M was then-Secretary of State James Baker. Jebus, that was horrible.

holyfrjole

When I was in college, we got the guy who discovered that if you take an aspirin a day, it lowers your risk of a heart attack. Far more impactful than Matthew Fox (or Joel Klein, for that matter), but I can't remember the guy's name.

When I was in law school, we had Alan Dershowitz, who basically told us not to be corrupt and that the law sucks. Words to live by.

Worst commencement speaker ever: EL Doctorow, at NYU grad student commencement -- dude just read from his own book for what seemed like an eternity.

JP Lynch

Hey Edgar: Are you one of the students complaining about the speaker? And do you plan on paying Mom back?

CR

Sometimes in life you get something great, and sometimes you get Joel Klein. Guy's obviously extremely intelligent, and I heard him speak a couple of years ago and he wasn't bad. Sure, he's not Colbert, but he's better than Matthew Fox, no?

Columbia Students: Don't worry, this won't determine the caliber of grad school you're gonna get into.

MFer

The administration is really trying. Look, they realize how much a mistake last year to have a light weight actor. So this year they go plumb down opposite. But looking at the photos ... is this the separated at birth segment of Gothamist?

edgar

Hey JP Lynch, as a Columbia student I'll be so generous as to donate my trust fund to you....all $10,000 of my mother's credit card debt worth of it.

JP Lynch

Cry-baby, trust-fund babies...glad to see they know how to prioritize what's important. Jackasses.

marymary

Barnard has Bloomberg... or so I've heard.

I don't think there's anything wrong with wanting a class speaker that is well known. What does it say about Columbia when they can't (or won't?) get a speaker that the majority of people who are attending have heard of? It's a big day, and it becomes all the more fantastic when someone like Stephen Colbert is there too. Yeah there are worse things to complain about, but if the other ivies are capable of picking speakers their students are satisfied with, I don't understand why Columbia can't do the same.

Jen S

Puh-lease. My commencement speaker was Phylicia Rashad, whose 7-minute "Live with a Mother's Heart" speech made my mom pissed that I'd forgotten to wish her a happy mother's day.

The year prior, Bill Clinton was the speaker. Before that, it was Guiliani.

broadwaysteve

Let's not forget Bob Kraft in 2005, who preached to college seniors about the "4 Fs: Faith, Family, Philanthropy...and Football." I've never heard a more awful speech in my life.

CR

They could get Ahmenjad again... The kids would like that... right?

georgia222

Who was your speaker, BottomlessChips?

Dave Hogarty

CU seniors claiming ignorance as to who Joel Klein is are not doing themselves a favor. Yeah, you probably spent a lot of time in the library studying, but do you realize that you live in NYC and are somehow involved in the city's educational establishment?

Plus, he served as a lawyer in the White House Counsel's Office for Clinton and was an anti-trust prosecutor against Microsoft. These are not recondite touchstones only recognizable to political junkies. Get it together Lions.