Gothamist: Columbia Kids Unhappy with Class Day Speakers

sensibile

Wed, 02 Apr 2008 11:01:38 -0500

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

Tue, 01 Apr 2008 20:15:18 -0500

Other possibilities (all are affiliates): David Paterson Madeleine Albright Ruth Bader Ginsburg Alan Greenspan George Pataki Howard Dean

Dave Hogarty

Tue, 01 Apr 2008 18:02:02 -0500

[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

Tue, 01 Apr 2008 16:50:49 -0500

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

matukonyc

Tue, 01 Apr 2008 16:41:23 -0500

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

Jen S

Tue, 01 Apr 2008 16:30:22 -0500

Dave, aren't most speakers paid nowadays?

Dave Hogarty

Tue, 01 Apr 2008 16:15:56 -0500

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

Tue, 01 Apr 2008 15:49:06 -0500

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

Tue, 01 Apr 2008 15:24:03 -0500

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

Tue, 01 Apr 2008 14:55:48 -0500

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

CR

Tue, 01 Apr 2008 14:48:57 -0500

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

Tue, 01 Apr 2008 14:41:26 -0500

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

Tue, 01 Apr 2008 14:30:43 -0500

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

Tue, 01 Apr 2008 14:22:31 -0500

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

marymary

Tue, 01 Apr 2008 14:16:09 -0500

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

Tue, 01 Apr 2008 14:13:38 -0500

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

Tue, 01 Apr 2008 13:39:00 -0500

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

Tue, 01 Apr 2008 13:33:15 -0500

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

georgia222

Tue, 01 Apr 2008 13:27:36 -0500

Who was your speaker, BottomlessChips?

Dave Hogarty

Tue, 01 Apr 2008 13:25:41 -0500

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.

Bottomless Chips

Tue, 01 Apr 2008 13:23:21 -0500

I remember the uproar when my commencement speaker was announced. Some kids really took it too far and embarrassed themselves with their diatribes; it's a freaking speaker! It's not about the celebrity status and Q-rating of the speaker; it's about the oratory skills of him/her. I received a hell of a speech my graduation day (that was the consensus), and hope it humbled some of the kids who believed in style over substance.

MidC Frank

Tue, 01 Apr 2008 13:16:40 -0500

Glad to see the noodninks who go to my Alma Mater now read the NYTimes and keep up with the news in their community! CR -- you got that right!

Kevin Walsh

Tue, 01 Apr 2008 13:15:26 -0500

Columbia grads don't know who School Chancellor Joel Klein is? Uh, OK. I suspect they'd rather have someone "liberaller"... www.forgotten-ny.com

Steven

Tue, 01 Apr 2008 13:13:36 -0500

are these speeches really necessary?

CR

Tue, 01 Apr 2008 13:11:23 -0500

Whaaaaaa! Whaaaaaaa! We get everything we want! Whaaaaaa! Whaaaaaaa!