University Announces Commencement Details...No Speaker
https://record.umich.edu/articles/spring-commencement-will-include-uniq…
Earlier today, the University announced details for the upcoming Spring Commencement. There are a few nice attributes to the plan; but the glaring omission is that there will be no major speaker.
As a graduating senior, I have to say that I'm incredibly disappointed with this decision. I know it's the University's 200th birthday and we should celebrate that occasion; but, the vast majority of seniors disapprove of this plan and to see the administration move forward with it anyway feels like a slap to the face. Past graduating classes have gotten Presidents, CEOs, and other important leaders to our country. We get faculty and a video.
I know this is a sports blog and if I'm out of place, downvote away. I just needed to vent a bit and figured a few other Wolverines might be able to relate.
Rumor has it that talks fell through after he demanded Pop Evil do a remix called "In the Bigly House". Apparently, some toy CEO owns the rights to it
I'm a '91 graduate, when George H.W. Bush was the speaker as the current POTUS. That was pretty cool. Most years are good, but there's always the off year when it's someone less spectacular. Such is life. I have a hard time believing that the commencment ceremony will be weak in any respect, so just go and enjoy yourselves. You'll be wishing you could go back for the rest of your lives.
March 27th, 2017 at 11:25 PM ^
Let's make it happen.
No speaker? How will people in the back hear?
in the speaker.
Our graduation was not held in the Big House. They originally tried to hold it at EMU but the student body protested and they ended up doing a decent job holding the ceremony on the Diag. Keynote speaker was also a snooze.
I feel the Univ. should give C/O 2008 the opportunity to visit the Big House for a ceremony - perhaps for our 10th reunion?!?
I know someone with Michigan ties and who would be awesome in the Big House....
hopefully JV is not pitching that day.
found this disrespectful. He enjoyed the view though.
We had LeVar Burton as our speaker for the Department of Music, Theatre, and Dance ceremony. He was an incredible speaker, and it was really amazing. The speaker for the main ceremony that year was Dick Costello, the CEO of Twitter, which was pretty cool, but nowhere near as good as LeVar.
March 27th, 2017 at 10:22 PM ^
March 27th, 2017 at 10:37 PM ^
I think our keynote was Jennifer Granholm, and then my wife had some guy who owned a car magazine, maybe? Bill Joy got an honorary doctorate at one of these, and that was probably the highlight.
It sucks in the moment, but honestly, you probably won't really care a couple years later.
Yeah, I think it was the founder of Automobile Magazine. I remember that most people were disappointed because no one had heard of him, but I heard he gave an amazing speech and won everyone over, IIRC.
March 27th, 2017 at 11:41 PM ^
March 28th, 2017 at 12:12 AM ^
Maybe they will write a new version of " City of Stars" to fit the occaision?
My year (2003), we had Jennifer Granholm. She's not even an alum.
March 28th, 2017 at 10:41 PM ^
We had Bill Clinton... another non-alum, how shameful.
Just be glad you don't have Rick Snyder speaking. Oooooof he was bad.
There was a ton of bitching about her beforehand, some of the most vitriolic was from the guy who had been my orientation roommate. He preferred that we get a prominent UM graduate. He named Gerald Ford and someone else who has slipped my mind, I think an athlete whom I felt was a bad choice. He was a "start Todd Collins ahead of Elvis Grbac" guy, to give you a feel for his thought processes.
Cole was a great speaker and I enjoyed her address very much.
That said, when my brother graduated in December 1992, the scheduled speaker was Elie Wiesel. I'm sure he would have been a great speaker but his travel was delayed due to bad weather on the east coast and he did not arrive. I remember being relieved at not having to sit through a long speech. So this year's graduates have that going for them.
March 28th, 2017 at 10:56 AM ^
For what was supposed to be one of the highlights of my 4 years, graduation sucked.
The speaker was University President James "The Dude" Duderstadt. The University came up with the lame excuse that it is customary for the President in his or her first year to be the guest speaker (still dont know if this is true). Duderstadt was one boring individual and I wouldn't want to hear him in any venue, more or less at the end of my 4 year college experience. The previous years' speakers included Mike Wallace, Marshall Shulman (foreign policy expert) and Javier Perez de Cuellar (UN Sec-General)...and we got The Dude. (not The Dude from the Big Lebowski either).
(On a side note, our local high school had Bill Clinton come and speak 4 years ago. His nephew was graduating, and he gave a great speech.)
Then, there was the equally lame, "Will the entire LSA Class of 1989" please stand up? Other big schools, including Wisconsin, would award the diplomas by calling your name. Yes, there are lots of names, but they could divide it up alphabetically. Lots of time and cash invested and they don't even read your name.
The final straw for me personally was many of my friends had either graduated the year or semester before, or were in the B School's separate graduation, so I went to graduation pretty much by myself and latched on to a few other people I knew. That sucked.
Graduation from my MBA program at Minnesota was much better.
The very best Commencement speech was Art Buchwald's. He stood up and said, "As you can see, we're leaving you a pretty perfect world. Don't screw it up." and then sat down.
March 28th, 2017 at 12:02 PM ^
This is actually an abysmal decision that defies basic logic and is almost unbelievable that it was settled on by higher-ups at Michigan. Yes, most commencement speakers are horrible (i.e. Coach K's terrible, rambling speech at Duke last year) but the good ones stick with those graduates forever.
The only thing I can think of is they were in talks with the eventual loser of the 2016 election, who they expected to be the 45th POTUS, and when that didn't materialize they had to scramble. Nothing else makes sense. This is bush league.
March 28th, 2017 at 10:37 PM ^
That doesn't really check out, though, as they already had Hillary Clinton do a speech.
They probably couldn't find someone of sufficient stature for the occasion. It being the bicentennial, they probably felt the need to find someone hugely important, but there really isn't anyone out there who hasn't already done it (ie. Obama or Larry Page) who fits the bill.
March 28th, 2017 at 10:30 PM ^
Interesting to see that Christopher Paul Curtis is on the list of Bicentennial Alumni Award winners, but disheartening to see that the university is whitewashing the fact that he went to UM-Flint instead of Ann Arbor by listing him as having a degree from LSA. His biography on the University clarifies that he earned a BGS from UM-Flint:
https://president.umich.edu/honors-awards/umbaa/spring-recipients/chris…
That is simultaneously a nice move, incorporating a branch campus alum into the celebrations, and a shitty move, taking the Flint out of a very Flint author's story. It is possible to include branch campus alumni in these events without trying to coopt them.. either Flint and Dearborn are a part of the university or they aren't, don't try and claim their alumni only when they win Newberry Medals.