Speaking volumes
Local colleges vie to entice a breezier lineup to commencement podium
College commencements are a time to take stock, reflect, and look ahead, for teary nostalgia and get-me-outta-here glee. A time, as the tasseled flat hats fall to earth, to wonder what comes next.
But first, a speech. A rare blend of blandishments and bromides, the commencement address holds a cherished place in academia.
Years, perhaps even hours later, graduates may well forget who delivered the talk intended as the triumphant coda to their college experience. Yet for the colleges and universities that scrap and scramble to land big-name speakers each spring, commencement speeches culminate a determined quest for bragging rights, a measure of prestige, and, at least ideally, some well-observed wisdom.
Nowhere is the competition for high-profile commencement speakers fiercer than college-rich Massachusetts, where schools tap personal connections and alumni goodwill to entice personalities from academia, politics, business, and entertainment to the podium.
For example, Smith College graduate Margaret Edson, a Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright, and Tufts graduate Meredith Vieira, the co-host of NBC's "Today" show, will both speak at their alma maters. Fondness for the bright college years, school officials say, is often a powerful draw.
Students who are related to accomplished figures may also provide an in. Mike Scully, longtime writer and producer for "The Simpsons," will speak at his daughter's graduation at Westfield State College.
Scully reflects a gradual shift in recent years toward more student-friendly speakers. These speakers, often drawn from pop-culture circles (such as comedian Stephen Colbert speaking at Princeton's Class Day), may lack the distinction of Christopher Cox, head of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (Northeastern's speaker), or Nobel Peace Prize-winner Muhammad Yunus (MIT's). But graduates often see them as a refreshing change of pace from the traditional titans of industry, politics, and academia.
Yet even Harvard's choice of J.K. Rowling, author of the beloved "Harry Potter" series, drew scattered grumblings in light of previous heavy hitters such as
"I can't imagine a speaker who would please everyone," said Jack Reardon, Harvard's associate vice president for university relations.
Then there are speakers who arouse outright opposition.
Many students, faculty, and alumni have criticized Boston College Law School for selecting US Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey as its commencement speaker. Some said that Mukasey's stance on waterboarding, an interrogation technique that is widely considered a form of torture, conflicts with the school's principles.
For BC undergraduates, David McCullough, a historian and author, will headline commencement exercises. BC views McCullough as the prototype commencement speaker: a scholar with popular appeal and topical interest with the current HBO miniseries on John Adams based on McCullough's biography.
"The timing is perfect," said BC spokesman Jack Dunn, who said McCullough has no ties to the college but agreed to speak after enjoying a previous visit.
Timing also played a role at Brandeis University, which invited CNN political analyst and 1966 graduate William Schneider to lend his insights during an election year.
But officials at the Waltham college, which boasts a storied slate of graduation speakers that includes Eleanor Roosevelt and Walter Cronkite, said contemporary relevance must be matched with substance.
"If we're talking about the keynote speaker, we need someone with real gravitas," said Dennis Nealon, a Brandeis spokesman.
With that in mind, some colleges will counter its breezier speakers with some heavyweights, as if balancing a political ticket. Ben S. Bernanke, the Federal Reserve chairman, will speak at Harvard's Class Day, a student-focused, less-formal celebration that traditionally takes place the day before commencement.
Officials at several colleges said name recognition is only one factor in commencement speaker decisions. Yet celebrity and cachet never hurt, and that reality has created a cottage industry, where colleges dangle honorary degrees and sometimes hefty fees to lure A-list speakers.
Many colleges consciously choose speakers they believe will resonate with students. For instance, the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, a small public school in North Adams, reached out to Senator John F. Kerry because many graduates supported him as freshmen during his 2004 presidential campaign. And Suffolk University, where communications and journalism is the most popular major, invited famed journalist Carl Bernstein, who has written a recent biography of Hillary Clinton.
"You want the students to have a day to remember," said John Nucci, Suffolk's vice president of government and community affairs. And if the press shows up to cover his speech, he noted wryly, so much the better.
But at least some colleges are opting out of the commencement competition altogether. The University of Massachusetts at Amherst scuttled speeches after 2002 to move the ceremony along, to few complaints.
"We have 4,000 graduates, and just the processional into the stadium takes 25 minutes," said Gloria Fox, commencement director.
"Then you might have a speech last 40 minutes, when it's getting close to 85 degrees. Not to say it wasn't interesting, but that's a long time to sit and wait."
Fox, who describes graduation as "4,000 people celebrating. . . and 22,000 more wishing they could be," said she has received dozens of letters thanking the university for eliminating the address. Efficiency aside, the absence of a famous speaker helped put the spotlight squarely on the stars of the show, she said.
"We are congratulating our graduates," she said. "That's it."
Peter Schworm can be reached at schworm@globe.com. 