Candidates Discuss Speaker Selection

Senior Class President Ben Singer said his role in the Commencement selection process was to bring suggestions about different speakers for the selection committee to consider. This year's speaker will be Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C.

"For some reason, everyone thinks the senior class president has all the say in it, but that's not how it's done," Singer said. "Eight people are equally as important -- and the chancellor is above all of us. The official invitation is from him."

Singer said that unless there is a system in which students, faculty and the chancellor can work together, the senior class president will encounter problems. But he said next year's selection process will start as soon as the candidate is elected, a legacy he is glad to have left behind.

Write-in candidate James Collins said he is glad the selection process will start earlier this year. "Our goal was that as soon as we were elected, we are going to put up a survey and hear ideas," he said.

Collins also said he will check monthly with the selected speaker to ensure there are no problems. "We won't assume they'll come. We'll make sure they come."

Candidate Tinu Akintola said she plans to be a liaison between the senior class and administrators to facilitate communication within the committee process.

"Our job begins the morning after we're officially sworn in, not when we come back for the fall," she said.

Akintola said she also wants to establish sophomore and junior class officers and councils so future classes can start early.

Candidate Chessa Huff said she plans to act as the voice of the senior class by relaying input from seniors to everyone else involved in the selection process.

Huff said she already surveyed about 400 seniors, which she said gave her a feel for what kind of speaker seniors want. "We'll start working early in the game to represent all the seniors," she said.

Candidate Paymon Rouhanifard said communicating effectively with the senior class is integral to the selection process.

"We'll definitely take into account every different suggestion we get," he said.

Rouhanifard said he plans to update the senior class regularly about the progress of the selection process, which he said would start the day he is inaugurated.

Candidate Dana Leventhal said she plans to get input from seniors and to use this information to make suggestions to the administration.

"I would make sure that we have someone in contact with (Chancellor James Moeser) and the student body president so that we're all acting as a team," Leventhal said. "The senior class, student body and chancellor should act together and collaborate before making a final decision."

The University Editor can be reached at udesk@unc.edu.