In an effort to attract the cream of the crop of commencement speakers, the University’s leadership is starting early.
Chancellor Holden Thorp’s commencement speaker advisory committee for the spring 2012 comment ceremony met Thursday to begin discussing who will deliver next year’s commencement address — six months earlier than usual.
“We’re trying to get some more time and get speakers lined up in advance,” said Dr. Ron Strauss, executive associate provost and chairman of the committee.
“In the past we’ve called speakers and had them tell us, ‘If you called half a year earlier, I wouldn’t be booked up.’”
The decision to begin the speaker search sooner resulted from the choice of environmentalist and Harvard University professor E.O. Wilson as the speaker this year. Though pleased to have a speaker of Wilson’s quality, Strauss said in January that he was not the committee’s first choice and attributed the University’s failure to get its first choice to its late start.
Committee members said Thursday that by convening in the spring, the group has been able to invite more student leaders to take part in the search.
Hogan Medlin, the student body president, along with his vice president, senior class officers and the Graduate and Professional Student Federation president have all been included in the process, though some will be graduating in May.
Newly elected campus leaders, including Student Body President-elect Mary Cooper and senior class presidents-elect Dean Drescher and Mohammad Saad, also attended the meeting.
“The more students you can get in the room, the better,” said Holly Boardman, student body vice president. “I think it’s a fun committee to be on.”
