Commencement Speakers

[TC]

After a dry spell of who knows how many years and getting shown up by SFS for decades, The College hits a grand slam and locks down David Simon as commencement speaker :

www.georgetown.edu/news/commencement-2012-to-feature-wide-range-of-speakers.html

Couldn't be more jealous. Definitely not a 40 degree day!

[Jack]

David Simon is awesome, though I wonder how inspirational he will be - guy can be a bit of a downer. I still maintain that Dr. Paul Farmer was a pretty fantastic choice last year, though I never heard anything about the speech.

Meanwhile MSB gets an '04 grad who founded Living Social? Good for him, and maybe that is more impressive than I think it is, but he ain't exactly Mark Zuckerberg. Seems more like a choice for the Senior Convocation than for commencement itself.

There's something to be said, I think, for not having a speaker at Commencement. It is the exception IMO that a speaker really hits the nail on the head and, more often, the speaker seems like a stranger who inserts himself/herself in what is otherwise a Georgetown event.

And, given the impersonality, most speakers are probably overshadowed by the Convocation speaker whose connections to Georgetown are usually meaningful and can add value to graduates' Georgetown experience.

Anyway, my $.02.

[TC]

May 4, 2012 14:40:11 GMT -5 Jack said:

David Simon is awesome, though I wonder how inspirational he will be - guy can be a bit of a downer. I still maintain that Dr. Paul Farmer was a pretty fantastic choice last year, though I never heard anything about the speech.

I would say more "harshly real". I doubt it'll be a wear sunscreen-type advice speech, but I'm guessing it'll be something that keeps attention spans. Given that most of these speeches are pretty forgettable, I don't know that you can really go wrong there.

Meanwhile MSB gets an '04 grad who founded Living Social? Good for him, and maybe that is more impressive than I think it is, but he ain't exactly Mark Zuckerberg. Seems more like a choice for the Senior Convocation than for commencement itself.

I think you could easily make the argument the opposite way and say :

- recent grad who ended up founding a $10-20 billion dollar company that'll probably outlast Groupon is in itself an inspirational story for b-school graduates
- if you've ever seen Zuckerberg speak, 'nuff said

[Jack]

May 4, 2012 15:56:32 GMT -5 TC said:

Meanwhile MSB gets an '04 grad who founded Living Social? Good for him, and maybe that is more impressive than I think it is, but he ain't exactly Mark Zuckerberg. Seems more like a choice for the Senior Convocation than for commencement itself.

I think you could easily make the argument the opposite way and say :

- recent grad who ended up founding a $10-20 billion dollar company that'll probably outlast Groupon is in itself an inspirational story for b-school graduates
- if you've ever seen Zuckerberg speak, 'nuff said

I really don't want to denigrate a Georgetown alum who seems to be doing very well at a young age (and certainly better than me), I just don't know if we can say with any certainty yet whether your predictions for his company will come true. Certainly what I have read recently casts some doubt on those numbers, but I know next to nothing about the industry.

I can, however, agree that even if he never surpasses Zuckerberg in wealth or notoriety, he has ample opportunity to better him as a public speaker.

[jgalt]

Does it really matter if the company is a $1 Bil company or not? I'd argue that MSB grads could learn a lot from any alum who has started their own profitably company, even if its a small town diner or a plumbing company. More can be learned from the process of starting a company than what that company actually is.

And really does it matter what these speaks have to say? All people really remember is WHO spoke. The name is bigger than anything. And big names get press, interesting speakers don't.

[LizziebethHoya]

I'm already not looking forward to the 2013 GULC commencement speaker.

Although, I am counting down the days until the 2013 GULC commencement ;D

[CTHoya08]

May 4, 2012 20:10:35 GMT -5 jgalt said:

And really does it matter what these speaks have to say? All people really remember is WHO spoke. The name is bigger than anything. And big names get press, interesting speakers don't.

There is some truth to this.

My speaker was Wendy Kopp (founder of TFA). I wasn't particularly blown away by the speech--I remember it seeming a bit self-congratulatory (although certainly not as narcissistic as the speech we heard at convocation), although she did seem to be somewhat appreciative of the number of Georgetown graduates who go to work for TFA. But at least the speaker was the founder of an organization that has a fair bit of currency among my contemporaries, which I guess is kind of cool.

My brother's graduation speaker was Jeffrey Immelt (BC '10). I barely remember anything that he said, but thinking it was pretty cool that they got the CEO of GE (even if Immelt isn't exactly Jack Welch).

[rosslynhoya]

Surprisingly good picks were scored for Continuing Studies and Nursing as well. Even with a (potentially) down year for SFS, this looks like one of the strongest portfolios in a decade or more.

I'd also lend my support for Georgetown landing interesting speakers with career growth potential over speakers with flashy names that will not long be remembered. The LivingSocial founder may prove to be a much better candidate than the Deloitte CEO in the long run.

[HoyaSinceBirth]

I don't even remember who spoke at my college graduation or 09' much less what they said.

[RusskyHoya]

May 4, 2012 21:50:23 GMT -5 CTHoya08 said:

May 4, 2012 20:10:35 GMT -5 jgalt said:

And really does it matter what these speaks have to say? All people really remember is WHO spoke. The name is bigger than anything. And big names get press, interesting speakers don't.

There is some truth to this.

My speaker was Wendy Kopp (founder of TFA). I wasn't particularly blown away by the speech--I remember it seeming a bit self-congratulatory (although certainly not as narcissistic as the speech we heard at convocation), although she did seem to be somewhat appreciative of the number of Georgetown graduates who go to work for TFA. But at least the speaker was the founder of an organization that has a fair bit of currency among my contemporaries, which I guess is kind of cool.

My brother's graduation speaker was Jeffrey Immelt (BC '10). I barely remember anything that he said, but thinking it was pretty cool that they got the CEO of GE (even if Immelt isn't exactly Jack Welch).

I thought Kopp was fine, although apparently a lot of people (including my fiancee) found it to be preachy and thought it boiled down to "those of you doing TFA rule, the rest of you suck."

I actually liked that convocation speaker, Ana Botin. It was very much a "you go girl!" kind of speech, but I think it was sufficiently inspirational and fit the setting. I prefer the convocation speaker being a relatively young alum, though - the '09 guy was great (and was also planning on TFA - after he got out of the Army and finished Harvard grad school, that is. Man do we love us some TFA).

[hoyatables]

2000. Pouring rain. Chemistry professor from Cornell who went on about chemistry and poetry in a thick accent while we all got soaked. Don't complain. It could be worse.

[PhillyHoya]

Mine (2006) was lovely. 9AM so not too hot, sunny and the head of the Council on Foreign Relations.

2004's SFS graduation was brutal though. It was about 95 and 10000% humidity. Loved Christiane Amanpour though.

[thebin]

Sorry Hoyatables....Nobody will ever do worse that we did...we had the cardinal of Havana who spoke entirely in Spanish. About what I have no idea. And it was about 120 degrees. And I don't have to tell you about the general level of hydration among the soon-to-be grads.

I remember the 2000 ceremony- is that the one that got cut short because of rain so they skipped the 2 hours worth of name-calling? I'll take a rain-shortened quickie in English over 3 hours of hot and humid in a foreign language any day.

[nychoya3]

David Simon is a great speaker, but could we trade up and get Felecia Pearson to do it instead?

[Problem of Dog]

TFA is such a scam.

[vcjack]

Dikembe at the 2010 COL will always be a great boasting piece for me

[hoya4ever]

Didn't see this above: www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/under-god/post/conservative-catholics-call-georgetowns-sebelius-speaker-invite-a-direct-challenge-to-bishops/2012/05/07/gIQA7qxY8T_blog.html?hpid=z4

[CWS]

In case it's of interest, here's some information sent to me about the Sebelius invitation:


Secretary Sebelius is speaking at Georgetown Public Policy Institute’s (GPPI) annual student and faculty awards event. Georgetown does not have one main commencement speaker and Sec. Sebelius will not be a commencement speaker. In fact, we have 10 official commencement ceremonies to award degrees for the different schools within the university, and 18 other awards ceremonies to honor student and faculty achievements.

The GPPI ceremony is one event during commencement weekend, but it is not a commencement ceremony.

As an academic community, Georgetown regularly hosts a variety of high profile speakers. An invitation to campus does not mean that the university agrees with the views of our guests, and their visits are not an endorsement by the university of their positions.

Sec. Sebelius was chosen by our GPPI students to bring a message of congratulations at their annual awards event as they begin their careers in public service and public policy. This is an opportunity to honor the accomplishments of our students and faculty.


----------------

Q&A on Secretary Sebelius visit to Georgetown’s GPPI Awards Ceremony

Why is Kathleen Sebelius speaking at Georgetown’s Commencement?

Secretary Sebelius is not speaking at Georgetown’s commencement. She is speaking to our public policy institute students at their annual student and faculty awards event.


Georgetown has 9 official commencement ceremonies in Washington to award degrees for the different schools within the university, and one at our campus in Doha, Qatar.

In addition, GU holds 18 awards ceremonies to honor student and faculty achievements.

In total, Georgetown has 28 ceremonies to honor the achievements of our graduates and our faculty.

The GPPI ceremony is one of these events during commencement weekend. Georgetown does not have one main commencement speaker or one main event.


Is Secretary Sebelius receiving an honorary degree?

Georgetown will award nine honorary degrees this year at the official commencement ceremonies.

Secretary Sebelius will not receive an honorary degree.


How are commencement-related event speakers chosen?

Each program and school is responsible for obtaining its own speaker. The process for doing this varies across schools.

The Georgetown Public Policy Institute is a program within the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.

In the fall, graduating students in GPPI were surveyed about who they would like to invite to their annual student and faculty awards ceremony.

As a cabinet secretary Kathleen Sebelius was among the top public officials these students put forward. She accepted the invitation to address these public policy graduates.


Who else speaks and attends these ceremonies?

Secretary Sebelius is not the only speaker at this event. Deans, faculty members and students all speak at the awards ceremonies.

GPPI will present end-of-the-year awards, several students speak, the Dean will speak, and GPPI will give awards to a faculty member and an alum.

President DeGioia does not attend the individual student award ceremonies as his schedule is full attending the nine commencement ceremonies and the senior convocation.


What is tropaia?

Tropaia essentially means Trophy and the Tropaia Ceremony is the event at which individual schools distribute awards and honor students and faculty.

The word Tropaia is ancient Greek and referred to a monument constructed to celebrate a military victory.

[CTHoya08]

How does the rotation of timeslots work? My College graduation in 2008 was the 12pm, but my sister's this year, four years later, is 9am. Shouldn't it be rotated back to noon? Is there some kind of "COL can't be at 6pm" rule or something?