Commencement Speakers

[setshot]

A list of college commencement speakers for this year includes:
Tony Blair - Colby
Tom Brokaw - ASU
FLOTUS -OSU,VPI,NCA&T
POTUS - Bernard
Brian Williams - GWU
Melissa Harris-Perry - Wellesley
Michael Bloomberg - UNC

How about Valpo? Anyone know?

[vu72]

No announcement yet but, according to the website, you can watch it live to find out!

Here is a partial list of some former speakers:

Myles Brand
Lee Iacocca
Doris Christopher
Randall Shepherd, Chief Justice of the Indiana Supreme Court
Richard Lugar
Linda Chavez
Alan Page
William Rehnquist
Edwin Meese

Some pretty impressive names.  I'm sure the graduates will be impressed! 

[valporun]

The class of 2004 heard from Valpo alum and NPR correspondent, Jacki Lyden at Spring Commencement. She's currently the foreign correspondent for the Middle East, and an alternate host of All Things Considered Weekend Edition, and a substitute host of other shows as needed. Maybe not as big as some of the names given by vu72, but a Valpo grad doing some big work is always a good thing.

[agibson]

This isn't normally a surprise, is it?

I see the Law School has their speaker up.
http://www.valpo.edu/law/current-students/commencement/speaker
"Roberta Lang serves as General Counsel and Global Vice President of Legal Affairs for Whole Foods Market, Inc., a Fortune 500 company and the world's largest retailer of natural and organic foods. "

The University has the schedule up at
http://www.valpo.edu/commencement/schedule.php
but the speaker info is from December
http://www.valpo.edu/commencement/commencementspeaker.php

Bishop Younan - who was a great choice and did a fine job.

"The Rt. Rev. Dr. Munib Younan, bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land and president of the Lutheran World Federation, "

[vuweathernerd]

not normally, agibson, no. that said, i graduated 2010 and couldn't tell you who our speaker was. but one of the foreign students charged the podium as his girlfriend's name was called, and asked her to marry him. that's about the only memorable moment of my commencement.

[StlVUFan]

This isn't normally a surprise, is it?

I see the Law School has their speaker up.
http://www.valpo.edu/law/current-students/commencement/speaker
"Roberta Lang serves as General Counsel and Global Vice President of Legal Affairs for Whole Foods Market, Inc., a Fortune 500 company and the world's largest retailer of natural and organic foods. "

The University has the schedule up at
http://www.valpo.edu/commencement/schedule.php
but the speaker info is from December
http://www.valpo.edu/commencement/commencementspeaker.php

Bishop Younan - who was a great choice and did a fine job.

"The Rt. Rev. Dr. Munib Younan, bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land and president of the Lutheran World Federation, "

Indeed, a great choice on that last one.  I met him once.

[agibson]

His visit in December was the first I learned about his connection with VU (his son graduated in 2005, etc.).

[bbtds]

"The Rt. Rev. Dr. Munib Younan, bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land and president of the Lutheran World Federation, "

Rev. Younan was just recently interviewed for a piece that 60 Minutes did on the city of Bethlehem and how the number of Christians is shrinking in the Holy Land due to getting caught up in the struggle between the Israelis and the Palestinians. Rev Younan was not very favorable to the Israeli government who actually tried to stop the story before it aired. The Israeli ambassador wrote to the president of CBS asking that the story be stopped. The Israeli government likes to paint themselves as good to Christians which helps them win the hearts of the general US population. In general American Jews are not fully dedicated to the idea of Israel being the place where Jews should come together. Otherwise they would have already moved to Israel.

[valpopal]

"The Rt. Rev. Dr. Munib Younan, bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land and president of the Lutheran World Federation, "

Rev. Younan was just recently interviewed for a piece that 60 Minutes did on the city of Bethlehem and how the number of Christians is shrinking in the Holy Land due to getting caught up in the struggle between the Israelis and the Palestinians. Rev Younan was not very favorable to the Israeli government who actually tried to stop the story before it aired. The Israeli ambassador wrote to the president of CBS asking that the story be stopped. The Israeli government likes to paint themselves as good to Christians which helps them win the hearts of the general US population. In general American Jews are not fully dedicated to the idea of Israel being the place where Jews should come together. Otherwise they would have already moved to Israel.

Just an aside: The CBS 60 Minutes piece was a hatchet job attempting to promote a split between Israel and Christians. Bob Simon's report was dishonest and one-sided, typical of 60 Minutes, whose advocacy "journalism" cannot be trusted and seems to be consistently anti-Israel. I am disappointed in Rev. Younan's position. As one critic of the show said: "Because American Christians, especially evangelicals, are among Israel's most strategically important friends, undermining Christian sympathy for Israel has become a major theme for anti-Israel activism."

Now, back to the topic of the thread: Who will be this year's commencement speaker?

[valpotx]

not normally, agibson, no. that said, i graduated 2010 and couldn't tell you who our speaker was. but one of the foreign students charged the podium as his girlfriend's name was called, and asked her to marry him. that's about the only memorable moment of my commencement.

Sorry to hear that someone took a group event to make it into their own.  To me, that is kind of like asking someone to marry you at another person's wedding reception (which also happens)

[vuweathernerd]

not normally, agibson, no. that said, i graduated 2010 and couldn't tell you who our speaker was. but one of the foreign students charged the podium as his girlfriend's name was called, and asked her to marry him. that's about the only memorable moment of my commencement.

Sorry to hear that someone took a group event to make it into their own.  To me, that is kind of like asking someone to marry you at another person's wedding reception (which also happens)

didn't bother me - i still got my diploma. and most of the people i know that were there weren't bothered by it either. but i get your point. as for proposing at a wedding reception, that's crossing the line, in my book.

[setshot]

A Shepard will adress the flock of Valpo graduates. And now we know.

[agibson]

Was there an announcement?  I don't quickly see anything...

The first A. Shepard to come to mind is deceased.

Is this the IN supreme court justice Shepard?

[valpo04]

Was there an announcement?  I don't quickly see anything...

The first A. Shepard to come to mind is deceased.

Is this the IN supreme court justice Shepard?

http://www.valpo.edu/news/news.php?releaseId=4744

Randall T. Shepard, former chief justice of the Indiana Supreme Court, will be the speaker at Valparaiso University's May 20 ceremonies honoring graduates.

Shepard became chief justice at the age of 40 in 1987, becoming the youngest chief justice in the nation at that time. He retired from the Indiana Supreme Court in March after 27 total years of service. In April 2012, he was named a distinguished senior judge on the Court of Appeals of Indiana.

Shepard, who will receive an honorary degree from Valparaiso University Law School at the law school's graduation on May 19, is a seventh-generation Hoosier who was born in Lafayette. He has an undergraduate degree from Princeton University, a law degree from Yale Law School, and a master of laws degree from the University of Virginia Law School.

[Ralph]

This isn't normally a surprise, is it? I see the Law School has their speaker up. http://www.valpo.edu/law/current-students/commencement/speaker "Roberta Lang serves as General Counsel and Global Vice President of Legal Affairs for Whole Foods Market, Inc., a Fortune 500 company and the world's largest retailer of natural and organic foods. "

Maybe VU can get the President and CEO of a PTC, as opposed to just a general counsel.

[johnny_fetla]

RECENT RUMORS HEARD AROUND CAMPUS ABOUT COMMENCEMENT SPEAKERS INCLUDE A DISCREET BATTLE BY ADMINISTRATION BETWEEN EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE NEVADA ATHLETIC COMMISSION KEITH KIZER AND CEO OF GLOBAL WATER TECHNOLOGIES ("GWTR"TICKER SYMBOL FOR THOSE WHO INVEST) ERIK HROMADKA.  BOTH SIGMA TAU GAMMA GRADUATES AND HIGHLY SUCCESSFUL INDIVIDUALS, THE UNIVERSITY WILL HAVE A TOUGH TIME MAKING THE DECISION.  MY PERSONAL CHOICE WOUD BE MICHAEL D MILLER WHO IS AN ELECTRICAL ENGINEER AND WORLD FAMOUS PHILANTHROPIST  HE HOLDS A PATENT IN ELECTRICAL NANOTECHNOLOGY WHICH WAS RECENTLY SOLD FOR MILLIONS TO A FORTUNE 500 COMPANY.  HE ALSO IS A GREAT MIXER FOR HIP HOP, REGGAE AND COUNTRY MUSIC.

[setshot]

Hell, Bill Maher has indicated that he has yet to be invited to be a commencement speaker. Why not? Heck, he gave a million dollars to the Obama campaign so perhaps he'd do the same for old VU. GOFORIT!