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September 3, 2004 > News > Commencement search begins

Commencement search begins

By Ruth Samuelson | Thresher staff

The school year has just begun, but one group has already started to decide how it will end.

The search committee for this year’s commencement speaker was convened in the last two weeks and met for the first time Aug. 19. The process of finding a commencement speaker started later than usual this year because of President David Leebron’s arrival July 1, Assistant to the President Mark Scheid (Baker ‘67) said. Usually the committee is formed during the previous spring.

Scheid, who is chairing the committee, said the group includes three undergraduates, three graduate students completing their programs next semester, Adviser to the President Maryana Iskander (Wiess ‘97) and Sid Richardson College Master Steve Cox. The undergraduate students, chosen by Student Association President Derrick Matthews, are Sid Richardson senior Justin Garcia, Will Rice College senior Manu Gupta and Jones College senior Rachel Wyatt.

Rather than immediately compiling a list of public figures to invite, the group will explore all options, Scheid said. He said the group may consider inviting a speaker from outside Rice, choosing a member of the Rice faculty, asking a student to speak or eliminating the speech altogether. Rice has had a commencement speaker from outside the Rice community since 1991.

“It is going to be open to the students. … One suggestion that has come up from time to time is to have the faculty member who gave the faculty address to the matriculating students as freshmen [during their Orientation Week], to come back and speak when they’re graduating,” Scheid said.

If the committee decides to invite outside speakers, it will solicit suggestions from students, Scheid said. In the past, committees have sent listserv messages asking for input, but this year the group may create a Web site to gather more feedback, Garcia said.

Comedian Conan O’Brien, author Thomas Pynchon and 1978 Nobel laureate in physics Robert Woodrow Wilson (Sid ‘57) are three candidates who might be considered for the list, Wyatt and Garcia said.

“I’m eager to illustrate to great men and women the worth of our graduating class,” Garcia said.

In the past, the Office of the President has tried to secure a speaker before the beginning of the academic year, though often unsuccessfully. Last year’s speaker, White House General Counsel Alberto Gonzalez (Lovett ‘79), was named the previous December. The 2003 speaker, astronaut Shannon Lucid, was announced the previous November.

The committee usually begins by compiling two lists of 10 high-profile figures proposed by students. The lists are presented to the president, who reviews them and tells the committee whom to contact.

Scheid said invitees often refuse offers because they want a higher fee than Rice offers or because graduations are a difficult event at which to speak.

“You want people to come listen to you for an hour,” Scheid said. “You don’t want to take 11 minutes one Saturday morning when you aren’t even the main reason people are there.”

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