Nancy Pelosi to be Convocation speaker

[KeithK]

Hillary Clinton in 1993 (1992? 1994? I don't remember now; I was at convocation three years in a row) pretty much gave a stump speech, and that was depressing, but before I heard her I thought it was a good choice.

Was Hillary Clinton ever the convocation speaker?  I remember her coming to campus during the 1993-1994 academic year (probably fall '93) to talk about health care reform so in a sense that was a stump speech.  The line for free tickets at the Straight went most of the way down the Slope.

I found this list of convocation speakers covering 1984 to 2004: http://ezra.cornell.edu/posting.php?timestamp=1105419600
It doesn't mention Hillary Clinton but then it is Dear Uncle Ezra so it might not be correct.

That sounds sort of familiar to me. Certainly it makes sense for her to give a stump speech if she was invited to give a political speech. Totally different forum.

[ugarte]

Hillary Clinton in 1993 (1992? 1994? I don't remember now; I was at convocation three years in a row) pretty much gave a stump speech, and that was depressing, but before I heard her I thought it was a good choice.

Was Hillary Clinton ever the convocation speaker?  I remember her coming to campus during the 1993-1994 academic year (probably fall '93) to talk about health care reform so in a sense that was a stump speech.  The line for free tickets at the Straight went most of the way down the Slope.

I found this list of convocation speakers covering 1984 to 2004: http://ezra.cornell.edu/posting.php?timestamp=1105419600
It doesn't mention Hillary Clinton but then it is Dear Uncle Ezra so it might not be correct.

I am an old, old man and my memory is shot. It was Geraldine Ferraro in 1992, when she was running for Senate. And yet her stump speech wasn't nearly as bad as Matt Ruff reading an extended passage from his second novel in 1993.

[judy]

Hillary Clinton in 1993 (1992? 1994? I don't remember now; I was at convocation three years in a row) pretty much gave a stump speech, and that was depressing, but before I heard her I thought it was a good choice.

Was Hillary Clinton ever the convocation speaker?  I remember her coming to campus during the 1993-1994 academic year (probably fall '93) to talk about health care reform so in a sense that was a stump speech.  The line for free tickets at the Straight went most of the way down the Slope.

I found this list of convocation speakers covering 1984 to 2004: http://ezra.cornell.edu/posting.php?timestamp=1105419600
It doesn't mention Hillary Clinton but then it is Dear Uncle Ezra so it might not be correct.

Hillary was here when she was campaigning for Senate. She was over on the Ag Quad with Chelsea and Ben Affleck. I'd say this was around 2000.

[Chris '03]

Hillary Clinton in 1993 (1992? 1994? I don't remember now; I was at convocation three years in a row) pretty much gave a stump speech, and that was depressing, but before I heard her I thought it was a good choice.

Was Hillary Clinton ever the convocation speaker?  I remember her coming to campus during the 1993-1994 academic year (probably fall '93) to talk about health care reform so in a sense that was a stump speech.  The line for free tickets at the Straight went most of the way down the Slope.

I found this list of convocation speakers covering 1984 to 2004: http://ezra.cornell.edu/posting.php?timestamp=1105419600
It doesn't mention Hillary Clinton but then it is Dear Uncle Ezra so it might not be correct.

Hillary was here when she was campaigning for Senate. She was over on the Ag Quad with Chelsea and Ben Affleck. I'd say this was around 2000.

I think she was on campus twice in a short period. Once in spring '00 during hockey playoffs and again in the fall of '00.

[judy]

It's a bad choice, not because Pelosi is a bad choice (she's not) but because any politician is a bad choice.  It adds a political tinge to what should be a unifying, forward-looking event, and politics, as this thread demonstrates, reduces otherwise intelligent people to crying 4-year olds.

Go with a scientist, a doctor, a philosopher, a humanitarian.  Leave politics out of it.

Thank you.

I have to sit through graduation this year with people who enjoy watching Fox News. Even if Pelosi doesn't say anything political and limits her words to "Congratulations Class of 2010", I am willing to bet that the "parents", especially "mom" will be bitching about the evilness of Nancy Pelosi and the Dems. I really hope that I'm wrong but you can bet I'm already trying to figure out how to bring booze into graduation.

[French Rage]

Hillary Clinton in 1993 (1992? 1994? I don't remember now; I was at convocation three years in a row) pretty much gave a stump speech, and that was depressing, but before I heard her I thought it was a good choice.

Was Hillary Clinton ever the convocation speaker?  I remember her coming to campus during the 1993-1994 academic year (probably fall '93) to talk about health care reform so in a sense that was a stump speech.  The line for free tickets at the Straight went most of the way down the Slope.

I found this list of convocation speakers covering 1984 to 2004: http://ezra.cornell.edu/posting.php?timestamp=1105419600
It doesn't mention Hillary Clinton but then it is Dear Uncle Ezra so it might not be correct.

Hillary was here when she was campaigning for Senate. She was over on the Ag Quad with Chelsea and Ben Affleck. I'd say this was around 2000.

Hey hey, don't forget Nine Days playing their hit song "Absolutely (Story of a Girl".

[Willy '06]

Regardless, the great thing about Cornell's convocation setup is that you don't have to attend if you don't want to. Nancy Pelosi shows up and gives a stump speech encouraging graduates to spend their lives pursuing progressive causes? Don't show up. It's not like other schools where the comparable speech is given during the actuAl graduation ceremony where everyone is a captive audience.

Tell that to the kid whose parents just paid $200k for that degree. I think that in many ways Convocation and Graduation are for the parents. They're going come hell or high water, and they're going to be pissed off if their politics don't align with the speaker's. It's supposed to be a happy moment, so trotting someone out there who is going to piss off a large portion of the audience isn't a good idea. It's going to sour the day for a lot of people, and it's probably going to have a negative effect on the attendees' future giving.

There's a reason that Cornell often ends up with political figures giving convocation speeches. The University doesn't pay speakers, nor do they give out honorary doctorates to the speakers. Politicians don't have a problem with this for obvious reasons. I'm not sure that Cornell should change its policy on this, but there has to be a way to attract a higher caliber of non-political figures as speakers.

[Robb]

Hillary Clinton in 1993 (1992? 1994? I don't remember now; I was at convocation three years in a row) pretty much gave a stump speech, and that was depressing, but before I heard her I thought it was a good choice.

Was Hillary Clinton ever the convocation speaker?  I remember her coming to campus during the 1993-1994 academic year (probably fall '93) to talk about health care reform so in a sense that was a stump speech.  The line for free tickets at the Straight went most of the way down the Slope.

I found this list of convocation speakers covering 1984 to 2004: http://ezra.cornell.edu/posting.php?timestamp=1105419600
It doesn't mention Hillary Clinton but then it is Dear Uncle Ezra so it might not be correct.

I am an old, old man and my memory is shot. It was Geraldine Ferraro in 1992, when she was running for Senate. And yet her stump speech wasn't nearly as bad as Matt Ruff reading an extended passage from his second novel in 1993.

Hillary definitely came to campus while I was a student (90-94) as a special event - I'm pretty sure she spoke in Barton.  It had to be after 92, because she was the first lady at the time and working on health care reform.

I wonder what she makes of the current health care reform mess?

[billhoward]

This is an old joke, but ROTC people know that "high-caliber" speaker is a synonym for big bore. Where's the rimshot emoticon when you need one?

[judy]

Hillary Clinton in 1993 (1992? 1994? I don't remember now; I was at convocation three years in a row) pretty much gave a stump speech, and that was depressing, but before I heard her I thought it was a good choice.

Was Hillary Clinton ever the convocation speaker?  I remember her coming to campus during the 1993-1994 academic year (probably fall '93) to talk about health care reform so in a sense that was a stump speech.  The line for free tickets at the Straight went most of the way down the Slope.

I found this list of convocation speakers covering 1984 to 2004: http://ezra.cornell.edu/posting.php?timestamp=1105419600
It doesn't mention Hillary Clinton but then it is Dear Uncle Ezra so it might not be correct.

Hillary was here when she was campaigning for Senate. She was over on the Ag Quad with Chelsea and Ben Affleck. I'd say this was around 2000.

Hey hey, don't forget Nine Days playing their hit song "Absolutely (Story of a Girl".

That's what that band was called!

[RichH]

I think Greg has it right. Convocation/graduation speeches should be about celebrating the graduates, sharing a little bit of life experience while being pleasant and somewhat entertaining.

That reminded me that in light of the events this month, I wanted to dig this up and read it again:

http://www.february-7.com/features/conan.htm

Also, DID KYLE AND GREG JUST AGREE ON SOMETHING IN A POLITICAL THREAD??!1!  ::panic:: ::thud::

[ugarte]

Hillary Clinton in 1993 (1992? 1994? I don't remember now; I was at convocation three years in a row) pretty much gave a stump speech, and that was depressing, but before I heard her I thought it was a good choice.

Was Hillary Clinton ever the convocation speaker?  I remember her coming to campus during the 1993-1994 academic year (probably fall '93) to talk about health care reform so in a sense that was a stump speech.  The line for free tickets at the Straight went most of the way down the Slope.

I found this list of convocation speakers covering 1984 to 2004: http://ezra.cornell.edu/posting.php?timestamp=1105419600
It doesn't mention Hillary Clinton but then it is Dear Uncle Ezra so it might not be correct.

I am an old, old man and my memory is shot. It was Geraldine Ferraro in 1992, when she was running for Senate. And yet her stump speech wasn't nearly as bad as Matt Ruff reading an extended passage from his second novel in 1993.

Hillary definitely came to campus while I was a student (90-94) as a special event - I'm pretty sure she spoke in Barton.  It had to be after 92, because she was the first lady at the time and working on health care reform.

I didn't mean to imply that Clinton never came to Cornell and I'm pretty sure that Greg didn't mean to suggest that politicians shouldn't be invited to speak on campus at all, just to graduation events. The only reason Clinton came up at all is because I forgot who my convocation speaker was.

[RichH]

Hillary Clinton in 1993 (1992? 1994? I don't remember now; I was at convocation three years in a row) pretty much gave a stump speech, and that was depressing, but before I heard her I thought it was a good choice.

Was Hillary Clinton ever the convocation speaker?  I remember her coming to campus during the 1993-1994 academic year (probably fall '93) to talk about health care reform so in a sense that was a stump speech.  The line for free tickets at the Straight went most of the way down the Slope.

I found this list of convocation speakers covering 1984 to 2004: http://ezra.cornell.edu/posting.php?timestamp=1105419600
It doesn't mention Hillary Clinton but then it is Dear Uncle Ezra so it might not be correct.

I am an old, old man and my memory is shot. It was Geraldine Ferraro in 1992, when she was running for Senate. And yet her stump speech wasn't nearly as bad as Matt Ruff reading an extended passage from his second novel in 1993.

Hillary definitely came to campus while I was a student (90-94) as a special event - I'm pretty sure she spoke in Barton.  It had to be after 92, because she was the first lady at the time and working on health care reform.

I didn't mean to imply that Clinton never came to Cornell and I'm pretty sure that Greg didn't mean to suggest that politicians shouldn't be invited to speak on campus at all, just to graduation events. The only reason Clinton came up at all is because I forgot who my convocation speaker was.

Mine was RFK Jr. and I don't remember a single word from it.

[French Rage]

I think Greg has it right. Convocation/graduation speeches should be about celebrating the graduates, sharing a little bit of life experience while being pleasant and somewhat entertaining.

That reminded me that in light of the events this month, I wanted to dig this up and read it again:

http://www.february-7.com/features/conan.htm

That was possibly one of the awesomest things I have ever read.

[Jacob 03]

Go with a scientist, a doctor, a philosopher, a humanitarian.  Leave politics out of it.

I understand this inclination, but what makes you think that the people who are stirred up by the mere presence of Nancy Pelosi won't find something to bitch about when confronted by some of the most prominent humanitarians out there?  

With few exceptions, most people given the microphone at something like this will want to talk about Something Important. A Weighty Topic.  Such subjects intersect with politics quite a bit.  When Ben and Jerry spoke at IC's graduation, people found political reasons to complain.  

Maybe a quick-and-dirty rule that nobody who's currently serving in or running for political office should be invited for convocation would be good.  But short of instructing every speaker to stay far away from anything heavy while speaking, this seems futile.