The Coolest Commencement Speakers of 2010

March 8, 2010 5:00 pm     Posted in Cool Stuff, Entertainment  Jessica- Delaware g+ page


By Jessica

If I can speak for most undergrads, we dread graduation day more than the apocalypse itself. It means leaving college and entering the real world, where it won’t be acceptable to beer bong in broad daylight on the roof of a frat house or blow off all your responsibilities to watch an entire season of the Office in bed.

Although the whole “graduating” thing sucks in theory, there’s always a lot of excitement surrounding the commencement speaker (or controversy, if you remember the whole Obama at Notre Dame debacle…). A good speaker can trick you into thinking this isn’t the worst day of your life inspire you to look ahead to the future and all the possibilities that lay ahead (if they’re a huge success, why can’t you be!?). And a bad speaker will allow you a good 45-minute power nap.

So who will be inspired come graduation day and who will be snoozing in their caps and gowns? Here is a list of some serious commencement speaker heavy hitters and the lucky seniors who get to listen to ‘em:

1. University of Michigan – BARACK OBAMA!
Imagine how proud you’d be of your college experience when the freakin’ PRESIDENT of the United States comes to speak at your graduation ceremony!? Everyone knows the man’s got charisma and can work a crowd, and the class of 2010 will definitely remember this for the rest of their lives!

2. NYU – Alec Baldwin
Three words: hot. older. man. Everyone and their mother (literally) will be drooling over him, and if they can pay attention to what he has to say at the same time, I’m sure it will be both hilarious (hello, did you not see him on the Oscars last night) and inspirational. This funny guy is the perfect choice for a commencement speaker. I knew I shoulda gone to NYU…

3. Vassar College – Lisa Kudrow
Could you get a cooler commencement speaker than Phoebe from Friends? I think not. The Emmy winner actually graduated from Vassar in 1985 with a Biology degree and will return to deliver the 2010 commencement address. I’m sure she’ll be delivering inspirational advice in between cracking jokes, and will have the audience doubled over in laughter. I just hope she whips out a guitar and performs a little “Smelly Cat.”

4. Tulane University – Anderson Cooper
Is it me, or does Tulane have all the luck? First Ellen, now Anderson Cooper!? Cooper is one of the most intelligent and fascinating (not to mention strikingly handsome – hellooo, silver fox) people on the news. He actually makes me want to watch it. And his presence at Tulane will certainly hit close to home for a lot of students due to his emotional coverage of the Hurricane Katrina disaster in New Orleans. I don’t know about you, but this is definitely the man I’d want sending me out into the real world.

5. Harvard – David Souter
For those law geeks out there like me, this is pretty damn cool. Souter served 9 years as a Supreme Court Justice, meaning he had a hand in creating and interpreting laws and precedents that will hold for years to come. I imagine those Harvard students will be both educated and fascinated by what this powerful man has to say.

6. Worcester Polytechnic Institute – Curt Schilling
As the only man to ever pitch World Series games across three decades (his 20′s, 30′s and 40′s) I’d say he’s pretty impressive. He lead the Phillies to the World Series in ’03 and won the World Series with the Diamondbacks in 2001 and the Boston Red Sox in 2004 and 2007. But beyond those insane accomplishments, Schilling is just a great role model, using his fame to help multiple charities, as well as his own cause, Curt’s Pitch for ALS. Even though I admittedly hate the Phillies and the Red Sox, Schilling is someone I’d love to listen to come graduation day.

What about you, seniors? Is anyone great coming to speak at your ceremony?

39 Comments on "The Coolest Commencement Speakers of 2010"

  1. bc2010 says:
    Mon, 8th Mar 201012:36 pm 

    Barnard's got Meryl Streep!

  2. gwu2010 says:
    Mon, 8th Mar 20101:02 pm 

    GW's got Michelle Obama :)

  3. Lauren - University says:
    Mon, 8th Mar 20101:29 pm 

    OMG meryl streep? Amazing!

  4. Yalie12 says:
    Mon, 8th Mar 20103:31 pm 

    yale's got bill clinton :)

  5. Chris says:
    Mon, 8th Mar 20105:05 pm 

    Emory has Arnold Schwarzenegger!!

  6. Emily says:
    Mon, 8th Mar 20105:40 pm 

    umich already had bill clinton 3 years ago

  7. Carrie says:
    Mon, 8th Mar 20105:47 pm 

    Yeah, woo Barnard Meryl Streep! Soo excited

  8. Toni says:
    Mon, 8th Mar 20106:51 pm 

    Loyola University New Orleans got Drew Brees! WHO DAT! but what the hell is he gonna tell us?

  9. Allison says:
    Mon, 8th Mar 20107:18 pm 

    I have friends who go to Michigan and are actually not to happy with the choice of commencement speaker. Honestly, it's cool and all to have the president come speak at your graduation, but its going to be a complete political speech and not much inspiration.

  10. Annie says:
    Tue, 9th Mar 20109:50 am 

    I have to agree with Allison – I was at the Notre Dame commencement where Obama spoke last year, and the media turned the entire thing into this huge political controversy. I felt that while his speech was very good, he put too much focus on the political issues that had been discussed in regard to his coming to ND, and not enough on the graduates and their four years of hard work at a very highly ranked institution.

  11. Sarah says:
    Sat, 13th Mar 20106:59 pm 

    Northwestern has Christiane Amanpour!

  12. sasha says:
    Sat, 13th Mar 20108:13 pm 

    Duke had Oprah for commencement last year. Her godson was actually graduating in that class.

  13. Caroline says:
    Sat, 13th Mar 20109:37 pm 

    Smith 2010 has Rachel Maddow.

  14. Ali says:
    Sun, 14th Mar 20106:10 pm 

    Case Western Reserve University has Katie Couric!

  15. lyla says:
    Mon, 15th Mar 20109:23 am 

    Western Connecticut State University has WYCLEF JEAN!

  16. Mike Smith says:
    Wed, 17th Mar 201010:26 am 

    Imagine how Disapointed you’d be of your college experience when the freakin’ 2nd biggest Socialist of the United States comes to speak at your graduation ceremony!? Everyone knows the man’s got Evil Intentions and can Fool a crowd, and the class of 2010 will definitely Pay for "The One's" actions for the rest of their lives! And their childrens also…..

  17. Jeff Anderson says:
    Wed, 17th Mar 201012:11 pm 

    USC aka University of Southern California is getting Kobe Bryant!!!!!

  18. krmarcus says:
    Thu, 18th Mar 20108:35 pm 

    really..i don't think USC would have Kobe. show me proof.

  19. Jen says:
    Mon, 22nd Mar 201011:47 pm 

    I was going to write in and be like, we have Alec Baldwin!! And so I was totally shocked to see us as #2 on your list! :) I wish we had BO or MO, but I am not unhappy about Alec! I was supposed to graduate last year when Hillary Clinton was our speaker, but epic fail on my part I guess. My best friend who is coming up from FL to see me graduate is totally psyched for Alec though, and at least I won't have to deal with my dad throwing as big a fit over him as he would have with Hillary ("uggghh liberals, blah blah blah.") Dad… you do realize this is NYU, one of the most liberal universities in the country, right?

  20. phuong says:
    Tue, 23rd Mar 201012:46 pm 

    St. Lawrence's got Sonia Sotomayor!

  21. Sandra says:
    Tue, 23rd Mar 20106:52 pm 

    I'm way too excited that President Obama is speaking at my graduation! I'm sure it will be a little political but I'm sure it will be extremely inspirational. The people who are displeased with this selection are most likely conservatives who didn't vote him into his the presidential position. btw, attendace at convocation is not required lol, it's not like we get the opportunity to walk across the stage since there are so many graduates. viva class of 2010, class of DIMES!

  22. Barker says:
    Fri, 2nd Apr 20103:37 pm 

    What lessons have you learned from your relationships?

  23. Red says:
    Thu, 8th Apr 20104:14 pm 

    And they say colleges aren't hotbeds of leftist thinking….riiiiiight.

  24. Greatness says:
    Mon, 26th Apr 20104:56 pm 

    Syracuse has Lady Gaga!

  25. Mr. PreMedBoy says:
    Tue, 27th Apr 20104:35 am 

    Shaw University is getting Bill Cosby for commencement and last year was Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee.

  26. TrueHawk says:
    Mon, 3rd May 20106:14 am 

    University of Iowa has Tom Brokaw!

  27. shrimpmouth says:
    Tue, 4th May 201010:54 am 

    North Carolina Central University's commencement speaker: Tom Joyner.

  28. Happy Gilmore says:
    Sun, 9th May 201010:33 am 

    Columbia University is getting Adam Sandler

  29. Fordham_grad says:
    Tue, 11th May 20104:21 am 

    Fordham University has the President of Ireland, Mary McAleese.

  30. Ash says:
    Wed, 12th May 20107:26 pm 

    University of Georgia had Alton Brown from Good Eats and he was HILARIOUS!

  31. Nicole says:
    Sun, 16th May 20107:30 pm 

    Quinnipiac University had Bill Nye the Science Guy :D

  32. Anna says:
    Wed, 19th May 201011:53 am 

    Sorry Fordham- Mount Holyoke College had Mary McAleese last year… it was fantastic

  33. dpimps says:
    Mon, 24th May 20102:20 pm 

    macaualy honors college has R.L.Stine…WHAT WHAT!

  34. Jooho Kwon says:
    Fri, 13th May 201112:36 pm 

    USC…the Governator!!! Arnold was absolutely hilarious!!!!

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