Class Day

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Revision as of 20:06, 14 December 2010 by 65.96.146.136 (talk) (Undergraduate School Speakers)
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Class Day is like graduation, but not really (University Commencement, at which students are formally conferred their degrees, is held on a separate day). These celebrations, held for each of Columbia's undergraduate schools, feature student (usually valedictorians or salutatorians, depending on the school) and keynote speakers (usually alumni), and an occasion for students to have their names called out, walk across the stage, and shake hands with the Dean. Their existence forces students' parents to spend an extra day or two dealing with their children's commencement. The upshot is that the ceremonies are more intimate and personal. Columbia College's ceremony includes a Parade of Classes.

Instead getting a diploma, undergraduate students receive a Class Pin from members of the 50th reunion class of that year.

Speaker Complaints

Speakers at recent Columbia College class days have stirred howls of complaint. In 2006, Senator John McCain (whose daughter is CC '07) spoke, and some students expressed disapproval arguing that he did not represent the political beliefs of most CC students. Matthew Fox, a star of TV's Lost, was the speaker for 2007, and was seen as an underwhelming or inappropriate choice for such a serious occasion, although his speech turned out well-received. These controversies generally involve petulant members of the senior class, who desire a meaningful close to their four year stint at the university, i.e. a charismatic intellectual celebrity.

Class Day speakers

Undergraduate School Speakers

Year Columbia College SEAS General Studies Barnard College
2011 Alexandra Wallace Creed C '88 TBA TBA TBA
2010 Benjamin Jealous C'94 Paul Brandt-Rauf SEAS, MS (SEAS), EngScD, MD, MPH, DrPH Jacques Pepin GS'70 Meryl Streep
2009 Eric Holder C '73 James Albaugh MS (SEAS) '?? Philippe Reines GS '00 Hillary Clinton
2008 Joel Klein C '67 Armen A. Avanessians SEAS '83 Alicia Graf GS'03 Michael Bloomberg
2007 Matthew C. Fox C '89 Santiago Calatrava Parent '06, '07 Deborah Marshall, GS '79 Anna Deavere Smith
2006 John McCain Parent '07 Raymond P. Daddazio E '75, '76, '82 Antonio Luis Freitas GS '97 Francine du Plessix Gray BC '52
2005 Robert Kraft C '63 Mynoon Doro E '73 Michael Margitich, GS '99
2004 Tony Kushner C '78 [1] Savio Tung E '73
2003 George Stephanopoulos C '82 [2] Michael Massimino E '84 [3]
2002 David J. Stern L '66 [4] Jeffrey Bleustein [5]
2001 David Boies R. W. Apple, Jr GS '61
2000 Brian Dennehy C '60
1999 Claire Shipman C '86 David E. Shaw
1998 Judge Joseph A. Greenaway C '78 Norman R. Augustine Joyce Purnick BC '67
1997 Jonathan Kozol David Marks Anna Quindlen BC '74
1996 Robert Rubin Y.D. Kim Joseph Califano
1995 Tom Brokaw Samuel L. Higginbottom C '43, E '43 Madeleine Albright GSAS '68, SIPA '76
1994 Fritz Stern C '46 Eleanor Baum Sheila E. Widnall
1987 Charles S. Robb

Trivia

  • In 1961, when Harvard switched its diplomas from Latin to English, the valedictorian, a Classics major, delivered his address in Latin. He began "O miseros Harvardianos..."
  • Part of James Russell's valedictory speech was delivered in ancient Armenian
  • In 2010, the General Studies valedictorian, Brian Corman, plagiarized part of his speech from comedian Patton Oswalt