The Cornell Daily Sun (https://cornellsun.com/tag/convocation/)
The Convocation Committee is continuing to search for a speaker, but author and Yale Prof. Roxane Gay is serious about one suggestion: pick her.
The comedian’s last-minute cancellation, and a contentious divestment vote immediately preceding the scheduled announcement, placed Convocation Committee leaders in a difficult predicament.
She noted that her presence as a woman of color on the stage was a shift from the original vision of the founders of the University.
Ava DuVernay, the first black female director to have her movie nominated for a Golden Globe and Academy Award, will address Cornell’s Class of 2018 during Convocation on May 26 as the keynote speaker.
Former Vice President Joe Biden told thousands of Cornell graduating seniors and their families that Cornell is “one of the great, great universities in the world” and implored graduates to “wake up,” be tolerant and make their mark on the world.
Cornell Dairy is working to to name an ice cream flavor after former Vice President Joe Biden, who will speak at this year’s convocation on May 27.
“You are the best our country has to offer, so please go out and be generous and be good,” he said to the Class of 2016.
“If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that no one remembers their commencement speaker’s speech,” Franco said in a Huffington Post article.
A good convocation speaker should have “a story to tell,” and Franco’s “creativity and life experiences” satisfy this criterion, Salvagno said.
Benfanti said this year’s speaker selection committee was determined to select a speaker whose background and experiences would “resonate with the widest audience possible.”