Commencement Speakers

[serrano]

After Mrs. Serrano and I watched the second episode of the Woody Allen doc we started talking about the how we (and Rass and his wife) went to college (Drew U.) with Soon-yi (never saw her despite Drew’s minuscule enrollment) and how creepy it was that Allen could be seen watching the ‘96 commencement from a window overlooking the ceremony which included Hillary Clinton as the speaker.

Mrs. Serrano is still a little miffed that her, Rass, and Mrs. Rass got stuck with Christine Todd Whitman in ‘97 while I had James Earl Jones in in ‘98. Jones ended his speech with “may the force be with you” which made the place go nuts (even though he never said that line in the films.). But as far as commencement speakers go, he was pretty good.

Anybody got someone better than James Earl Jones?

[brian]

Neal Shine (don't bother Googling it). CMU doesn't draw big names.

[bapo!]

First-term Senator Rick Santorum. A positive, uplifting speech. Don't remember any of it, but certainly nothing to be offended by. That came later, I guess.

[DaveInSeattle]

Former National Security Advisor (though not when he spoke to us) Brent Scowcroft.

I was so hungover I don't remember anything that he said.

[A_B]

Didn’t go to mine but I was a 29 year old part time student by the end.

[sancarlos]

I'll try to do a little research but I presently have no fuggin' idea who was our speaker for either our high school or college graduations.

[Ryan]

Gwen Ifill. Missed Al Gore by a year.

[Johnnie]

I graduated online only college through AMU.

So I watched Daveed Diggs' speech and figure I'll use that as my own.



Edit:

I graduated in 2014. So maybe this one makes more sense:

[serrano]

[Sabo]

High School: Montel Williams (He was a motivational speaker before he went into TV)

College: Dr. Charles Ping (long-time Ohio University president who was retiring)

[DSafetyGuy]

Steve Kroft of "60 Minutes". He, like everyone else who had access to a microphone, got to make jokes about snow because there was some on the ground on Mother's Day.

Things picked up in the 2000's, though - Giuliani, Bill Clinton, Phylicia Rashad, Jane Goodall, Billy Joel, Frank McCourt, Biden (while VP), and Jamie Dimon (although the head of JP Morgan Chase was somehow not particularly popular with the graduating class right after the housing bubble burst).

[The Sybian]

I feel like I've typed this before, but I skipped my undergrad graduation ceremony. I think the class was around 5,000 graduates. My parents were pissed when I told them I wasn't going. They intended on sitting through the ceremony, but after sitting through two ceremonies for my majors, they satiated. No idea who spoke at graduation, and I think it was just the Dean of the schools for the majors. Law school was David Kelley. I don't remember much, but I thought it was a really good speech at the time, and I kept thinking "this guy is married to Michelle Pfeiffer, I'm going to follow his advice."

[rass]

After Mrs. Serrano and I watched the second episode of the Woody Allen doc we started talking about the how we (and Rass and his wife) went to college (Drew U.) with Soon-yi (never saw her despite Drew’s minuscule enrollment) and how creepy it was that Allen could be seen watching the ‘96 commencement from a window overlooking the ceremony which included Hillary Clinton as the speaker.

Mrs. Serrano is still a little miffed that her, Rass, and Mrs. Rass got stuck with Christine Todd Whitman in ‘97 while I had James Earl Jones in in ‘98. Jones ended his speech with “may the force be with you” which made the place go nuts (even though he never said that line in the films.). But as far as commencement speakers go, he was pretty good.

Anybody got someone better than James Earl Jones?

Could have been worse? Or better?

I bet he'll be an entertaining speaker even if the grads don't know who he is (though I think Dawson's Creek may have had a moment at some point unless my oldest just randomly decided to watch the whole series).

And I'm positive there is photographic evidence of me (and cerrano?) hanging out with him before a dance. He escorted a friend of our then-GFs/wives-to-be-they-should-have-run-when-they-could-have.

[L-Jam3]

I don't recall college. Law School was then-US Attorney for NJ Chris Christie. Did anything come of that guy?

[Giff]

Was it him or Zach Morris who went right-wingy?

[rass]

Was it him or Zach Morris who went right-wingy?

Worst I can find for JVDB is one "Biden is too old" rant that Fox News picked up on. I think the alma mater would have avoided him if he'd gone anywhere approaching full-MAGA.

[Giff]

Was it him or Zach Morris who went right-wingy?

Worst I can find for JVDB is one "Biden is too old" rant that Fox News picked up on. I think the alma mater would have avoided him if he'd gone anywhere approaching full-MAGA.

What probably made me think this is when anyone moves from California to Texas it's either a) they are rich and rightfully abandoning that state due to high taxes or b) they're dirty fucking hippies who are ruining our state and I'm going to make it a part of my personality by wearing t-shirts that say "don't California my Texas". JVDB falls into the former.

[GoodKarma]

Was it him or Zach Morris who went right-wingy?

Worst I can find for JVDB is one "Biden is too old" rant that Fox News picked up on. I think the alma mater would have avoided him if he'd gone anywhere approaching full-MAGA.

What probably made me think this is when anyone moves from California to Texas it's either a) they are rich and rightfully abandoning that state due to high taxes or b) they're dirty fucking hippies who are ruining our state and I'm going to make it a part of my personality by wearing t-shirts that say "don't California my Texas". JVDB falls into the former.

I think he did say that at least some of the reasoning for the move was "moral"...so I do think there are some right wing tendencies.

[A_B]

And I'm positive there is photographic evidence of me (and cerrano?) hanging out with him before a dance. He escorted a friend of our then-GFs/wives-to-be-they-should-have-run-when-they-could-have.

[Ryan]

Masterful

[mister d]

I don't know my most quoted movie line ever, but that's in contention.

[Giff]

I don't know my most quoted movie line ever, but that's in contention.

I've seen the whole movie, but never in sequential order. There's one scene where they start a scene in the huddle on the face of a Vietnamese guy I grew up with who was in extra in the movie as an OL.

[mister d]

It remains a tremendous movie in the way some of those 90s movies are tremendous to a certain subset of 40-somethings.

[The Sybian]

After Mrs. Serrano and I watched the second episode of the Woody Allen doc we started talking about the how we (and Rass and his wife) went to college (Drew U.) with Soon-yi (never saw her despite Drew’s minuscule enrollment) and how creepy it was that Allen could be seen watching the ‘96 commencement from a window overlooking the ceremony which included Hillary Clinton as the speaker.

Mrs. Serrano is still a little miffed that her, Rass, and Mrs. Rass got stuck with Christine Todd Whitman in ‘97 while I had James Earl Jones in in ‘98. Jones ended his speech with “may the force be with you” which made the place go nuts (even though he never said that line in the films.). But as far as commencement speakers go, he was pretty good.

Anybody got someone better than James Earl Jones?

Could have been worse? Or better?

I bet he'll be an entertaining speaker even if the grads don't know who he is (though I think Dawson's Creek may have had a moment at some point unless my oldest just randomly decided to watch the whole series).

And I'm positive there is photographic evidence of me (and cerrano?) hanging out with him before a dance. He escorted a friend of our then-GFs/wives-to-be-they-should-have-run-when-they-could-have.

My wife wanted to show Dawson's Creek to the kids to see how it aged, I think it was after my daughter became obsessed with Outer Banks. We got through maybe 15 minutes. The only thing I ever saw with JVDB was The B in Apt 23, where he played a cartoonish version of himself. His willingness to portray himself as an utter buffoon made me a fan. I can't imagine he is remotely controversial as a right winger. We took a tour of Drew, and I was uncomfortable with the level of extreme left-wing vibes on the tour.

[sancarlos]

Was it him or Zach Morris who went right-wingy?

Worst I can find for JVDB is one "Biden is too old" rant that Fox News picked up on. I think the alma mater would have avoided him if he'd gone anywhere approaching full-MAGA.

What probably made me think this is when anyone moves from California to Texas it's either a) they are rich and rightfully abandoning that state due to high taxes or b) they're dirty fucking hippies who are ruining our state and I'm going to make it a part of my personality by wearing t-shirts that say "don't California my Texas". JVDB falls into the former.

I think most California residents who move to Texas (or Florida) are right-wingers looking for a more like-minded home. See: Musk, Elon. (Possible exception if they are moving to Austin.)

[Shirley]

I don't know my most quoted movie line ever, but that's in contention.

I've seen the whole movie, but never in sequential order. There's one scene where they start a scene in the huddle on the face of a Vietnamese guy I grew up with who was in extra in the movie as an OL.

I hope he didn't get typecast as a Vietnamese offensive lineman.

[mister d]

The only thing I ever saw with JVDB was The B in Apt 23, where he played a cartoonish version of himself.

Also excellent on HIMYM.