Desperately needed: UW graduation speaker

The commencement speaker at Harvard University this year is Bill Gates. The University of Michigan got Bill Clinton. The University of Washington? No one. Nada. Not yet. But they're working on it.

Sanjaya, are you busy?

While the UW is not turning to "American Idol" contestants quite yet, officials are feeling a little desperate, with the June 9 event just five weeks away. Plans for one big-name speaker fell apart, and nothing else has panned out since.

It's not like the hourly rate is bad. Speakers are offered $10,000 -- plus travel expenses -- for a speech at Husky Stadium which typically lasts 15 to 20 minutes. Some past speakers have chosen to donate the money to the university.

UW Executive Director of Communications Norm Arkans, who chairs the committee of students, staff and faculty members responsible for finding a speaker, declined to name the first potential candidate. That person, he said, bowed out in late March due to a scheduling conflict.

"Then we began to scurry and pursue," Arkans said. "The problem is, you can't be in conversations with multiple people at one time."

Arkans said that in his 22 years managing UW commencements, nothing has come down to the wire quite like this.

"Ask me if I'm sleeping at night," he said.

Officials expect 4,500 students to participate in the ceremony while 30,000 to 35,000 family members and friends watch from the stands. Ticket distribution began Monday.

Past UW commencement speakers have included political leaders Madeleine Albright and Bill Bradley; writers August Wilson and Sherman Alexie; and media personalities Tom Brokaw and Jim Lehrer. The tradition of inviting outside speakers began in 1990 -- prior to that it was typically the UW president who spoke.

The UW's branch campuses already have this year's commencement exercises figured out. UW Tacoma will host local mystery author J.A. Jance. UW Bothell is taking a more low-key approach, sticking to speeches from incoming Chancellor Kenyon Chan and the man he is replacing, Steve Olswang.

Arkans said the UW's celebrations come later than those at many colleges. The timing eliminates some candidates such as sitting U.S. Supreme Court justices, who are typically in the midst of issuing decisions at this time of year.

The process of finding a commencement speaker begins in late October or early November, although that needs rethinking, Arkans said.

"It's a little bit late," he said. "We have to get out more than a year ahead of time. We should be meeting now for the 2008 commencement."

First, however, officials need to figure out who they'll get this year.

Freshman Ross Parsons, 19, an aspiring stand-up comic, had some ideas: Don Imus (see if he'll say something even worse); Dick Cheney (you don't have to be No. 1 to be in charge); or any guy who makes beer commercials (they know how to reach out to college students).

Perhaps, Parsons added, the committee selecting the speaker needs its own motivational speaker.

Nick Perry: 206-515-5639 or nperry@seattletimes.com