Originally published May 3, 2007 at 12:00 AM | Page modified May 3, 2007 at 8:20 AM
Desperately needed: UW graduation speaker
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.
Seattle Times education reporter

Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright was a past UW speaker.

Author Sherman Alexie was a UW speaker.

Former news anchor Tom Brokaw was a speaker at the UW.

Playwright August Wilson was a past UW speaker.
Some past speakers
![]()
![]()
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
Copyright © 2007 The Seattle Times Company
Seattle Times Fund For The Needy offers opportunity to give
Tugboat sinks on Seattle's waterfront
Child-support error costs nearly $21,000
Danny Westneat: Bonus for supe with a B minus?
Nicole Brodeur: You have more to spare than you think you do

LA Galaxy's David Beckham
Los Angeles Galaxy's David Beckham talks about the upcoming MLS Cup final during after a team practice.
nwjobs

Post a comment

Michelle Goodman blogs about work/life balance.
How to tell your office you're gravely ill
Post a comment
nwautos

Choosing a new sedan? Weigh the impact of your choice on your wallet and on the planet.
Post a comment
- 'The Road' takes Viggo Mortensen to Mount St. Helens and Astoria, Ore.
- Craigslist adoption ad: A plea by young mother-to-be? A scam?
- Italian lead prosecutor argues Knox motive was hatred
- Italian prosecutors request life sentence for UW student
- Tugboat sinks on Seattle's waterfront
- Child-support error costs nearly $21,000
- Man shot in chest on E. Union Street in Capitol Hill
- Washington state wines make annual best-of list
- Chase shrugs off loss of CD investors
- Mariners Blog | A Mariners-Tigers swap makes a whole lot of sense for both teams
- Senate vote clears hurdle
236 - Tight Senate vote launches health care over hurdle
119 - Child-support error costs nearly $21,000
118 - Vikings easily beat the Seahawks
116 - Palin excitement builds in Tri-Cities
116 - Prosecutor requests life in prison for Amanda Knox
87 - Cutting through breast-cancer confusion
86 - Game thread
70 - New York terror trials will restore faith in rule of law
53 - Chase shrugs off loss of CD investors
48
- Washington state wines make annual best-of list
- Nonprofits get creative using Twitter and Facebook to make donation easier
- It's possible to recover a life lost to hoarding
- Lynnwood is reinventing itself — again
- Great places to cross-country ski for free (or almost) in the Methow
- 'The Road' takes Viggo Mortensen to Mount St. Helens and Astoria, Ore.
- Child-support error costs nearly $21,000
- Recipes: Sesame Pork Roast, Sour Cream Mashed Potatoes, Gingerbread with Lemon Sauce and more
- Banff: powder, peaks & purity
- 175 foster kids in Washington get 'forever families'







