It was recently announced that President Barack Obama will speak at the University of Michigan commencement this Spring in Ann Arbor. As a Michigan State alum, I hope Obama's theme is environmentalism and that he finishes his graduation speech with the words: "In conclusion, GO GREEN!!!"
When I graduated MSU in 1998, the commencement speaker was former NBA basketball player Greg Kelser (
in photo), who now is a TV commentator alongside George Blaha for the Detroit Pistons. As a senior at Michigan State, Kelser along with Ervin "Magic" Johnson led the Spartans to the 1979 NCAA tournament championship, the first in the school's history. The year after I graduated, Elie Wiesel addressed Michigan State's graduating class.
Two years earlier, in 1996, I heard a wonderful commencement address at my wife's graduation from MSU when White House press correspondent Helen Thomas spoke. The best commencement speech I ever heard at MSU was in the Spring following my freshman year in 1995 when President Bill Clinton delivered the address. I also enjoyed listening to the late NY Times columnist William Safire at my Jewish Theological Seminary commencement in 2004,
a memory I blogged about following Mr. Safire's death this past September.
Perhaps no commencement address, however, compares to
Conan O'Brien's commencement speech to the Havard Class of 2000.
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Michigan Congressman John Dingell was the one who asked the President to speak at the University of Michigan's graduation in May. In an article in the Michigan Daily, he discusses where he and Barack Obama will likely have lunch in Ann Arbor after #44's commencement speech?
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