This Sunday, WSA members will vote on a resolution which proposes that the student commencement speakers will be determined by an application process open to all seniors. In addition, an amendment to this resolution proposes to enact these changes for the 2009 commencement.
While the WSA bylaws currently state that the senior class officers, along with organizing reunions and senior cocktails, are in charge of finding the senior class’s commencement speaker, the officers have in the past simply chosen the senior class officer by default. If this resolution with the aforementioned amendment passes, however, it means our senior class president, Ravid Chowdhury ’09, is no longer a shoe-in to address our class during commencement.
We agree that a revision to the current policy should be made. The qualifications for the position of senior class officer are not and should not necessarily be the same as those of the class member who is best qualified to address the senior class.
We must first say, however, that we agree with Chowdhury. He argues that he’s been voted into his position by a popular vote and that forming a committee instead of letting the students decide through a vote is an attack on the judgment of the University student body as a whole. We believe the majority of the class did elect Chowdhury under the auspices that he would be speaking during commencement, and it would be unfair to deny him this honor halfway through fall semester.
We think the WSA’s goal to put more importance on the actual speech given at commencement is a good one, however, and we generally agree with their resolution. We agree that there should be a committee designated to choose the speaker based on applications from the entire class, and we also agree that the class officers (the class president, vice president, secretary and treasurer) should be included in this committee.
Unlike the WSA resolution, however, we think that membership spots for the committee that chooses the commencement speaker should not be limited to WSA members, but rather should have some spots open to the entire senior class. We don’t like the idea of an elite few picking a speaker, and we thin k that anyone who cares enough to put the time and effort into hearing applicants and deciding on a speaker for their own class should be able to have a say.
We also think that the class president, while mainly elected for their good organizing skills, should still be able to make remarks at commencement. We have, after all, elected this person to represent and make important decisions for our class: not only for organizing Senior Cocktails and events throughout the remainder of this year, but also for every class reunion to come. We further think the class president, as already stated in the proposed resolution, deserves to be a part of the committee that chooses the class speaker.
We want a speaker and a speech that can represent our class, which is why the idea of choosing a committee of our peers to decide is a great idea.
By including not only the senior class president, but also another student speaker to better reflect the senior class experience, we not only include more voices to represent us, but more voices that represent us well.
Leave a Reply