My first piece writing for the Sun-Star covered UC Merced's 2009 Commencement and speaker, first lady Michelle Obama, so it's ironic that I've come full circle and am now discussing the commencement speaker for my own impending graduation: Lester Holt.
For those who are unaware, Lester Holt is the weekend anchor for "NBC Nightly News" and the co-anchor of the weekend edition of the "Today Show."
Holt also serves as fill-in anchor and correspondent for "NBC Nightly News" with Brian Williams and the weekday "Today" program. Last spring, he visited Merced to report on the student-led campaign that persuaded the first lady to speak at 2009's graduation ceremony.
You would think that without the fanfare and dictates instigated by the first lady's visit, the selection of a commencement speaker would have gone more smoothly. However, it's been a rocky process.
"We all started meeting at the beginning of the summer -- me, Sarah Hashemyan, Dominique Hall and Joseph Desena were the interested ones. We formed the Commencement Committee," said Joseph Palacio, a senior and a member of the class of 2010's Commencement Committee.
The committee, which meets once a month and is also responsible for discussing and planning the class of 2010's class gift, organizing events and activities for the seniors, planning a possible senior trip and arranging for a student speaker for commencement, spearheaded the guest-speaker effort and used every weapon at its disposal to reach UC Merced's summer-scattered seniors.
That proved to be a tougher task than they had initially thought.
"We made a Facebook group and added everyone," said Palacio, "and then we sent out e-mails to everyone who was eligible to walk (in the spring), just asking for names and peoples ideas for speakers."
The committee gave students two to three weeks to submit names, then drew up a list for the chancellor and his cabinet to review and vote on.
The list consisted of 25 to 30 people. It included such notables as Oprah, Ellen DeGeneres, Stephen Colbert, Jon Stewart and Rudy Giuliani.
Although the steps taken to pick Holt -- a student-prepared list reviewed by the administration -- are similar to those taken at most other universities, many students are less than thrilled with the choice.
Many feel as though they were completely left out of the decision process.
"I don't really think students got a choice -- I feel like it was the administration that made the decision," said Jessica Oh, a senior. "I don't think it's going to be as wonderful as Michelle coming, but I think that its still going to be good for our class. I just don't really know about him. We'll make the best of it."
The general dissent is putting pressure on committee members as well.
"Its been hard because we're getting hit (with blame), said Palacio. "Lots of people felt like they had no say in the choosing, but what can you do? People don't check their e-mails, people don't check their Facebooks."
But, as always, there is an upside.
There has been talk of moving the May 15 ceremony from afternoon to evening to escape the boiling spring temperatures that roasted many spectators last school year. In addition, each student will receive more family tickets than last year's graduating seniors because of fewer admission restrictions.
"Our class is really well prepared because we have our speaker so early," Palacio argued. "This is good because it means the class of 2010 can tailor the graduation to themselves -- it won't be a Lester Holt graduation like it was a Michelle Obama graduation.
"This one will be ours."
Brittany Best is a senior at UC Merced from Moorpark majoring in psychology with a minor in writing.
E-Mail
Print
