2008 Woodie Awards
Undergraduate commencement speakers announced
Zack Farmer
Issue date: 4/17/07 Section: News
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The process for selecting the speakers began in April 2006, when the class representatives compiled a list of potential candidates who they thought fulfilled Catholic and Lasallian values. According to Jessica Parfitt '07, the senior senator who provided the background on Bishop Cummins, they wanted someone who would "provide an inspirational speech, [is] connected to the college somehow, and [who] understood the core values" of Saint Mary's. "So Bishop Cummins came to the table…[and] seemed like a really good fit," said Parfitt. He especially fills the desire to have someone who participates in Catholic and Lasallian values because the Institute he helped to found ensures that activities associated with the College meet those values.
The other main speaker for the Undergraduate Commencement will be the valedictorian, but the process is not as simple as choosing the student with the highest academic standing. According to Senior Class President Mark Gilson, students with a GPA over 3.75 are invited to apply for the position, and after they have been evaluated, one is offered the position about a month before graduation. Some students have reservations about the process because they do not think GPA has equal weight across majors and does not account for one's extracurricular contributions to the school, though they asked to remain anonymous.
On June 2, the School of Extended Education will also celebrate its commencement with California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger as its speaker. Additionally, the Graduate Business Program celebrated their commencement on April 1, with speaker Kent B. Williams who is a managing member and portfolio manager of Vista Asset Management LLC and an alumnus of the first graduating class of the Graduate Business Program in 1977.