Call for 2008 commencement speaker nominations is issued

The Commencement Speaker Nominations Committee, representing undergraduate and graduate students, faculty, and staff, issued a call March 16 for nominations for the 2008 commencement speaker.

The committee, after seeking nominations from the campus community and alumni, will review the submissions in order to provide a list of recommended speakers to the president, who will make the final decision.

Nominations for the 2008 commencement speaker will be accepted through April 9, and can be submitted by clicking here. The committee will submit its recommendations to President Gast in May.

As stated in the criteria, a commencement speaker should be “someone whose work and achievements reflect Lehigh’s value system and whose message is one that will contribute to graduates’ educational experience.”

All nominations will be handled in strict confidence. At no time will any member of the nominations committee release the names of any recommended candidates.

Members of the 2008 Commencement Speaker Nominations Committee include:

Faculty members
• Professor Donald Rockwell, Committee Chair
• Professor Asha Jitendra, Honorary Degree Committee Chair
• Professor Robert Thornton, Faculty Member at Large
• Professor Lloyd Steffen, University Chaplain

Undergraduate students
• Matthew Montgomery, Junior Class Officer
• Kristen Silfies, Junior Class Officer
• Cara Diorio, Student Senate President

Graduate student
• Raymond Pugh, Graduate Student Senate President

Staff members
• Joanne Anderson, Director, Office of the President
• Thomas Dubreuil, Associate Dean of Students
• Nancy Merritt, Alumni Association Junior Class Advisor

If you have any questions, please send them to inspkr@lehigh.edu.

--Sarah Cooke