Class Day speaker remains a mystery
Despite Tony Blair rumors, University cites security ‘threats’ in explaining delayed announcement
On Feb. 8 of last year, members of the class of 2007 knew that Fareed Zakaria ’86 would be their Class Day speaker. The year and a month before that — Jan. 12 — the class of 2006 learned that Anderson Cooper ’89 would deliver the Class Day address.
But this year, as the calendar turns to May, seniors, who will graduate in only 25 days, have still not been told who will speak on their penultimate day as students in Yale College.
For security reasons, the University says, the identity of this year’s speaker is being withheld — for now, at least. But that has not stopped a...
The fact that the State Dept. was involved argues against any presidential candidate and in favor of Blair. It has to be someone international that nutballs might protest (or harm). Any foreign dignitaries scheduled to visit the U.S. during that time period other than Blair?
the two only people I can think of that would warrant such security: (1) Bush, (2) Condi
"At stake, they said, is the possibility that the speaker might cancel the address should his or her identity be revealed before the agreed-upon date."
I bet it's Zorro.
I bet Yale is trying to one up Columbia. Instead of Ahmadinejad they are going to bring the Ayatollah himself! Take that Lee Bollinger.
Probably Hu Jintao.
What about Hu Jintao? Given Levin's buddy-buddy relationship with the guy, it wouldn't surprise me. Also, all of the security stuff would make sense given what's been going on in Tibet and with the Olympic Torch protests.
That said, if it is him, I'm going to boycott.
If it's Hu Jintao, I'm going to be pissed for all the 2008ers who have to hear a dictator speak at commencement.
You idiots, look at the line about "rumors" under the title of the article. It says RIGHT THERE who the speaker is.
who? Zachary Abrahamson & Thomas Kaplan?
Um ABOVE their names.
i don't know about abrahamson -- like, really? -- but thomas kaplan would be an absolute steal for class day speaker.
I think I've got it figured out. If it's not Blair, then expect:
Abdullah Ahmad Badawi (Prime Minister of Malaysia),
Ban Ki-moon (Secretary-General, United Nations, New York),
Gordon Brown (Prime Minister of the United Kingdom),
H.R.H Hussam Bin Saud Bin Abdulaziz (Saudi Prince),
Yasuo Fukuda (Prime Minister of Japan),
Anwar M. Gargash (Minister of State for Federal National Council),
Affairs of United Arab Emirates),
Mohamed Baker Ghalibaf (Mayor of Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran),
Ferenc Gyurcsany (Prime Minister of Hungary),
Hamid Karzai (President of Afghanistan),
Lee Hsien-Loong (Prime Minister of Singapore),
Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (President of the Philippines),
Ibrahim Mbombo Njoya (Sultan of the Bamum, Cameroon),
Seyed Mojtaba Samare Hashemi Shajareh (First Adviser to the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran),
Alvaro Uribe Velez (President of Colombia),
Abdoulaye Wade (President of Senegal),
Umaru Musa Yar'Adua (President of Nigeria),
Viktor A. Yushchenko (President of Ukraine),
Robert B. Zoellick (President, World Bank) — or
Jacob G. Zuma (President, African National Congress)
As for me, I'm putting my money on Bin Saud Bin or Njoya.
If it was Tony Blair, there would NOT be this much security. An ex-PM does not warrant more secrecy than the President of the United States.
i heard it's Ban Ki-moon
leon powe would be a good bet
i heard it was Whitney Houston
Hu Jintao is a great leader, OK? Stop being arrogant.
I have nothing against Hu Jintao and he would make a great speaker, but considering that even President Bush would probably attract protests by a fraction of the student body and faculty, surely one can expect even more protests for Hu Jintao, right?
Apparently it's arrogant to call a spade a spade. Only here at Yale.
It is Michael Jordan, obvi.
It's going to be Kusoke Fukudome of the Chicago Cubs.
inside scoop. it's going to be the dalai lama
There is no way it is Hu Jintao. He came to Yale two years ago for a speech and considering there was a five block security perimeter, there is no way they are going to allow him to speak in front of thousands of people outdoors. They couldnt make security tight enough. Also, there is no way he would come to the United States just for one speech. There would be all sorts of other meetings set up in Washington and you would be hearing about it.
Maybe the state department is involved because John Gaddis called in a favor to our embassy in the after life (or if he isnt dead, the embassy where Tupac and Biggie live) and is bringing Ronald Reagan to come speak.
Its HM Queen Elizabeth II.
You didn't hear it from me though.
I for one will be very disappointed if it's Kosuke Fukudome of the Chicago Cubs. I think that Yale should be able to get someone groundbreaking like Hideo Nomo.
gotta be blair
i heard it was andrew mangino. MANGINO FTW
i think the more pertinent question is what exactly is the date in which Yale is allowed to reveal our speaker...
Kim Jong-il
blair... blair WALDORF.
this thread = best procrastination ever.
so finally we know...its tony blair.
Where's the debate to protest Shvarts walking?
I vote for Aleksey Vayner. Plus, he can protect the Dalai Lama if he shows up.
this is such BS. if it's such a big deal to have blair speak at class day, how the hell is yale going to have him teach a class here for a semester? this doesn't make any sense. enough already.
This isn't news. It's speculation and gossip. Cut the garbage and report on something!
The class is going to have a different location every session and the member of the class will not be emailed that location until right before the class starts. ridiculousness.
since blair isn't he brit PM anymore, the secret service and state department wouldn't be involved. secret service will only protect a sitting head of state. he wouldn't require that much cooperation or secrecy. it's no secret he'll be at yale every other week in the fall. i'm betting on hu jintao.
Its probably part of the extra compensation package Yale sought for accepting Blair's underqualified son as a grad student last year.
AMEN.
On March 25 the YDN printed this quote regarding Blair's teaching post: “The U.S. Secret Service would have nothing to do with setting up security for Mr. Blair,” Darrin Blackford, a spokesman for the Secret Service, said.
CAN'T BE BLAIR!
i heard it was going to be obama. when are they going to tell us??????? this is absolutely ridiculous.
Sara !
calling special operative Robbin .
fzzrrr we have lost contact with agent
....HesselPFizzer can you hear me ?
I'm thinking it's Cheney...Yep, Cheney, or maybe Karl Rove..
you're all wrong. its going to be puff daddy
lawrence summers?
it can't be hu jintao. medvedev is visiting china on the 23rd and 24th, so it isn't exactly feasible. hopefully yale invited kelly hu instead.
It will be Aliza Shvarts and her trained ovaries, only because Topo Gigio was unavailable at press time
It's Pope Benedict.
What is this, the Yale Daily List of Stuff Our Reporters Couldn't Find Out?
At least Kaplan has a wider repertoire than rephrasing press releases about West Campus.
It'll be Wen Jiabao.
General David Petraeus
General Petraeus, with his two Princeton degrees, would be a noble choice.
Bush (Sr.) and Clinton (Bill).
its already official. its tony blair. now stop surmising.
i heard Tony Blair might be a cover for the real speaker
Worst mystery ever.
did the class of '03 not find out that Bush and Hilary were coming for commencement weekend until this late in the semester? If not, how can security concerns now be any greater than they were for those two? And come to think of it, Harvard had already announced it was getting Bill Clinton by this time last year, right?