Commencement Speakers

While our eyes are on finishing the year and enjoying commencement in a little over a week, we’ll take this opportunity to invite nominations for future commencement speakers, including baccalaureate speakers. Typically we are most successful when we attempt to get speakers who have a connection to the college, or to someone at the college, or to our mission; this year, our commencement speaker is Katie Merz, the artist who created our smokestack mural “Live the Questions.” We maintain a list of potential speakers, and Faculty Council makes a recommendation to the president, typically in May or early in the summer. It is not always easy to schedule a speaker in any given year, so maintaining a generous list can be helpful. High-profile individuals can be nearly impossible to schedule, and typically they command a sizable appearance fee.

If you have a suggestion for a potential speaker for 2023 or beyond, please send your nomination to doffice@ursinus.edu, with the subject line “Commencement Speaker Nomination.” A few sentences describing the individual and why they might be appropriate are all you need to include in this early stage. Contact information or links to descriptions of the individual’s accomplishments are particularly helpful.