I was recently informed that the speaker for this May’s commencement exercises would be Dr. Joahnne Thomas- Smith, provost and senior vice-president for academic and student affairs. I am a graduating senior, who is very angry about this decision. Graduation is supposed to be a memorable moment in our adult lives. Why bring a faculty member, who speaks at every occasion, to speak at commencement? This past summer, I went to my best friend’s graduation at Clark Atlanta University. The commencement speaker was radio personality, ‘the fly jock” Tom Joyner. Joyner, and other black figures in the community, such as Bill Cosby, Spike Lee, or Maya Angelou, are just a few examples of people who love to speak at black colleges. Can Prairie View, for once, stop being so CHEAP, and shell out some money for a good cause?
No offense to Thomas-Smith, but we hear her at every general assembly on campus. Her speaking at graduation is like hearing Dr. Wright give the same speech he gives at every general assembly over and over again. All I’m asking for is to have a commencement speaker who has been places and lives outside of the Prairie View and Houston area.
We have a lot of good administrators who are great orators. I know Dr. Thomas Smith is a great speaker but she is not who I want to tell my kids about when they ask about my graduation.
Great people used to speak at this campus for commencement, like Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. DuBois, just to name a few.
We don’t get to re-live this moment, so please don’t make us regret (or sleep) on the day we become college graduates.
Leona Aaron
Senior
Communications Major