Commencement Speaker Tradition Questioned as Protests Endure

The tradition of college commencement speeches is coming under question after student and faculty opposition led three prominent public figures to withdraw as speakers in the past 10 days.

“Perhaps we should just discontinue the practice of having commencement speakers completely,” said Lawrence Bacow, who served as president of Tufts University from 2001 to 2011. “Too many students expect just to be entertained. They judge the quality of their commencement by the celebrity of their speaker.”