I would not use it to pay for Michelle Obama to speak. I simply can’t think of anything interesting that she has to say. Would students at UC Merced rather have had Michelle Obama deliver a canned speach, or get $370 each? Or, if we make this a matter simply for the graduating class, would the 493 graduates rather have Michelle Obama speak at their commencement or get $2000 each? I wouldn’t have payed a wooden nickel to hear my commencement speaker – the insufferable Bill Bradley – but I can’t think of anyone a college graduate, without a job and with lots of debt, should be paying $2000 to hear.
Of course, the question can also be phrased as, “How much would you pay for your grandparents to get sun stroke?”
Because of security concerns, the audience had to show up hours before the ceremony in the campus’ grassy outdoor amphitheater and sit without shade as temperatures reached the mid-90s. Eight people were hospitalized for heat-related problems, a campus spokesperson said. About 80 others were treated at the site.
I hope every one of those people is suing the university. It is completely idiotic to force families to sit through that to watch their kids graduate, just so that Michelle can spout out 25 minutes of Oprah-lite.
I’ve long thought the culture of high-end commencement speakers was stupid. Virtually every college in the country would benefit if it just gave up on that game and instead had a well-regarded professor speak to the students. It would save money, have more content, better connect with students, and not subsidize the egos of political and media elites.
Posted by Apollo in An Insult to Drunken Sailors, Edjamacation