I mean no offense to Dr. Farmer, but the College really couldn’t have merited the former commander of coalition forces in Iraq? We had to settle for the NHS’ second choice? We have half of the undergraduate population! I know no one listens to the commencement addresses anyway, but come on.

After years of LGBTQ progress (especially with this graduating class) it seems counterproductive to have a homophobe address the SFS.

I wanna know where the Bush’s at?

Such a tease of a rumor.

According to http://www.georgetown.edu/2011commencementspeakers.html, Major General Mary A. Legere will be speaking at the ROTC Commissioning Ceremony.

Not sure who the impersonator of me is above, but I am very excited about this upcoming slate of speakers. Go Gtown!

In other news, Conan O’Brien will be speaking at Dartmouth

@Confused – you’re correct; thanks for the catch.

Sorry, what? I just woke up. I saw “Dr. Paul Farmer” and immediately fell asleep.

… Prove me wrong, Farmsy.

Wow the president of costa rica is actually really homophobic…should be interesting at least.

I am really, really upset with the choice of speaker for the SFS Commencement. Almost considering boycotting my own commencement (but obviously can’t because then I’d get in trouble with the parents).

[...] var addthis_config = {"data_track_clickback":true};Now that the commencement speakers have been announced, we thought we’d give readers the opportunity to weigh in on their enthusiasm (or lack [...]

Not only is she homophobic and questionable on women’s rights. She’s an alum. So cheap.
#gwwinsagain

Can we please stop picking B-list (or C-list?) alumni as speakers?

Better yet, could we know who is on the committee that actually chooses the speakers?

I can’t wait to look back at my commencement 5 years from now and say “who was our speaker? … wait who is that?”

Another year, another list of crappy commencement speakers. keep up the good work at failing georgetown

Paul Farmer founded a pioneering global health network. He was considered to head USAID. There was a New York Times notable book written about his life. Maybe if you jackasses ever read the news you would know he is.

I read the news and don’t know who he is.

Prince William:

Good job wikipedia-ing Farmer. I too have that skill. I think people are upset because no one really cares what commencement speakers say, they care who they are. Farmer may be a good dude, but he’s not someone I’m gonna brag about to my dipsh*t lax bros at State School U.

We covered the story of President Chinchilla going to speak at this event. She represents Costa Rica well.

It’s unfortunate that so many people to be so obsessed over the rank, status, and title of the commencement speakers. They’re all very successful people who are worthy of respect; I hope fretting over perceived prestige doesn’t prevent anyone from hearing what they have to say.

Don’t worry. My hangover will be the only thing preventing me from hearing what Farmboy’s got to say.

cheep cheep cheep cheep

Where do they find these deadbeats?

At least it’s not Uribe?

After Osama bin Laden died, it was tough to find a new commencement speaker for the college so Paul Farmer was a pretty good last minute nab considering the circumstances.

What some people need here is a reality check. A head of state C class? You don’t even know what she’s going to say….

Paul Farmer pretty much defined the term Global Health. He’s the reason millions of people are alive today and billions (if not more) of dollars are pouring into the international health field. If you don’t know who he is, fine. But if you don’t care to educate yourself about him and choose to bitch instead, then you really don’t deserve a cool speaker anyway.

Hey Vox, you couldn’t find a picture of Brendan Sullivan? He’s a double-Hoya, so you could have checked some old yearbooks. Or how about just a Google search?

You could have gone with the standard one from his firm’s website: http://www.wc.com/bsullivan

Or maybe this one with a pretty big-name client (and a more recent one than Oliver North): http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2008-10-27-stevensverdict_N.htm

Or this one is kind of artsy and cool: http://www.washingtonian.com/articles/people/14537.html

Here’s another that’s not bad: http://www.zimbio.com/pictures/MbLJ6ZJNWWX/Justice+Department+Voids+Ted+Stevens+Conviction/YjIqCnapvY2/Brendan+Sullivan

This one has a sort of old-school, vintage feel: http://www.gardenrant.com/.a/6a00d83451bd5e69e20147e2ad878d970b-pi

Just a thought. But you go on ahead bashing all the speakers. Those of us who know anything about them, or at least this one, will continue to be impressed.

Delivering a commencement address is like being the body at a wake: they stick you in the middle of the room but deep down they don’t really want to hear what you have to say.

Harvard has President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf; the SFS had her last year.

http://commencement.harvard.edu/

Can we assign commencement speakers to Lecture Fund already?

Although I’m a journalist living in Costa Rica, I haven’t been able to listen to every speech la Presidenta Laura Chinchilla has made. But where does the impression come from that she’s homophobic and weak on women’s rights? I’d like to enlighten our readers at fijatevos.com

Anyone questioning the selection of Farmer should read my slampiece’s comment above. Sweet Lax Bro had some interesting wisom to share as well.

God Save Me-
Kate

@Rod Hughes

Read wikipedia re. Laura Chinchilla:

Se considera que Chinchilla es conservadora en materia social. En noviembre de 2009, Chinchilla fue la única candidata de unos de un partido importante que particicipó en una marcha en contra del aborto y del matrimonio de las parejas del mismo sexo. Observadores en materia de derechos humanos expresaron preocupación por la realización de la marcha, por su carácter homofóbico y ultraconservador.[6] Chinchilla declaró que la marcha no pretendía atacar a ningún sector de la sociedad en particular.

Chinchilla se opone al matrimonio homosexual, a ampliar el derecho de las mujeres al aborto (en Costa Rica el aborto está prohibido incluso en casos de violación), así como al establecimiento de un estado secular (en Costa Rica el estado es confesional, católico). Sin embargo, Chinchilla ha hecho pública su convicción de que es necesario crear un marco legal que proteja los derechos patrimoniales de las parejas homosexuales [1]

[...] = 'wpp-256'; var addthis_config = {"data_track_clickback":true};Last week, Georgetown announced the commencement speakers for the 2011 graduates of its various programs, with reactions falling [...]