While an announcement by Dartmouth College officials regarding who is to address the Class of 2001 during commencement exercises is currently pending, several other universities and colleges have revealed their respective keynote speakers, featuring, as usual, some big names from the world of politics.
Republican Senator John McCain of Arizona will present the commencement address at the University of Pennsylvania, according to the Daily Pennsylvanian.
The former presidential hopeful recently made headlines with the Senate's passage of his campaign finance reform bill.
Newly-elected senator and former first lady Hillary Clinton is scheduled to address students at the Yale University Class Day ceremonies, according to the Yale Daily News. Clinton was in the 1973 graduating class of Yale Law School along with her husband, former President Bill Clinton.
Robert E. Rubin, who preceded Harvard University president-elect Lawrence H. Summers as Secretary of the Treasury, has been chosen to deliver this year's commencement address, the Harvard Crimson reported.
Rubin, a 1960 graduate of Harvard, currently chairs the Wall Street giant Citigroup, and is the third consecutive economist to serve as Commencement Day speaker. In 1999 Federal Reserve Chair Alan Greenspan spoke, and last year Nobel Prize-winning economist Amartya Sen gave the address at Harvard.
Also at Harvard, U2 lead singer Bono (born Paul Hewson) will take time out from his band's current world tour to serve as the Class Day speaker during commencement week.
Aside from achieving worldwide fanfare as a pop music icon, Bono is a champion of human rights causes, particularly in the area of Third World debt relief.
Cornell alumnus and former United States Attorney General Janet Reno will deliver the commencement address for her alma matter, the Cornell Daily Sun reported. Reno was in the Cornell graduating class of 1960.
Charlayne Hunter-Gault, CNN's Johannesburg (South Africa) Bureau Chief, will deliver the commencement address at Duke University, according to the Duke Chronicle.
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Hewlett-Packard Company Carleton (Carly) S. Fiorina was named the commencement speaker at Stanford, the Stanford Daily reported. Fiorina is a 1976 graduate of the University.
Radio personality Garrison Keillor will be the Baccalaureate speaker at Princeton University, according to the Daily Princetonian. Keilor is the creator and host of the popular "A Prairie Home Companion" radio show. Princeton does not invite a speaker for graduation.
Acclaimed broadcast journalist Jim Lehrer will deliver the keynote commencement speech and receive an honorary degree from Tufts University, in a rare appearance for the renowned personality, who has delivered only one other graduation speech in his many decades in public life, according to the Tufts Daily.
