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Competitions for Student Speakers
Both the university-wide Commencement exercises on the
morning of Thursday, June 10, and the afternoon exercises at HSPH will
feature speeches by graduating students. In each case, the speaker is
chosen through a competitive process. In both cases, speeches will be
judged for intelligence, eloquence, wit, and significance. Commencement
audiences generally appreciate reflections on Harvard experiences which
take on particular significance for the graduating student. The details
of these two competitions are as follows:
HSPH Student Speaker One graduating HSPH student will be chosen to deliver a speech at the school's ceremony on June 10. Students interested in competing for this honor must submit a typed manuscript, no longer than five spoken minutes in length, by April 16, to Mary Sadler in the Office for Students, Kresge G-10. Students should not put their name on the submitted manuscript, but instead should label the manuscript with a four-letter pseudonym unrelated to their name. Students should also submit a sealed envelope containing an index card on which is written the pseudonym and the student's name.
Authors of selected manuscripts will be invited to present their speeches to a selection committee, who will choose one speech for presentation at Commencement. For more information, call the Office for Students at 432-1036.
Graduating students interested in serving on the committee to select the HSPH student speaker should Email Bernita Anderson at banderso@sph.harvard.edu. Committee members will be selected to represent a diversity of programs.
Harvard University Graduate School Speaker The university's morning exercises in Harvard Yard include two speeches (one in Latin) by seniors graduating from Harvard College and one by a graduating student from a graduate or professional school. HSPH students may compete to present the graduate school speech, which is expected to address a topic related to the student's experience at the graduate level. Each of the three speakers will receive a $300 prize.
To enter the competition, students must complete a 1999 Commencement Parts Entry Form, which will be available in early April in the HSPH Office for Students, Kresge G-10. The application form and manuscript (for a five-minute speech) must be returned to the Commencement Office in Cambridge by noon on April 9.
Students submitting manuscripts will be asked to register for an audition time in the first round of competition, which will take place on April 12 from 4:00 to 10:00 p.m. Four finalists will be chosen to compete in the second and final round on April 20. The auditions will take place in Emerson Hall 104 in Harvard Yard.
For more information, call the Commencement Office at
495-5726.
