Schools use a range of committees, student recommendations and outside assistance to pick speakers whose messages they hope will resonate with more than 25,000 area graduates and attendees.
“Universities do take this very seriously,” said Ted Pickerill, Miami University’s secretary to the board of trustees and executive assistant to the president, who chairs the committee that chooses a commencement speaker.
“It is the final event of a student’s academic career at the university, and we want that day, that celebration, to be a very special one.”
Setting an agreement
In keeping with the school’s year-long theme of “Year of the Arts,” Miami picked A.R. Rahman, a composer, musician and two-time Academy Award winner for his work on the movie “Slumdog Millionaire.”
From there, Miami formed a memorandum of understanding with Rahman, which included provisions that his address last 15-20 minutes with a mix of speech and music (including accompaniment from about 40 Miami students), a 30-minute press conference, a lunch, an evening reception and a $28,000 cap on travel expenses or honorarium.
Pickerill said financial considerations apply to any school that hopes to name a speaker with enough star power to crown the ceremony.
“In the case of Mr. Rahman, we provided travel expenses, and he did not ask for a speakers’ fee,” Pickerill said of Rahman, who lives in India and has worked with Miami students in the past. “We would like this to be an ongoing relationship.”
Making arrangements
Once schools choose their preferred speaker, contacting and coordinating with the choice often falls to the president’s office, schools said.
Some are frequent speakers. In securing Patricia Russell-McCloud, considered a top business motivator, Central State filed a standardized form with Russell-McCloud & Associates of Atlanta.
In the form, Central State agreed to pay a $7,000 honorarium, $280.60 in travel, hotel stay and ground transportation, and asked Russell-McCloud to focus on the program of “Legacy and Responsibility of Graduates to be leaders and serve in their communities for the betterment of humankind.”
Most schools contacted by the Hamilton JournalNews said they didn’t have formal paperwork for commencement speakers and that many waived any fee, but some speakers can command significant costs.
One service, All American Speakers, lists 262 of its 6,952 speaker options with fees between $30,001 and $50,000. Another 204 receive fees of $50,001 or more.
There are also a variety of sources, as the International Association of Speakers Bureaus lists 169 possible companies to contact.
About the Author
