Student graduation speakers chosen

By Jeannie Baumann

Daily Staff Reporter

LSA senior Jamie Katz will not be sitting with her fellow classmates during the University's commencement ceremony later this month. Instead, she will sit in the middle of the Michigan Stadium football field to deliver the student speech.

Katz said she is honored and excited about being selected as the student speaker at this year's commencement.

"It will be quite a memorable experience," she said.

A committee of faculty and students selected Katz from 19 applications. Aside from a written version of the speech, each student had to submit a verbal presentation on an audio cassette. Applicants' names were removed from the speech to avoid bias during the selection process.

Economics Prof. Jim Adams, who served on the selection committee, said the committee had three basic criteria in selecting the student speaker.

"Everyone was probably looking for a speech that related to a broad range of students, one that was inspiring to a large number of people, and also one that read well or listened to well," he said.

Adams said Katz's speech best incorporated these three points.

"The speech that will be delivered is a wonderful speech," he said. "It was very inspiring to me."

But Adams noted that the high quality of speeches made the selection process difficult.

"There were several excellent speeches in the group. But there can only be one student speaker," he said. "The people who wrote them should not feel diminished in any way."

Since the applications were due just after Spring Break, Katz said she felt a little bit rushed in turning in her speech. Nevertheless, the theme focuses on an idea Katz said she has had for "a little while."

"The speech is about how the University is a great place for change, and it's really wonderful thing that we have here," Katz said. "Every single day here, there's that potential for change."

Katz said the combination of an academic environment, extracurricular activities and the University campus have cultivated the possibility for change.

"I don't think there are many places like this," she said.

Katz, who is an English and creative writing concentrator, said she spent most of her extracurricular activities in community service work.

"I spent a lot of time at the domestic violence project Safehouse," she said, adding that she has also volunteered for the Sexual Assault Prevention and Awareness Center and worked on the Hillel's annual Holocaust Conference.

"I'm more excited than nervous," she said.

The University-wide commencement ceremony is scheduled for April 29.

The Rackham Executive Committee selected Steven Johnson as the student speaker for the graduate commencement ceremonies planned for April 28 in Hill Auditorium.

"Steve was far and away, we felt, the best candidate," Rackham Student Government President Damon Fairfield said.

Fairfield said Johnson will be the first graduate student to deliver such a speech.

SAM HOLLENSHEAD/Daily

LSA senior Jamie Katz, who was selected as the student commencement speaker, reads poetry to an audience last night in the English Department Conference Room.