Senior Class Speaker for Commencement - DEADLINE February 15

By Doreen Hettich-Atkins, January 30, 2023

Student Speaker for Commencement - Deadline to Apply is February 15

The Ithaca College May Commencement Ceremony has traditionally featured a student speaking as a representative of the undergraduate senior class.   For the May 2023 ceremony (scheduled for May 21, 2023) the Commencement Committee is excited to announce an opportunity for all undergraduate seniors to participate in a competition to be selected as the student speaker for the class of 2023.  

All undergraduate seniors with a graduation date between December 2022 and December 2023 are eligible to apply to be the student commencement speaker. Students must have earned a minimum of 60 credits at Ithaca College and have a cumulative grade point average as of the end of the fall 2022 term of at least 3.0 to qualify for this recognition.  

The Ithaca College Commencement Committee will review all applications and select finalists who will then be required to prepare and deliver draft speeches to be shared with a team of senior undergraduate students who will make the recommendation of the student who should be selected.  

The selected graduating senior will then be part of the program for the 2023 Ithaca College May Commencement Ceremony.  

The final speech is expected to be between 3-5 minutes long. 

Interested students should complete an application form which will include a short 1-2 minute video about why you are interested in being the student speaker and a brief excerpt of a speech.  The speech example can be commencement related or can be a speech previously used for a class or other project. More information can be found at the Commencement  website.

Individuals with disabilities requiring accommodations should contact Doreen Hettich-Atkins at commencement@ithaca.edu or 607-274-3374. We ask that requests for accommodations be made as soon as possible.