Angelou, Sills on final speaker list

Author Maya Angelou and retired opera singer Beverly Sills are the two final choices for this year's Commencement speaker, according to a University source close to the speaker committee. An e-mail listing these two choices was sent to the members of the Commencement Speaker Advisory Committee -- composed of faculty and students -- in July. They were asked to select one candidate and, based on the votes, an invitation was to be sent to either Angelou or Sills -- though an invitation does not mean the choice will necessarily accept. The e-mail stressed the importance of choosing a woman. "The selection of a female speaker is particularly appropriate for 2001, when we will be celebrating 125 years of women at Penn," it read. And during the one meeting of the advisory committee, members were encouraged to select a minority woman, according to those close to the committee. The two candidates were finalized by another group, the Trustees Committee on Honorary Degrees and Awards, after two conference call meetings this summer, the e-mail stated. But a source close to the situation said that to his knowledge, the University has not yet contacted Angelou about the possibility of speaking. A representative of Sills could not be reached for comment. Each committee member voted on either Sills or Angelou, but according to sources, committee members have not yet learned the results. The student committee consists of Senior Class President Ray Valerio, Undergraduate Assembly Chairman Michael Bassik, UA Vice Chairman Malhar Saraiya, United Minorities Council Chairman Jerome Byam, Graduate and Professional Student Assembly Chairwoman Kendra Nicholson and GAPSA Vice Chairman Kyle Farley. Angelou, acclaimed author of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, was discussed by the committee, sources said. But Sills, the first female chair of the Lincoln Center for Performing Arts, had not been discussed by the committee before they received the e-mail. The Trustees' Committee on Honorary Degrees and Awards met twice via conference calls this summer before selecting Sills and Angelou as their final choices. Last year, Irish poet and Nobel Laureate Seamus Heaney delivered the annual Commencement address, drawing mixed reviews. Many said that the choice of Heaney was disappointing after the selection of big-name celebrities and politicians in the past, like Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin in 1999, former President Jimmy Carter in 1998 and comedian Bill Cosby in 1997. Angelou gained international fame for her poetry and books. She was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize in 1971 for Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water 'fore I Die, her first book of verse. And also in 1971, with her production of Georgia, Georgia, Angelou became the first black woman to have a screenplay produced as a film. The selection of the lesser-known Sills would mean a departure from the literary realm. Sills is lauded with helping bring opera music to the masses. She recorded 18 full-length operas and numerous solo albums during her 25-year career with the New York City Opera. Though Sills retired from singing in 1980, she became the first female and first performer to become the chair of the Lincoln Center -- a position that oversees 11 subsidiary institutions.

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