NEA chair to speak at graduation

Students disappointed Jane Alexander, chairperson of the National Endowment for the Arts, will be the keynote speaker at next month's Commencement ceremony, according to University Secretary Barbara Stevens. Members of the Class of 1995 contacted last night about the selection seemed nonplussed about Alexander's participation in their graduation day. "Dartmouth got Bill Clinton -- if they can do it, why can't we?" asked College senior Christopher Prokop, adding that he had hoped for a speaker plucked from the White House or Supreme Court. Wharton senior Laura Froehlich was even more blunt, admitting that she had "no clue" who Alexander is. "Guess that came through Sheldon [Hackney], huh?" Froehlich said. "That's kind of sad?It could be my ignorance, but with Hillary Rodham Clinton a few years ago, I would have expected someone a little more to date." However, College senior and Senior Class President Loren Mendell, who served on the Commencement speaker selection committee, said the group felt Alexander was "a great speaker" who could communicate well with the graduating class. The committee -- composed of leaders from the student body and the Faculty Senate, personnel from the Secretary's Office and members of the Board of Trustees -- met twice in the fall, Mendell added. They generated a pool of about 50 names for consideration, which was then narrowed down by mail ballot. Stevens said a "short list" was forwarded to University President Judith Rodin, who made a number of telephone calls to find the "best person." "We are awfully thrilled that she accepted," Stevens said, further characterizing Alexander's performances as moving, sensitive and thoughtful. "She is a brilliant actor and a very articulate spokesperson for the arts." Mendell said Alexander -- who won an Emmy for her role in 1981's Playing for Time and was nominated for an Oscar for her performance in All The President's Men -- should appeal to the multi-generational Commencement crowd. "I'm very happy with the selection," he said, adding that his parents are already looking forward to the address. Alexander was confirmed as NEA director in October 1993, following a stint in the Broadway production of Wendy Wasserstein's The Sisters Rosensweig. She appeared with James Earl Jones in The Great White Hope on Washington's Arena Stage -- a production that was later made into a feature film. Alexander arrived at the NEA just as the controversy over public funding of Robert Mapplethorpe's sexually-explicit photographs was subsiding. She now faces a Republican-dominated Congress eager to slash her agency's budget. The NEA also gave financial support to Andres Serrano, whose photograph "Piss Christ" stirred up tensions when it was exhibited on campus at the Institute of Contemporary Art last semester. Because of these monetary allocations, College senior Jeremy Chiappetta said he is angry about the choice of Alexander as Commencement speaker. "I just really have to question why the University continues to offend those who are religious and those who are conservative in their beliefs," he said. Stevens also announced last night that retiring University Chaplain Stanley Johnson will be this year's Baccalaureate speaker. And she disclosed the list of honorary degree recipients. Two scientists are among those selected: chemist Harry Barkus Gray, a professor at the California Institute of Technology, and Stanford University Professor Stanley Cohen, whose research focuses on recombinant biotechnology. Smith College President Mary Maples Dunn, who will become director of Radcliffe College's Schlesinger Library when she steps down from her current post this summer, will also receive an honorary award next month. Her husband, Richard Dunn, is a history professor at the University. Rounding out the roster are former University Board of Trustees Chairperson Alvin Shoemaker, medieval historian Emmanuel LeRoy Ladurie, director of the Bibliotheque de France, and Donald Stewart, former president of Spelman College and current president of the College Board, who was a University administrator from 1970 until 1976.