Cosby to deliver address at May 19 Commencement

Eight others - including French politican Simone Weil - will get honorary degrees at the event. University officials confirmed reports yesterday that Bill Cosby will deliver this year's Commencement address to the class of 1997. And they announced eight other notables who will received honorary degrees at the ceremonies. College junior Tal Golomb, who was on the speaker search committee, said Cosby's appeal is that most University students remember him from childhood. "Bill Cosby is someone that we all grew up with," said Golomb, the former Undergraduate Assembly chairperson. "He's a very funny man and he should be a very spellbinding speaker." Cosby was asked to speak late last week after Secretary of State Madeline Albright declined the University's invitation due to scheduling conflicts. And the official announcement came later than usual this year, since several other top choices -- including former President Jimmy Carter and Nelson Mandela -- had to decline. Cosby --Ea Philadelphia native and Temple graduate -- received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from the University in 1990. He is also a regular attendee at the annual Penn Relays. Cosby began his career performing in nightclubs and broke television's racial barrier with his 1965 debut in the show I Spy. During the '70s, Cosby returned to school, earning a master's degree and a doctorate in education from the University of Massachusetts. He may be best known among University students for the 1984-92 series The Cosby Show, and he returned to the small screen this season in Cosby. This year has also been a rough one for Cosby, who lost his son Ennis and faced paternity allegations during the same week last January. Senior Class President Neil Sheth said he is certain Cosby --Ewho has spoken at several other universities -- will be an excellent Commencement speaker. "I think he'll be very entertaining for us and hopefully he'll have a very powerful message for our class," he said. Also speaking at the ceremonies is French politician Simone Veil, who will give the Baccalaureate address. Veil, a Holocaust survivor, is the French Minister of State for Social, Health and Urban Affairs. She will receive an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from the University. Other Doctor of Laws degrees will go to William Danforth, a former Washington University chancellor, and Richard Posner, chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. Doctor of Human Letters degrees will be awarded to Social Security Commissioner Shirley Carter, a 1956 Nursing School graduate, and Charles Williams II, a classical archeologist who received both a master's degree and doctorate from the School of Arts and Sciences. Ahmed Zewail, a California Institute of Technology professor and recipient of a doctoral degree from SAS, will receive a Doctor of Science degree, as will Louis Sokoloff, chief of the National Institute of Mental Health Cerebral Metabolism Laboratory and a 1946 School of Medicine graduate. And Gary Graffman, director of the Curtis Institute of Music, will be awarded a Doctor of Music degree.